Following the Tennessee Titans' embarrassing 30-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers and former quarterback Malik Willis on Sunday, this is a natural time to zoom in on the team's quarterback room.
It would be reasonable for a team looking to maximize its success this season to consider benching starting quarterback Will Levis in favor of backup Mason Rudolph.
But while the NFL is a results-based business and poor quarterback play typically leads to change at the position, the Titans aren’t in an ordinary situation.
Yes, the on-field product hasn’t looked great through three games with Levis under center. He’s thrown more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (four), he has just 579 passing yards, he has the seventh-worst passer rating (76.5) and he has the third-highest percentage of pressures that turn into sacks (31.9) among qualified players, per Pro Football Focus.
But the team’s 0-3 start and its 29th ranking in total offense doesn’t fall solely on Levis, who’s been pressured 46 times, hurried 30 times and sacked 15 times, per PFF.
The Titans are in Year 1 of their rebuild under general manager Ran Carthon and head coach Brian Callahan, and Tennessee needs to find out what it has in Levis this year.
Is he the kind of player who can rally a team, battle through adversity and turn things around? Or is he a QB who has the talent but can’t seem to get out of deer-in-headlights mode when he’s playing against live NFL defenses?
That’s pretty important information to know heading into the offseason when Georgia’s Carson Beck, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, Texas’ Quinn Ewers and Miami’s Cam Ward could be sitting at the top of the draft when the Titans are on clock.
It's possible Tennessee would have one, maybe two wins right now if Rudolph was its QB1 (both the Bears and Jets losses were in one-score games that were decided in the fourth quarter).
But the 2024 season isn’t about winning games and challenging for the playoffs for the Titans. It’s about determining whether they already have a franchise quarterback or if they need to find one. So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, don’t expect Tennessee to bench Levis as long as he’s healthy, regardless of how many losses start piling up.
