Ranking the NFL Starting Quarterbacks
#28 Will Levis (Tennessee Titans)
As I wrote in my 2023 pre-draft breakdown, there’s a phrase that comes to mind when I watch Will Levis play football: “He can fire that f-ing pigskin.”
The 28th-ranked quarterback on my list has the arm strength to make any throw on the field. And in his first action last season, the Titans did a great job of taking advantage of his best asset:
That’s a 50-yard rocket across the field with a defender in his face so he couldn’t completely transfer his weight. Only a handful of quarterbacks in the league have the ability to make that throw. Here’s a view of it from the end zone angle:
My goodness.
Levis wants to push the ball downfield any chance he gets. In fact, 22.4% of his passes last season traveled 20 yards or more from the line of scrimmage, according to PFF. That led the NFL by a wide margin. 2nd place on that list was at 16.2%.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t very effective attacking downfield. After his first game, where he tossed 3 touchdowns on throws traveling more than 20 yards from the line of scrimmage, he only threw 1 such touchdown over his final 8 starts. He also finished with an 87.5 passer rating on downfield passes, good for 25th in the NFL.
And this speaks a little bit to the concerns with Levis’s game. He really only has one pitch, his fastball, and he loves to use it. Defenses around the league quickly picked up on that after his first game.
He’s not nuanced as a passer. He’s inconsistent when trying to feather throws between 2nd and 3rd-level defenders. He doesn’t always make the right type of throw to beat the coverage. His ball placement is erratic. In fact, he ranked 32nd in on-target % last season, according to Pro-Football-Reference.
There were also issues (in college and during his rookie season) with seeing the field and quickly processing.
Enter new head coach Brian Callahan, who was the Bengals Offensive Coordinator under Zac Taylor (a Sean McVay disciple) for the last 5 seasons. Callahan has experience successfully developing a young quarterback (Joe Burrow). His mission will be to improve Levis’s mechanics and footwork, which will help with the erratic ball placement. Schematically, he’ll try to make Levis a more measured quarterback by creating more defined reads and letting his talent take over.
The Titans also did a great job of adding talent around Levis this offseason in the form of wide receivers Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd. That wide receiver room, which also includes Deandre Hopkins and the talented but oft-injured Treylon Burks, is loaded.
Tennessee also upgraded an offensive line that was one of the worst in the league in pass protection with rookie first-round left tackle JC Latham and free agent center Lloyd Cushenberry.
Levis will have all the help he needs this season when it comes to scheme, pass catchers, and protection. We’ll see if he can maximize his high-level talent in that setting.
Check out the rest of the rankings here:
#32 Bo Nix (Denver Broncos)
#31 Drake Maye (New England Patriots)
#30 J.J. McCarthy (Minnesota Vikings)
#29 Gardner Minshew (Las Vegas Raiders)
#28 Will Levis (Tennessee Titans)
#27 Deshaun Watson (Cleveland Browns)
#26 Anthony Richardson (Indianapolis Colts)
#25 Bryce Young (Carolina Panthers)
#24 Daniel Jones (New York Giants)
#23 Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders)
#22 Caleb Williams (Chicago Bears)
#21 Geno Smith (Seattle Seahawks)
#20 Russell Wilson (Pittsburgh Steelers)
#19 Derek Carr (New Orleans Saints)
#18 Baker Mayfield (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
#17 Kyler Murray (Arizona Cardinals)
#16 Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars)
#15 Jared Goff (Detroit Lions)
#14 Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins)
#13 Kirk Cousins (Atlanta Falcons)
#12 Jalen Hurts (Philadelphia Eagles)
#11 Brock Purdy (San Francisco 49ers)
#10 Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers)
#9 Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys)
#8 C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans)
#7 Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers)
#6 Aaron Rodgers (New York Jets)
#5 Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles Rams)
#4 Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens)
#3 Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals)
#2 Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)
#1 Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs)