Titans Could Turn Out to be Perfect Team for Levis

Will Levis with UK offensive coordinator Liam Coen. (Twitter Photo)

He didn’t go in the first round of the NFL draft and he’s not going to make nearly as much money the next four years as anticipated when he was being projected as a top 15 draft pick by most mock drafts.

However, Kentucky quarterback Will Levis went to the Tennessee Titans with the second pick in the second round Friday — the 33rd overall pick in the draft. Many thought the Titans might take him with the 11th pick in the first round but passed on Levis. But Tennessee traded up eight places in the second round giving up the 41st and 72nd picks in this year’s draft along with a third-round pick in the 2024 draft to be able to pick Levis.

He’s the highest-drafted quarterback at UK since Tim Couch went No. 1 overall in 1999. He won 17 games in two years at UK and threw for  5,233 yards, sixth on UK’s career list, and 43 touchdowns,  fifth all-time at UK. He had six 300-yard passing games.

Levis was in Kansas City Thursday for the draft — one of the players invited by the NFL in anticipation of him being a first-round draft pick. He was not on site Friday when his name was called.

Critics cited worries about his accuracy, turnovers and injuries when he dropped out of the first round Thursday. However, he has played in a pro-style offense under Liam Coen and Rich Scangarello, both NFL assistants, and has perhaps the strongest arm in the draft.

Tennessee returns veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill,  a player who does not have the same mobility that a healthy Levis does. The Titans also have backup quarterback Malik Willis, a third-round draft pick in 2022 who also fell further than anticipated.

The Titans likely see Tannehill, 34, as the perfect mentor for Levis in the final year of his contract. But Levis will have to show he’s a better backup option going into the season than Willis, who made several starts last year when Tannehill was hurt.

Levis certainly will be even more motivated to prove he should have been drafted higher and is a better player than his draft status indicates.

But now he has his chance to do that and if he plays as well as those around UK believe he can, then his next contract will help ease the pain of the dollars he missed out by not being a top-15 pick this year.