Tag: Malik Willis

The 2022 NFL Draft is cemented as one of the worst quarterback classes in history

The ’22 draft class at quarterback has proven to be one of the worst ever

Looking back on the 2022 NFL Draft, the narrative going in was the mixed bag of a quarterback class. It was headlined by Pittsburgh Panther Kenny Pickett, Cincinnati’s leader in Desmond Ridder and the explosive Liberty quarterback Malik Willis. Fast forward to just two drafts later, and none of the top quarterbacks from that class find themselves in a starting role, and most of them find themselves hanging on a thread for their NFL career.

In just the past week, three of the quarterbacks from that class who opened the last season as their team’s starter found themselves shipped off to another team. Sam Howell, Kenny Pickett, and Desmond Ridder were all moved off in favor of a veteran or a future rookie draft pick.

The only reason this class will likely not be considered a total bust is, ironically enough, the final pick in the entire draft with former Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy, who is coming off a Super Bowl appearance. It goes to show that the quarterback draft process can, at times, be a bit of a crap shoot. With top projected talents falling out of the first round, others quickly failing at the next level, and the ones no one ever expected becoming heroes of their franchise.

Where Titans signal-callers landed in NFL.com QB rankings

Titans QBs were placed near the middle of the pack on a list ranking every QB who started at least one game in 2023.

The Tennessee Titans had an interesting year at the quarterback position, with the team seeing a changing of the guard at the most important spot in the NFL.

Veteran Ryan Tannehill began the year as the starter but struggled, which can partly be blamed on a terrible offensive line and lackluster receiving corps. Tannehill will be playing elsewhere in 2024.

After Tannehill came down with an ankle injury, 2023 second-round pick Will Levis took over and never relinquished the job. The rookie definitely showed his warts but also provided exciting flashes that has the Titans’ fanbase excited for the future.

While all this was going on, 2022 third-round pick Malik Willis was mostly an afterthought.

After a rough rookie campaign in which he had to overcome both his own deficiencies and those around him, the Liberty product made one relief appearance for Tannehill and showed no signs of improvement.

And that resulted in Levis leapfrogging him for the starting job once Tannehill went down.

In a recent article ranking quarterbacks who made at least one start in 2023, Nick Shook of NFL.com placed Levis at No. 33 out of 66, just one spot ahead of Tannehill. Here’s what Shook said about Levis:

Because of an injury to Ryan Tannehill, Levis got his chance to earn the job earlier than most probably expected. It included a bumpy road typical of a rookie quarterback, especially against opponents who blitzed him relentlessly, but after the dust of 2023 has settled, I like Levis’ prospects in Nashville going forward. The kid has guts, an explosive arm and the moxie needed to make it in this league, as evidenced by his wild comeback win over Miami in prime time. Tennessee’s front office will need to help him by surrounding him with quality talent, of course, but don’t sleep on Levis. There’s something there.

Of course, Willis did not make a start last season, so he wasn’t on the list. That said, he would have been ranked near the bottom, anyway.

An argument can certainly made for Levis to be ahead of some of the signal-callers who are in front of him, but expect a low placement on rankings for the rest of the offseason, as Levis still has to prove himself before we can cement him as the franchise quarterback he’s shown signs of being.

At least he was ranked ahead of Tannehill, though, which is absolutely the right call after Levis outperformed the veteran by a fairly wide margin.

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Could the Steelers go back to the 2022 NFL draft for their new QB?

The Steelers could be in the market for a new quarterback this offseason.

Back in 2022, the Pittsburgh Steelers used their first-round pick to select quarterback Kenny Pickett. Pickett was the only quarterback selected in the first round and here we are in 2024 already wondering if Pickett should be replaced.

The only question is where that potential replacement might come from. We’ve speculated about the 2024 NFL draft, free agency or even a trade. The folks over at The Draft Network speculated a few trades for the Steelers and ironically, they decided to go back to the 2022 NFL draft for a pair of quarterbacks.

They offered up Washington Commanders Sam Howell and Tennessee Titans Malik Willis as two possible replacements for Pickett. Both guys were also selected in the 2022 NFL draft and for many fans were the quarterbacks they wanted instead of Pickett. I admit I was a big fan of Willis and he’s honestly turned out to be a huge bust as he has struggled to catch on to the NFL game.

Howell, on the other hand, had some very strong moments last season. He threw for 3,946 yards. Howell led the league in interceptions and in times sacks, which had more to do with how awful his offensive line was. With a new coaching staff in place, they might be looking to move on from Howell and a fresh start might be just what he needs.

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Tennessee Titans 2024 offseason preview: Quarterback

We take a look at the Titans’ situation at quarterback going into the 2024 offseason and what they should do.

The Tennessee Titans saw a changing of the guard at the quarterback spot in 2023, with rookie signal-caller Will Levis taking the reins of the starting job from veteran Ryan Tannehill.

Despite a terrible offensive line and a poor receiving corps., the second-round pick posted some impressive performances and showed more than enough for the Titans to move forward with him as their franchise quarterback.

