The Tennessee Titans invested so much in Will Levis. That's their fault | Estes
See that writing on the wall? It was there before Sunday, but now there’s no ignoring it. Even for those of us who’ve been resisting, waiting, hoping, believing.
And with quarterback Will Levis, no one has wanted to believe more than the Tennessee Titans.
They've invested so much in him. Hired a respected quarterback whisperer in Brian Callahan as head coach to work with him. Signed expensive offensive talent to join him. Put an entire season in the hands of someone who'd played only half a season in the NFL.
Levis wasn’t just a promising young quarterback for the Titans. He was the man for their moment. The newest face and future hope of a franchise that lost Derrick Henry and needs star power to lure fans into expensive seats in a new stadium.
Levis was that celebrity. Dude has been everywhere. Commercials. Public appearances. Anointed by the Tennessee Titans as a team leader and prominent voice.
When we think back on Levis in Tennessee, we’ll remember all of that.
We’ll also remember how he’d done so little to earn it.
Perhaps that’s why Titans fans at Nissan Stadium cheered so loudly when Levis was benched for Mason Rudolph on Sunday after throwing his third interception of the game and fourth pick-six of the season.
Those cheers, I sensed, were a long time coming. They weren’t fair to Levis, but I don’t suspect they were really about him. They were more so a vote against the status quo of the struggling franchise, which has been eager lately to brag about itself without offering anything to back it up.
So Levis — a second-round pick who had his own mayonnaise cologne — was benched, and his own fans cheered his demise, and whatever else happened during the Titans’ 37-27 sloppy defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals was immaterial to the Titans insinuating that they’d reached a verdict on their great quarterback referendum of 2024.
Not only did Callahan issue a thumbs-down during Levis' tough afternoon. He didn’t even talk to Levis when he did.
Levis said he spoke only to quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree on the sideline.
“He just told me, 'You turned the ball over four times, man. That's what happens,' ” Levis said of Hardegree. “There was no fight. I just understood it, and it sucks.”
The scene contrasted sharply from earlier this season, when Rudolph stepped in for an injured Levis to lead the Titans to a Monday night win in Miami. Afterward, Callahan didn't waver on Levis remaining the starter once healthy.
Levis was his guy. Callahan had held firm on that since taking the Titans job.
Until Sunday.
Callahan didn’t commit to either quarterback. He also didn’t blame Levis’ ailing shoulder for what happened, or mince words about the fact “there’s too many negatives (with Levis) that don’t give us a chance to win the game.”
Not much else needed to be said.
Once a coach loses confidence that his starting quarterback can win, it’s nearly impossible to get it back.
If the Titans are indeed out on Levis, that's bad for him. But it's a larger "L" for them. It'd represent a massive failure on a franchise-wide scale.
The Titans have been determined to give Levis every opportunity to be successful in 2024 because it would be a whole lot better for everyone in the franchise if he was.
Better for Callahan, whose primary job from Day 1 was to coach up Levis.
Better for Titans general manager Ran Carthon, who traded up to draft Levis after saying at his introductory news conference in 2023: “This is a quarterback-driven league, and people are hired and fired every day over that position.”
Sunday’s in-game decision was a big deal. It carries far-reaching implications. It likely means the Titans have accepted that they’ll need to find a new starting quarterback this offseason in addition to everything else this roster lacks, and in that case, the blow-it-up-entirely path becomes more feasible. Levis excelling would have provided reason to retain both Callahan and Carthon.
Instead, if you're bringing in a new quarterback, it wouldn't matter if the previous one spent an entire season learning Callahan's system. It'd make sense, too, for a new front office to be in place to select its own QB in 2025, rather than one that'd be on the hot seat.
There are three relatively meaningless games left this season. Yet with this move, Callahan made it clear that he intends to do everything he can to win those games, even if it’s giving up on a quarterback whose tenure is closely tied to his own.
Levis may still be out there playing. He might play well, too. He’s capable. He could still be a serviceable pro quarterback and have a nice NFL career, whether it’s here or somewhere else. Can’t rule that out. He might even end up starting next season for the Titans by default.
On Sunday, however, Levis made one or two mistakes too many. And as of Sunday, his long-term future in Tennessee is no longer worth debating. Everyone can see where this is headed.
The real debates? Those will start on the Titans’ front office and coaching staff.
Levis’ failure would be theirs, too.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.