Gentry EstesNashville Tennessean
Quarterback Will Levis said he loves what his Tennessee Titans have done this offseason.
I’ll bet he does.
Let me just count the ways:
They hired a celebrated quarterback whisperer in new coach Brian Callahan. They used a No. 7 overall draft pick on offensive tackle JC Latham. They paid up to sign free agent center Lloyd Cushenberry. They paid even more to add Calvin Ridley — and then Tyler Boyd later — to a unit that already had DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks, giving the Titans their deepest group of receivers since the franchise was run-and-shooting around Houston's Astrodome.
“It means that they're not afraid to make those investments," Levis said of the moves, "and they want to go win. Which is awesome to see.”
These Titans wouldn’t be investing in such a way if they weren’t planning to throw the ball a lot, and they wouldn’t be planning to throw it a lot if they didn’t believe they already had the quarterback to do it.
This will be Levis’ show in 2024 — and if the Titans are correct about him, many seasons after that, too.
So much about this Titans offseason has reflected the franchise’s commitment to Levis. They are giving him so much of what a quarterback needs to develop in his second NFL season. Levis, one could argue, has been given more support in one offseason than his predecessors Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill ever did.
New teammates? Sure. But even more important was Callahan’s addition.
The biggest selling point to the Titans’ coaching hire was Callahan’s history with elite quarterbacks. Guys like Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow have all raved about working with him.
Callahan received a lot of credit for Burrow’s growth in Cincinnati from a top Bengals draft pick to one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, so much so that a 2022 story by The Athletic’s Dan Pompei included this from Burrow: “I consider us friends, which is rare to consider yourself as a player to be friends with a coach.”
“I've never really had that,” Levis said, “I feel like, where it's like a friend with a coach. You always have that dynamic of, like, he's the boss and I'm his worker. But (Callahan) has done a good job of coming in with the mindset of, 'Hey, I'm the coach. What I say goes. I'm going to tell you guys what to do, but I'm also here for you guys and to talk about anything.' "
ESTES: Meet the man who believes he can help fix the Tennessee Titans' injury problems
The Titans signed Mason Rudolph this offseason, too. But he's a backup. No doubt. Never even a hint about it.
When Callahan speaks publicly about Levis, it’s already in a manner that reflects the quarterback’s importance: “He shoulders a lot of this franchise.” That’s plenty of responsibility for a second-year quarterback, but it’s similar to what Burrow faced in Cincinnati.
There are similarities to then and now with Levis, said Callahan. But differences, too.
“I use a lot of the things that I learned there here now,” Callahan said. “But Will is not Joe. And that's OK. We can still be a really good football team and Will can be a really good quarterback. He doesn't have to be Joe Burrow. He just has to be Will Levis.”
Obviously, it’s still early in the relationship between Callahan and Levis, who said he stayed around Nashville this offseason and is already well into the process of learning a new offense.
He has been looking back at the efforts of Manning and Stafford and Burrow. He says, of course, that he wants to get to that level with Callahan.
“But I don't want to be them. I want to be me. I want to perform and exceed the levels that they performed at.”
In looking back at Levis’ past few football seasons, there’s reason to think the ceiling is higher for him than he has shown. At Kentucky, he lacked the skill talent of other SEC passing games, and in his final season, the Wildcats’ offensive line was terrible. Levis fought injuries much of the time.
ESTES: Calvin Ridley doesn't just make Titans better. He makes them fun
Then in Levis’ first season in the NFL, the Titans’ offensive line was also terrible. And Levis got hurt.
What if he’s healthy? And has a legitimate offensive line? And a lot of receiving talent? And an offense designed to make the most of his arm?
“Being able to throw the ball a little more,” Levis said. “Obviously, that comes with trust in the quarterback, and I've got to earn that. But (Callahan) making it a point to me, like, 'Hey, we're going to throw the ball. We're going to throw the ball on first down. We're going to throw the ball in all type of situations. And it's going to be on you, and we're going to trust you to do it.' "
Clearly, the Titans do trust Levis. If that wasn't clear before this offseason, it is now.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.
