For the second time in two years, the Tennessee Titans spent a draft pick on a quarterback despite still having veteran Ryan Tannehill in place as the starter.
Tennessee traded up to select Kentucky signal-caller Will Levis in the second round of the 2023 NFL draft, and before that the Titans traded up in the third round of the 2022 NFL draft to nab Malik Willis.
During a presser on Wednesday, Tannehill was asked about the team drafting yet another quarterback who could replace him. He made it clear he’s only worried about what he can control.
“You can only control what you control,” Tannehill said. “As players, you’ve got to control what you can control. That’s doing the best you can, prepping yourself mentally and physically each and every day to win football games.”
One area of need that was of particular interest to Tannehill was the wide receiver position, which was Tennessee’s biggest going into the draft.
Despite that, Tennessee waited all the way until the seventh round to draft a wideout (Colton Dowell), something that won’t help Tannehill if he remains the starter in 2023.
It sounds like Tannehill was about as surprised as the rest of us that Tennessee took the approach it did.
“They don’t ask me my thoughts on draft picks,” he said with a smile. “Mike and Ran make those decisions. Obviously, I knew it was an area that could be addressed, but they did just a little bit probably later than I thought they were going to. But we added some other key positions, some talent that’ll help us across the board.”
Now, a look at what else Tannehill had to say at his press conference on Wednesday.