Just one year after drafting Malik Willis with the No. 86 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans have reportedly lost faith in the former Liberty signal caller, per Peter King of NBC Sports. Did the Titans set Willis up for failure from day one?
Not every quarterback drafted is going to become a superstar in the NFL. Some are drafted to be career back-ups, and the hit rate on quarterbacks is likely lower than most positions, so finding your franchise guy isn’t a guarantee. Some teams go years without finding their guy.
The Titans were optimistic that Willis could be their long-term quarterback. Ryan Tannehill was entering his age-34 season and would be costing the Titans a boatload of money over the next couple of seasons – which is why implementing a succession plan sooner, rather than later was key.
The timeline also made sense as well. Willis was an incredibly raw quarterback coming out of college. His arm talent and physical ability were obvious, but fundamentally, Willis needed more reps against better competition in order to fix many of the hiccups in his game in order to be successful.
A redshirt year, giving him time to sit behind a seasoned pro like Tannehill and improve his game, while learning day in and day out would be vital for his development. If anything, that line of thinking was a necessity.
Putting Willis in as relief or as a starter at any point in the 2022 season was going to lead to trouble. The Titans’ offense never looked threatening, even with Tannehill under center and Derrick Henry in the backfield. The passing game was always going to take a nosedive after trading away AJ Brown on draft night, leaving Robert Woods and Treylon Burks in charge of catching passes. Even with Ryan Tannehill throwing behind a porous offensive line, there was every chance the Titans’ offense would truly struggle. In an ideal world, the Titans would bubble-wrap Willis at all costs.
However, the Titans were faced with a dilemma when Ryan Tannehill went down with an injury. With no other quarterback on the roster, Willis was thrown into the fire behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league while still being incredibly raw. Expecting any sort of tangible improvement considering the circumstances and Willis’ lack of experience was setting yourself up for disappointment.
Unsurprisingly, Willis struggled out of the gate. His athleticism flashed, but he completed just 52 percent of his passes for 270 yards in three starts and looked out of his depth before being replaced by Josh Dobbs who was brought in for the final two games of the season. The fact the Titans remained in the playoff hunt as long as they did speaks volumes about their coaching staff. But if they were so dead set on pushing for the playoffs, why not bring in another option sooner rather than put Willis in an untenable situation?
And now, it would appear as though the Titans have lost faith in Willis after just one year which is disappointing. Willis was always going to take time to find his feet in the NFL. He may never have found them for what it’s worth because, like we said, not every quarterback can be a superstar. But losing faith in him after just one season in an all-around bad offense screams organizational failure. The Titans should have known what they were getting themselves into had they done their due diligence.
Willis isn’t without blame at all, his performances were disappointing, but the context is important. Giving up on a player so soon doesn’t do anyone any favours. Whether the Titans losing faith in Willis means his time in Tennessee could be short-lived is up for debate.
With Tennessee trading up to number 33 to select former Kentucky QB Will Levis at the NFL draft, the quarterback room in Nashville is now even murkier heading into training camp.
The market for Willis with the draft in the rearview mirror is likely to be limited, but he’s still young and has a cheap contract for the next three seasons. A shake-up and moving to a team that has the patience to nurture him might be needed.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.