After 1st-round freefall, Levis to Titans at No. 33
After tumbling out of the first round of the NFL draft, Will Levis finally found a home with the Titans, who…
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After tumbling out of the first round of the NFL draft, Will Levis finally found a home with the Tennessee Titans, who traded up Friday night to select the former Kentucky quarterback with the No. 33 overall pick.
After not taking a quarterback in Thursday’s first round, the Titans made an aggressive move for their potential quarterback of the future one night later by agreeing to a trade with the Arizona Cardinals, who acquired a second-round pick (No. 41 overall) and third-round pick (No. 72) in this year’s draft and a third-rounder in 2024.
The Titans also received a third-round pick (No. 81) from the Cardinals to land Levis, who was widely projected to be selected in the first round Thursday but was still available ahead of Friday’s second round.
Levis completed 65.4% of his passes last season at Kentucky for 2,406 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The two-time captain finished his career with a 17-7 record as a starter, tying Terry Wilson for Kentucky’s second-most quarterback wins since 1993.
With veteran Ryan Tannehill expected to be the Titans’ starter this season, Levis will get the opportunity to spend a year in an understudy role. At age 35, Tannehill’s contract has two voidable years at a combined $9.2 million in cap charges after the 2023 season.
Barring any setbacks, Levis will take over as the starter in 2024 if the Titans void the remaining two years on Tannehill’s deal. In the meantime, Levis will compete with Tennessee’s 2022 third-round pick, Malik Willis, to be Tannehill’s backup under new offensive coordinator Tim Kelly.
The Titans started their draft by taking Northwestern offensive tackle Peter Skoronski at No. 11 overall Thursday night as they continued rebuilding their offensive line.
This is the second straight draft the Titans have traded up and drafted a quarterback. Former general manager Jon Robinson, who was fired in December, traded up last year to take Willis out of Liberty at No. 86 overall.
Willis started three of the eight games he played, and he threw for 276 yards with three interceptions and no touchdowns before being benched for Joshua Dobbs, who was signed Dec. 21 to help get Tennessee into the playoffs.
Tannehill passed for 2,536 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions last season.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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