My Two Cents: Titans Make Quick Work of Snaring QB Will Levis During Friday Happy Hour

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis was in free-fall during the 2023 NFL Draft, but the Tennessee Titans were there to catch him on Friday night, trading up nine spots to draft him early in the second round. It's a risk and a lot of fans hate the move, but it fills a need, and now we'll see if it works out in the next couple of years.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Those of you who work 9-to-5 jobs know what it's like on a Friday when 4:30 or so rolls around. You keep looking at your watch — or your phone for you youngsters who don't own a watch — and can't wait for 5 o'clock to roll around so you can get to the fun.

The Tennessee Titans were in that happy hour kind of mode on Friday. It was Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft, and there was work to be done — but there was also fun to be had.

The Titans had their eyes on a prize, and sitting with the 10th pick in the second round, they needed to get bold to do it. And that's exactly what they did.

The Tennessee brass, who spent much of Thursday talking trade with Arizona when there was hope the Titans could steal Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud with the No. 3 pick the Cardinals owned, dialed up the Cardinals again.

Stroud threw for 85 touchdowns in two years at Ohio State, so he'll be an interesting Fanduel Fantasy option this season. He went No. 2 to the Houston Texans, who have the second-longest odds to win the Super Bowl this season according to the Fanduel gambling website.

The target? The No. 33 overall pick, and the second one on Friday night that the Cardinals owned and had to be used just a few minutes after the 6 p.m. CT bell rang Friday night to start the draft.

The trade was done, and the Titans got their man, much-maligned Kentucky quarterback Will Levis, a projected top-five pick who fell completely out of the first round on Thursday night, waiting for hours in the green room here in Kansas City without his name being called.

Levis left KC in disgust and went home, and had a nightmarish travel day. But then it all got better quickly on Friday night, just after he got back to his Connecticut home. The Titans had their quarterback of the future, and Levis had himself a team.

Finally.

"I stayed positive, and I knew what was meant to be was going to happen," Levis said on a Zoom call after the Titans' choice. "When I saw (the Titans) traded up for me, that alone was telling me that they wanted me, they wanted this to happen. I am really, really excited and thankful for the opportunity.

"It was so funny. I was starving, I got home, put the bags down, went to get some food, and as I was stuffing my face, I got the call. I was ecstatic to get the call. It was bang-bang-bang."

#TitanUp, #BBN! pic.twitter.com/FUjPiKFPfr

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) April 29, 2023

There's a lot of uncertainty about this choice among the Titans faithful. Part of it comes from all the bad stuff they've heard about Levis in the past 24 hours when his draft stock was plummeting like a lead balloon. More of it comes from six months of draft preparation, where the good, the bad and the ugly has all been discussed.

Levis has been a bit polarizing. There are a lot of NFL folks who think he has a bright pro future. Others aren't so sure. He has flaws — some say a lot of them — but he also has a lot of upside, too. He's got a rocket for an arm, he's seen SEC defenses for two years and he's a big, strong kid, checking in at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds.

It wasn't worth moving up in the first round for him, but to do so in the second was just fine. The Titans really didn't have to give up much to get him. And as a second-round pick, he won't be that expensive. Logan Hall was drafted by Tampa Bay with the No. 33 pick last year, and his slotted four-year deal was for a total on $9.3 million. 

That's very inexpensive quarterback money these days, considered the $50-million annual contracts that have been doled out lately.

We've written about the Titans' quarterback situation ad nauseam, but for good reason. There's nothing more important on a team. We know that 35-year-old Ryan Tannehill is in the last year of his contract, and this will almost certainly be his final year in Tennessee. Going forward, they need a quarterback of the future.

And now, Levis is that guy.

The Titans drafted Malik Willis last year, but he failed to impress during his rookie season and no one thinks he's the future. Titans general manager Ran Carthon thinks Levis is that guy now, but he's also a prospect that will need some time to acclimate to the NFL game. Being able to play behind Tannehill in 2023 and learn from a veteran is a good thing.

What the Levis pick does is basically eliminate the worry about having to ''tank'' for a top quarterback pick in 2024. They can move forward now, and hope for the best. Of course, there are no guarantees with Levis — I'm not sold, but I'm excited to see that upside emerge — and that's what how it works with rookies. They watch and learn, and we watch, too.

The Titans did have a late pick in the third round as part of the Cardinals swap, and took a running back with the 81st overall pick, which was something of a surprise. They took exciting Tulane running back Tyjae Spears of Tulane. He had a couple of ACL injuries early in his career, but last year he rushed for 1,581 yards during the Green Wave's stunning 12-2 season that included a Cotton Bowl win over No. 10-ranked USC.

What did Spears do in that bowl game? He only rushed for 205 yards and four touchdowns.

What's weird about Carthon's first draft was that he made it clear it was time to figure out the future, too. The two most important pieces in recent Titans history have been running back Derrick Henry and Tannehill, the quarterback.

What does Carthon do on Friday? He takes a quarterback and a running back, despite so many other needs, like wide receiver, or maybe even some defensive players.

It's almost irrelevant to give these two picks a grade — though we will — because in reality, we can't fairly do that for at least a couple of years.

This we know. Will Levis is now a Titan. He's very excited about it, and so are Carthon and Vrabel.

I suppose we should, too.