Now, it’s all about surrounding Levis with the pieces necessary in free agency and the draft in order to put him in the best possible position to continue to develop and succeed.

The first thing was to hire an offensive-minded head coach who has a more modern approach — and the Titans did just that with the hiring of Brian Callahan, who has stressed the importance of a good passing game.

Adding to that, he has a ton of experience working with quarterbacks, both young and old, and Callahan will be the play-caller, also, which means the Titans won’t have to worry about getting their guy poached.

Having a franchise quarterback in tow is a huge piece of the puzzle the Titans have, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have some work to do at the position this offseason.

Here’s a look at which Titans quarterbacks are under contract, pending free agents, and what the team’s biggest needs are at the position.

Titans to start Ryan Tannehill if Will Levis can’t play

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel announced that Ryan Tannehill will start in Week 16 if Will Levis isn’t healthy enough to play.

The Tennessee Titans have a major question mark at quarterback this week after rookie Will Levis suffered a high-ankle sprain during the Week 15 loss to the Houston Texans that will likely sideline him for at least one game.

If Levis can’t go, the Titans have two options in veteran Ryan Tannehill and second-year signal-caller Malik Willis. However, the team has already made a decision about who will start if Levis isn’t able to play.

Before practice on Wednesday, head coach Mike Vrabel revealed that Levis will not practice and Tannehill will get the nod in his place if the Kentucky product isn’t healthy enough to play in Week 16.

It was speculated that perhaps Tannehill wouldn’t want the job considering the risk of injury involved playing behind such a putrid offensive line, combined with the fact that the veteran is hitting free agency in 2024.

However, clearly that is not the case and Tannehill will step into the void for what will likely be his final three games with the Titans.

Tannehill gives the Titans the best chance to win, but losing out is the best-case scenario for Tennessee, a team that is out of playoff contention and in desperate need of the highest draft pick possible.

But as was expected, Vrabel isn’t going to lay down over these final three games by putting in the worse option.

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Titans’ Mike Vrabel talks fans booing Malik Willis going into game

On Monday, Titans head coach Mike Vrabel touched on fans booing the decision to put Malik Willis into the Week 8 game.

Tennessee Titans fans voiced their displeasure during the Week 8 win over the Atlanta Falcons when quarterback Malik Willis was inserted into the game for the two snaps he played.

Willis’ entrance was met with a chorus of boos, as fans had no interest in seeing a quarterback rotation with rookie Will Levis. And, making matters worse, the second-year signal-caller lost a fumble on one of his two snaps.

Multiple Titans players came to his defense after the game, with Levis going as far as to say fans need to “come correct” with Willis the next time he’s on the field.

However, those boos were more than likely directed at the decision to utilize a second quarterback itself rather than at Willis himself.

Head coach Mike Vrabel addressed the situation on Monday, saying he’s fine with fans booing. He also stood behind the approach of alternating the young signal-callers, which he admitted after the game was the plan before Willis’ fumble.

“If there’s things that (fans) don’t like, they have a right (to boo),” Vrabel said, per Jim Wyatt. “If it was directed at me, great, I’ll take it, you know what I mean? If that’s what it was, you can put a poll out and let me know how it goes. I’m more than OK with the plan that we had. I am disappointed that we snapped the ball high and outside to the quarterback, and that we didn’t recover it. Still, I am going to be OK with that plan, because I know what was in there, and know what we can do. I am OK either way.”

Looking ahead to Week 9, Vrabel has already said Levis will start in place of Ryan Tannehill if he can’t go, and the expectation is the veteran will not be ready for Thursday night.

While it remains to be seen if Levis will be the starter the rest of the season, something Vrabel said was “a possibility,” he has at least jumped Willis on the depth chart and did enough in his impressive debut to kill the dreaded two-quarterback plan.

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Titans Week 8 snap counts: Two-QB plan goes by the wayside quickly

How the Titans handled the QB snaps and filled the voids left by the Kevin Byard trade and Roger McCreary injury.

Going into the Week 8 game with the Atlanta Falcons, it wasn’t clear exactly how the Tennessee Titans planned on utilizing their young quarterbacks, Will Levis and Malik Willis.

Reports suggested Levis would be the starter and primary quarterback, but head coach Mike Vrabel insisted the team would likely alternate the two.

As it turns out, the latter was indeed the plan, at least according to Vrabel after the game. However, Vrabel admitted Tennessee bailed on that approach when Willis lost a fumble on a bad snap on the opening series.

After that, Willis didn’t see the field much, but exactly how many snaps did he play? And, how did the Titans fill the voids left by the trade of Kevin Byard and injury to Roger McCreary?

We’ll take a look at those questions and much more as we go over the Titans’ snap counts from their Week 8 win over the Falcons on Sunday.

Mike Vrabel: Titans planned on alternating QBs before Malik Willis fumble

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said the team indeed planned on alternating QBs before Malik Willis’ fumble.

Leading up to their matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, the Tennessee Titans’ plan to alternate quarterbacks Will Levis and Malik Willis was understandably met with plenty of resistance from fans and media alike.

