Job 1 for Titans Offensive Coordinator: Give QB Will Levis the Education to Succeed
NASHVILLE — How Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan and offensive coordinator Nick Holz will be judged starts with their relationship with quarterback Will Levis.
During Wednesday's introductory press conference, Holz expressed confidence in Levis' abilities as a QB.
"Starting to watch him when I was with the Jags as opponent crossover film, the first thing that kind of jumped off is obviously the arm talent, And then the second thing, I would say, that really jumps off is the toughness," Callahan said. "I think we talk about, for quarterbacks, really the three things we're looking for is decision-making, accuracy, and toughness, and you saw all that."
Levis started nine games in 2023, completing 149-of-255 passes (58.4%) for 1,808 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions, resulting in a passer rating of 84.2 with a mix of highs and lows.
NFL writer Derrick Klassen of the 33rd Team believes strengths could be deceptive if they aren't appropriately honed. He ranked Levis 28th out of 32 starting quarterbacks.
"Levis has some traits you can't teach. For one, he has one of the league's strongest arms. The ball absolutely jumps out of his hand," Klassen wrote. "Levis is also tough as nails in the pocket, sometimes to his detriment. He is an old-school gunslinger with a penchant for chucking it deep and zero aversion to being hit.
"Levis has a lot to fix, though. He needs to clean up his footwork, speed up his clock as a passer, and improve his down-to-down accuracy from terrible to average."
Levis acknowledged in a recent interview with tennesseetitans.com that he wasn't nearly satisfied with his performance last season.
Definitely not satisfied," Levis told tenesseetitans reporter Jim Wyatt. "I know we had the opportunity to win a lot more games than we did, but you can't fret about all those things, all you can do is look at the tape and do what you can to improve. For me, for one, it's about getting healthy, which I am close to now, which is a great feeling...
"I am looking forward to just getting my athleticism back a little bit, getting my legs back, and just being able to be more of a (complete) player than I was this past year."
Holz will not be calling plays, but he will be heavily involved in game planning with Levis. Holz appeared eager to work.
"I'm sure he would say he probably wants to improve in some of those areas and things like that," But you can see that baseline there for him of that those skills are there. And so, I think it's a reason what made this job probably so attractive to Brian (Callahan) and probably the rest of us.
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