Titans QB Battle Set to Heat Up

The Tennessee Titans have fierce competition on their hands for QB2.

Oct 29, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) and quarterback Malik Willis (7) warm up before the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Nissan Stadium / Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The Tennessee Titans training camp starts July 23 and one of the biggest question marks for the team is at the quarterback position.

Will Levis is one of the players in the NFL under the most pressure heading into the upcoming season, which seems slightly unfair considering it'll only be his sophomore season, but that's just how quick starting quarterback opportunities come and go.

Even though Levis isn't a bonafide NFL starting quarterback, he will be the starting quarterback for the Titans this season, so the training camp battle will shift to the backup role between Mason Rudolph and Malik Willis.

Rudolph was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 76th pick in the third round of the 2018 draft to eventually become the starter after Ben Roethlisberger retires, however that never really came to fruition.

In four seasons, 21 total games played for the Steelers, Rudolph recorded 3,085 passing yards, 19 touchdowns. and 11 interceptions. He has a career 63.5% completion and a passer rating of 86.9.

As for Malik Willis, he has had more of an up-and-down two-year career. The craziness and confusion started with the 2022 NFL Draft class where he was often a first-round pick in many mock drafts, including NFL Media Analyst Daniel Jeremiah's Mock Draft 1.0 where Willis falls to the Detroit Lions at No. 32, Mock Draft 2.0 where he's selected No. 20 to the Steelers, and again in his final Mock Draft 4.0 where he goes again at No. 32 to the Lions.

Jeremiah said, "I could see Willis going in the top 10 or he could land all the way down here at No. 32. His draft range is a great example of what we can be certain about in this draft: absolutely nothing."

Ultimately Willis was selected by the Titans with the 86th pick in the third round, after the Atlanta Falcons' Desmond Ridder at No. 74.

NFL Networks Ian Rapoport said this regarding Willis' draft fall: "Everybody loves the talent, but the offense he plays in is so simple. There are questions [about] how quickly could he get acclimated to the NFL? Could it take one year? Could it take two years? That certainly has led to some of the hesitancy with him not getting selected."

Ultimately the suspicions have panned out thus far because in Willis' rookie season he recorded 276 passing yards, zero touchdowns, and three interceptions over eight games with a 50.8% completion, 4.5 yards per completion, and a passer rating of 42.8.

Willis was able to add 123 rushing yards on 27 carries and his lone career NFL touchdown on the ground, while also fumbling three times.

The good news for Malik Willis fans: there is an entirely new offensive system in Tennessee under new head coach Brian Callahan and new offensive coordinator Nick Holz.

The other positive note is that maybe Rapoport was spot on two years ago and it really did take Willis two years to adapt to NFL defenses.

Heading in to training camp, the obvious answer for QB2 seems to be Rudolph, but I doubt Willis will just hand the role over.

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