Reloading in Tennessee: Who will be the Titans’ QB in September?
As free agency and the draft inch closer, speculation in Nashville swirls around who’ll be the Titans Quarterback heading into the next season.
As the curtain came down in Jacksonville on the Titans 2022 campaign, Tennessee failed to make the play-offs for only the second time during Mike Vrabel’s tenure as Coach. In the aftermath of the “winner takes all” AFC South showdown, focus swiftly turned to who would be leading the offense in 2023.
The surprise draft-night trade last spring of WR AJ Brown to the Eagles raised eyebrows amongst the ‘Two-Tone Blue Nation’, with that surprise morphing into frustration as Brown’s season progressed, eventually culminating in a Super Bowl touchdown after a remarkable season.
But the signing of Rams WR Robert Woods, first-round drafting of Treylon Burks and re-signing of Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, the team’s second leading receiver in 2021, offered options for QB Ryan Tannehill who was looking to bounce-back last season following three interceptions in last year’s divisional round loss to the Bengals.
Whether Tannehill had the opportunity to excel this last season remains questionable though– a combination of injuries (almost three dozen players were placed on injured reserve this year), a poor O-Line and unnecessary penalties (the Titans were joint-fourth for team penalties this last season) certainly didn’t help. The constant running of plays via Henry came under continuous critique too, which led to fans further souring on offensive coordinator Todd Downing before his eventual departure.
In Week 7, Tannehill suffered an ankle injury, which later lead to surgery following a defeat on the road to the Chargers in Week 15. As a result, rookie Malik Willis started his first game in Week 16 against the Texans.
In pre-season, Willis offered hope he was the Titans’ future star QB – so much so in fact, that when indie-darlings The Strokes played Nissan Stadium in August, frontman Julian Casablancas congratulated the audience on their “future legend quarterback”.
In that game against the Texans, the Titans blew a fourth-quarter lead, the fifth game in an eventual 7-game losing skid. Willis threw for 99 yards, failing to throw for 100 in all three games he started through the season.
As the Titans needed to dig even deeper for a play-off push, and with Tannehill officially out, opinion was split on Willis. The Titans limped into Week 17, having not won a game since mid-November at Green Bay, and with the AFC South momentum tipping towards Duval County, it became apparent that the Titans didn’t see Willis as their first choice.
Just three days before their game against the Texans, the Titans announced the signing of Joshua Dobbs from the Detroit Lions practice squad. A former Vols player, Dobbs hadn’t played a snap since 2020 and the following week’s home tie against the Cowboys was his in fact his first start. Dobbs ended up throwing for 232 and his first career touchdown, just eight days after signing.
In spite of the 27-13 loss, in what was a meaningless game ahead of the Week 18 battle with the Jags, the overarching narrative was clear: Willis wasn’t ready to pick up the mantle and Dobbs, a fourth-round pick in 2017, was the best chance the Titans had to win in Jacksonville. Eventually, a forced fumble on Dobbs that night led to a return touchdown which brought their season to a disappointing finale.
Looking ahead
So where do Tennessee go from here? Or, more importantly, what does new general manager Ran Carthon envision? This last week the Titans released four players, although perhaps none of those releases came as a great revelation.
One thing we do know is that the Titans aren’t necessarily looking for a complete overhaul, with reports that one of the reasons Carthon was hired – aside from his impressive résumé with the 49ers – was his belief that an entire rebuild is not necessary.
The options:
Ryan Tannehill
Previous signs suggested Tannehill would remain the first-choice in Tennessee, but recent cuts have re-opened gossip about a potential release.
The fifth-highest cap among quarterbacks, cutting Tannehill would save $17.8 million in cap space. Post-1st June, this will grow to $27 million. Reports about trades to the Panthers and Jets have circulated in the offseason whisperings, but at time of writing bear no real fruit.
Malik Willis
Willis is currently expected to remain back-up to Tannehill, and for critics who argue he progressed in some areas, others will highlight areas where he didn’t. Willis retains promise, but expectations need to be managed with any immediate judgement being overly premature.
Josh Dobbs
Make no mistake, Dobbs would love to stay, and as a Vols legend has a groundswell of support from fans. In his two starts, he passed for 411 yards, notwithstanding the fledgling efforts of the team and trials they encountered as the season wore on. Affordable too, Coach Vrabel also values how Dobbs sees the game and he could become invaluable in helping to develop rookie Willis.
Trades
As quickly as rumours surface they vanish, with the Titans having already been tenuously linked to Brady ahead of his subsequent second retirement (and perchance not his last it could seem…); Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson too.
Trey Lance was perhaps a more reasonable target, with logic being amplified by the connection with the new GM. That said, with breakout-star Brock Purdy not being healthy in time for the new season, Lance looks set to stay in San Francisco.
Interest was similarly expressed in former Raiders QB Derek Carr, who has hit the free agent market early. The Jets apparently see him as their missing piece in their turnaround, but that seems to have cooled in recent days and Carr seems to be in no great rush to make a decision. Carr is certainly a viable option for the Titans, but conceivably not much more so than Tannehill.
The Draft
Both Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud could be options for the Titans in this year’s draft. However, currently with the 11th pick, they’ll need to do some trading to move up in order to secure either. Anthony Richardson and Will Levis may be other options to consider.
Arguably though, the offensive line needs looking at first. Taylor Lewan has gone, Dennis Daley is unlikely to be back and the current thinking is Ben Jones won’t be back either. The WR Corps also needs strengthening too.
The Titans are understandably putting their faith into Carthon and will need to wait to see what comes next. Ultimately, it’s a waiting game – or is it? Patience is always a virtue, but with the first four releases earlier this week, maybe we’ll see some indication sooner rather than later of who the franchise is going with – or simply sticking with – at QB.
