It seems the Titans are excited and ready to roll with their second-year player Will Levis as their starting quarterback in the 2024 season.
Levis showed great potential throughout the 2024 season. Some of the moments that showed promise for Will Levis was his first NFL start where he threw for 238 yards and four touchdowns in a 28-23 win against the Atlanta Falcons. Another one could be when he led a Titans’ comeback from down 27-13 with only a little over three minutes left in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Dolphins 28-27 on the road.
There were several instances in the 2023 season where Levis showed he is built to be a starting quarterback in the National Football League. But what happens if he goes down with an injury?
Who steps up?
At this current moment, the only quarterbacks on the Titans’ roster are Will Levis and Malik Willis. With Levis as the starter, if he goes down, the next quarterback would be Willis. With the Titans having made several moves in free agency so far, it is possible that signing a backup quarterback with more skill and experience is something that is on their to-do list.
Some names that are already off the board are Gardner Minshew, who recently signed a two-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. and Sam Darnold, who signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings. Jameis Winston signed with the Cleveland Browns on a one-year deal and Marcus Mariota signed a one-year deal with the Washington Commanders.
There are a few good names on the free agency quarterback list that might be worth taking a look into:
1. Ryan Tannehill
Tannehill was the Titans’ starting quarterback who took over after former head coach Mike Vrabel benched Marcus Mariota after a 2-4 start to the 2019-2020 season. When Tannehill took over, he took the Titans to a 7-3 record in the last ten games of the regular season where they ended 9-7 and 2nd in the AFC South where they went to the playoffs. In the 2020 playoffs, Tannehill led them in beating the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens en route to a AFC championship berth where they lost 35-24 to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Tannehill was also their starting quarterback who took them to a winning season where they became the AFC one seed in the 2022 playoffs without Derrick Henry before having an awful game in the divisional round where he threw three interceptions and lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 19-16.
Ryan Tannehill has shown he has what it takes to be a talented and disciplined quarterback in this league but he may be on the decline with how fans have seen him perform over the last couple seasons.
Tannehill is currently a free agent looking for a new home for the 2024 season. There are several quarterback openings that he could pursue like Minnesota or Las Vegas but if there are no opportunities for the team or Tannehill, there is a possibility the team could bring him back on a small, affordable deal to continue to mentor and work with quarterback Will Levis.
2. Joe Flacco
The resurgence of veteran quarterback Joe Flacco was such a fun thing to watch in the 2023 season.
After bouncing around several teams from 2018-2023, Flacco found a home with the Cleveland Browns. Before landing with the Browns, he played for the Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles, and New York Jets. Flacco was signed by the Browns in week 12 of the 2023 season, going from the practice squad to a starting quarterback who came out and took them to the playoffs.
Flacco’s 2023 season with the Browns was a dream scenario and was an NFL spectacle last season. Though the Browns were one and done in the playoffs, free agent Joe Flacco has plenty of tape to show he’s worthy of a good contract with any team.
If the Titans were to sign Flacco to be their backup quarterback, he could do great things in mentoring young Will Levis. With the experience and resume of success, he could be a key factor in crafting Levis’ success. Plus if Levis were to get hurt next season, after seeing what Flacco showed the world last season, Titans fans would be comfortable seeing this guy step on the field.
3. Joshua Dobbs
Over the past couple of seasons, Dobbs has stepped up when asked and answered the call for several different teams. Just last year, Dobbs was a starting quarterback in the NFL for two different teams, the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings. When the 2023 season began, Dobbs was the starter for the Cardinals and despite only winning one game with them, he showed tremendous skill and determination especially since his one and only Cardinals win came against the Dallas Cowboys, who were one of the NFL’s best teams at the time.
Then, before the trade deadline, he was traded to the Minnesota Vikings who had just lost their starting quarterback, Kirk Cousins, to an Achilles tear that put him out for the rest of the 2023 season. The Vikings had been on a win streak before Dobbs got there so expectations were high but Vikings fans did not expect for Dobbs to come in on such short notice and perform to get them a hard earned win.
At the end of the 2022 season, Dobbs even started two games for the Tennessee Titans to end their year. He made good, smart plays at the quarterback position when he was quarterback for the Titans but both games were losses, including a last-game loss against the Jaguars to miss the playoffs.
Since then, Dobbs has proven himself to be a smart quarterback in the league who could be an asset to Will Levis’ development. It’s not rocket science after all.
With everything the Titans are dealing with, a backup quarterback signing probably is not first on their to-do list but if they decide to make a move to get one, these are competent, secure choices.