Will Levis making progress (mistakes and all) at Titans OTAs
Will Levis was the most polarizing player in the 2023 NFL Draft, and even though Titans fans (mostly those who also cheer for the Tennessee Volunteers) have warmed slightly to their rookie quarterback, the internet couldn’t help but pounce on one of his miscues at Wednesday’s OTA (organized team activity).
During a footwork and passing drill, Levis missed the net on one of his throws, clips of which went viral on Twitter as fans overreacted and rivals took glee in his mistake. “Bum!” “Will Levis missed the whole damn net!” “We’re cooked man.” There was even an entire SB Nation article about it this morning.
Thankfully, that was just one throw Levis made yesterday. I was at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park and got footage of Levis hitting his targets several times prior to the miss. He also completed most of his passes during additional drills and showcased his arm strength on more than one occasion. That said, he did make some blunders, throwing into double coverage and dropping a snap under center, which frustrated him so much that he almost smashed his helmet into the turf before getting up.
In other words, he’s a rookie.
“It was all right,” Levis said of his performance on Wednesday. “I mean, some ups and downs, operationally pretty smooth other than a couple of plays. You know, those things are going to happen. You got to limit those as much as possible. But, you know, a couple of missed throws and a couple of things I could have done better to get us rolling a little bit more efficiently. But I’m just going to keep stacking, keep working to get better every day.”
When asked about the moment he almost pounded his helmet on the field, Levis laughed.
“I tried to compose myself a little bit. I know that I’ve got more opportunities tomorrow and the next day, so I’m not going to beat myself up about it too much.”
Kentucky’s Pro-Style Offense giving Levis a leg up
Charles London joined Tennessee’s staff as quarterbacks coach after two years with the Atlanta Falcons, working with Matt Ryan, Marcus Mariota, and last season, rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder. His experience with the latter is coming in handy with Levis and second-year quarterback Malik Willis, currently the backup to Ryan Tannehill.
“Really, what I’ve learned from a rookie quarterback perspective is you’ve got to push the envelope because you’ve got to throw as much information at them and let them grow from there. And there’s going to be some struggles and you know, there’s going to be some hiccups along the way. But I don’t think you can baby them. I think you just got to throw as much at them and see what sticks.”
All three quarterbacks are learning a new system as Tennessee promoted Tim Kelly from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator in February. London said each has done a great job with the install, studying at night, asking questions, and getting in extra workouts. Playing in Kentucky’s pro-style offense for two seasons has helped Levis too.
“I think Will’s done a good job of just coming in and keeping his mouth shut, going to work, and obviously, he played a pro-style offense at Kentucky, so he’s been in the huddle, he’s called plays, he’s been under center and I think that kind of helped him with his transition so far,” London said.
Levis said his experience at Kentucky has been invaluable.
“Very well,” Levis told KSR of how Kentucky prepared him for the pros. “Very well. I think that what I wanted to get out of my experience at Kentucky in terms of the experience I got was the type of offense I ran, definitely helped my transition and even helped me teach some of the other guys, the new guys here, just kind of what to expect.”
Vrabel has noticed Levis helping his fellow newcomers.
“I think Will is competing, he’s working hard,” Vrabel told KSR. “Trying to take care of those rookie guys. It’s a lot for the receivers and the skill players. That’s part of the job of the quarterback is to make sure that everybody knows where to go, where to line up, what to do. So he’s trying to do that when we work with the rookies in the afternoon. And come out here and practice and try to carry it over to the practice field.”
Addressing accuracy concerns
Levis’ slide out of the first round was the surprise of the draft. Tennessee took an offensive lineman, Peter Skoronski, with their first-round pick — a much-needed, smart choice — and when Levis was still on the board toward the end of the night, the Titans tried to trade up to get him. They finally did, with the second pick of round two.
“Obviously big, strong guy,” London said of his pre-draft evaluation of Levis. “Strong arm, obviously like the fact that he played in a pro-style offense, you could see some of the concepts that you may ask him to do with his level, you could see him do it in college. It just felt like he had tremendous upside.”
Arm strength has never been the question when it comes to Levis. Wednesday showed that he still needs to improve his touch throws, and he knows it.
“Just continue to work on it. The pre-draft training that I did, I think helped me a lot with that. I think my accuracy improved a heck of a lot. Today, had some inaccuracy on a couple of throws, but that’s going to happen regardless of how good you are. I’m just trying to eliminate those. But that’s part of our game that, you know, we’re never going to perfect it, that we can always just keep striving to get better at it but the guys here helped me with a lot too.”
After practice wrapped up, Levis stayed on the field for about five more minutes practicing snaps and getting reps in before leaving to speak with reporters. There’s no doubt he’ll review that botched snap on film in the coming days.
“Very,” Levis said when asked how hard he is on himself when looking at tape. “I mean, I think high standards is the name of the game. It’s not to beat yourself up, but it’s just to give yourself the motivation to go out there and perform to the best of your ability. And when you don’t do that, it puts it in the back of your mind and hopefully, next time a situation like that comes up, you’re able to capitalize.”
The good thing is, there will be plenty of more situations. Wednesday was the Titans’ fifth day of OTAs. From here, they’ve got two more sessions (June 2, June 12-15) and a mandatory mini-camp next week. London is looking forward to seeing how Levis continues to develop.
“Like I said, we’ve thrown a lot at him,” London told KSR. “I think his command of the huddle, he’s done a great job calling the play in the huddle, been very deliberate about it. We talk a lot about first wide, vibe, and vision. So he’s got to come out here and make sure the offense is set, make sure everybody knows what they’re doing. So for a rookie, I’ve been impressed with how he’s come out and operated.”
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