It took less than two minutes into the game for Titans head coach Mike Vrabel to abandon that approach, though.

Following Levis’ three-yard quarterback keeper up the middle on the first series of the game, Willis fumbled a bad snap out of the shotgun formation and didn’t do a good job trying to recover it before the Falcons did. Atlanta would go on to convert a 29-yard field goal off the turnover.

It the best-possible outcome in that situation, but it was also a microcosm of Willis’ disappointing tenure in Tennessee thus far, and it was a terrible look for the Titans’ two-quarterback plan.

Willis ended up playing just two snaps on Sunday and was met with boos from the hometown crowd when he was on the field, although those were likely directed at Vrabel’s decision rather than Willis himself.

Vrabel admitted it was the fumble that led to the Titans abandoning what was apparently a very real plan to alternate the young signal-callers.

“Yeah, we did,” he said on if the Titans had planned to alternate quarterbacks. “And then, obviously, unfortunately, bad snap, got to catch the ball, get on it, any one of those three things have to happen. So, just stayed away from it.”

Vrabel took the high road when asked about Willis’ attempt to pick the fumble up rather than simply falling on it to retain possession.

“I’m not going to comment on his effort, other than to say that we want to make sure that we just recover it instead of picking the ball up,” Vrabel said. “I didn’t have the same view you had, but we want to make sure that we just get on the ball and recover it.”

Levis made the most of his opportunity. The Kentucky product completed 19 of his 29 passing attempts for 238 yards and four touchdowns.

The Kentucky product became the third rookie in NFL history to throw for four touchdowns in his debut, joining former Titans second-overall pick Marcus Mariota (2015) and Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton (1961).

Three of his touchdowns went to star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who entered the day having yet to find the end zone in his first season with the Titans.

The 24-year-old showed why the Titans moved up in the second round of the 2023 NFL draft to get him, and he showed more in one game than Willis has shown in one-plus seasons in Nashville.

Given his performance on Sunday, Levis made it clear who the future quarterback of this franchise is.

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Will Levis passionately defended teammate Malik Willis after Titans fans booed him

Will Levis is a fantastic teammate and leader.

In his first career NFL start, Will Levis dazzled.

No one knew what to expect from the rookie quarterback, and he ended up surprising everyone — including his family — with a four-touchdown performance to help the Tennessee Titans beat the Atlanta Falcons 28-23. (He even opened the door to an awesome DeAndre Hopkins quote.)

But even though Levis shined, his backup and second-year Titans quarterback Malik Willis still received occasional snaps in a competition. With Tennessee playing at home, this led to a lot of strange booing of Willis by his team’s own fans. In his postgame press conference, Levis made sure to highlight this discrepancy, crediting Willis for helping him and the offense prepare. What’s more, he asked Titans fans to “treat him [Willis] correctly” next time.

Phew. Now that’s a great teammate:

Levis was under no obligation to stump for Willis. But even after the best performance of his young pro football career, he stood up for his teammate and friend. That is him showing off some remarkable character and leadership.

Titans players not happy fans booed Malik Willis

Titans QB Will Levis, RB Derrick Henry and WR DeAndre Hopkins all expressed frustration with fans booing QB Malik Willis.

During the Tennessee Titans’ Week 8 win over the Atlanta Falcons, fans were not interested in seeing 2022 third-round pick Malik Willis whenever he was substituted in for rookie quarterback Will Levis.

Fans booed the Liberty product when he stepped on the field, something his teammates weren’t thrilled about. Fellow quarterback Will Levis, running back Derrick Henry and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins all expressed frustration with the treatment Willis received from the home crowd.

“That left a sour taste in all of our mouths hearing those boos when he was coming on the field,” Levis said, per Jim Wyatt. “We’ve got to know that he’s going to be a big part of us going forward to win games, so let’s just come correct next time as fans and treat him correctly.

“I understand fans are frustrated when we lose and it’s not going the way we all planned, but we’re all frustrated,” Henry said, per Wyatt. “We’re all a family, so it doesn’t help being booed when you’re just trying to go in there and make a play… I just feel like (the booing) isn’t needed for somebody that just came in to help us win. Malik is a great kid and a great person and he’ll do anything to help this organization win.”

“For Titans fans, us in the locker room, we don’t appreciate the boos for Malik,” said DeAndre Hopkins. “He’s on this team and he’s part of us. That’s not something I expected coming here, and I don’t think that’s very fair.”

After a week of head coach Mike Vrabel suggesting Willis and Levis could alternate series, the second-year signal-caller played just a few snaps, one of which resulted in a lost fumble that was aided by a bad snap.

I’m just guessing here, but I think the boos were really directed more at Vrabel and the coaching staff for taking Levis out rather than it being directed at Willis himself.

Whatever the case may be, it’ll be interesting to see the response from fans the next time Willis is put into a game at Nissan Stadium. However, we’ll have to wait until Week 12, as the Titans are set for a three-game road trip.

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