Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Will Levis DEEP DIVE: Strengths/Weaknesses, Kentucky Experience & Personal Background

Episode Date: May 8, 2023

The Tennessee Titans made a huge move when they traded up to draft Kentucky QB Will Levis in the 2023 NFL Draft. Who are the Titans getting? First, Tyler dives into the tape to explain who Levis is as a player. What strengths and weaknesses does he have and how does he fit with the Titans? Next, Lance Dawe from Locked On Kentucky joins the show to explain the Will Levis experience at Kentucky. Finally, what was Will Levis background like and why should it give Titans fans confidence?Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist who can take you on that journey of self-discovery from wherever you are. Visit BetterHelp.com/lockedon today to get 10% off your first month.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Will Levis has a chance to be special. I'll explain why on a Will Levis deep dive edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. Let's get it! You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, we're doing a Will Levis deep dive on today's show.

I'm going to talk about Will Levis as a player, his strengths and weaknesses, and how he fits within the Titans offense. We're also going to get some additional perspective from my guy Lance Dahl of Locked on Kentucky. And then we're going to talk about Will Levis' background as a person going back further than just college as well, all on today's show. Do want to let you know that today's episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist who can take you on that journey of self-discovery from wherever you are.

on that journey of self-discovery from wherever you are, visit betterhelp.com slash locked on to get 10% off your first month today. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, nearly 25 years a Tennessee Titans fanatic and a certified film junkie breaking down the X's and O's with you guys Monday through Friday. This is the Locked on Titans podcast

Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms all year long and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed and stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Shout out to my everydayers out there as well listening to the show Monday through Friday.

Let me know down below who you guys are in the comments or tag me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. If you aren't in every day or then you need to be, make sure you're tuning in Monday through Friday all year long for your free Tennessee Titans content. But we're going to dive into Will Levis' strengths and weaknesses as a player to start because where I wanted to start is

what he can do for the Titans going forward. So we've talked about it a little bit throughout the draft process, but now I've had full exposure to Will Levis' tape. I've had the opportunity to talk with some people about Will Levis and get some additional perspective, get some more context on him as a player so that everything makes sense. And the things that immediately jump out when you watch Will Levis on tape is the quick release. It really is kind of a spitting image of Aaron Rodgers. He keeps it tight, up by his ear hole. He flicks the wrist, gets it out quick, and it's something that you just can't teach. The timing on that, being comfortable

throwing the ball that way, his quick release is going to help a ton because especially in play action situations where the Titans fake that play-action to the running act. Will Levis has his back turned to the play. He's got to flip around, and he's got to decide very quickly where to throw that ball. So it helps to have a quick release so that the timing of the play isn't disrupted by how long your motion is. That was one of the problems with Malik Willis. He had such a long throwing motion, and he's been able to tighten it up since he's gotten into the NFL, but you can't replicate Will Levis''s quick release it's going to be something that's a major factor in the Titans

offense and not only that but the velocity at which he throws the ball with that quick release it's not just a quick get the ball out as fast as I can some guys got to wind up to get that velocity not Will Levis that velocity is natural It pops off his hand. It flies through the air. He throws zingers. Sometimes throws too many zingers with a little bit too much sauce on it, but the velocity is huge. And when we talk about arm strength, this is a point I've been making throughout the last few weeks. We talk about arm strength. We think about throwing the ball down the field. When I think about arm strength, I think about velocity of fitting the ball into tight spaces on the sidelines,

medium routes over the middle when you're trying to fit it into a hole. And Will Levis' velocity not only allows him to get the ball far down the field, of course, but it allows him to get the ball into tight windows. So you add the quick release with the velocity of his throws, and it's a major upside win for the Titans. I want to talk about Will Levis as a runner as well. He's physical. He'll bull you over. There was a specific example that I can think of in the Missouri game where he bulls over a defensive player to get one or two extra yards when he's a yard or two away from picking

up a first down, and he gets the first down. So that physicality is huge. Now, it cuts both ways though, okay? It cuts both ways with that physical running, but I love to see that. Talking about schematic fit in the offense, Will Levis had a ton of schemed-up throws where he's throwing screen passes, tunnel screens, bubble screens, quick-release screens to tight ends and shotgun, all of that, taking deep shots down the field off play action, hammering balls over the middle in the intermediate range, off of play action, taking advantage of the gravity

that those play action fakes have. He didn't play in this nonstop shotgun, spread it out, run and gun offense like you see a lot of these quarterbacks playing in around college football. He played in a pro-style, traditional-style offense. Yes, it had a ton of shotgun elements to it, had RPO action, had read option action in it as well. But there was a lot of under center, handoff, outside zone, inside zone, audibles, checking at the line of scrimmage, reading what the defense is doing and changing plays, things that you don't see a lot from

college quarterbacks or college offensive schemes. So whether we talk about the arm talent, whether we talk about his ability as a runner, whether we talk about his fit within what the Titans want to do on offense, yes, the Titans are getting a new offense with new concepts, but don't fool yourself. There's still going to be an element of the run game that is the basis of the offense, still going to be heavy play action, bootlegs, rollouts, all of that. That's not going anywhere within the new offense that Tim Kelly is bringing to the Titans.

So Will Levis fits within that. He has the physical traits to do so. Some issues that we do have to talk about some issues here. His footwork is just not good enough. He'll have his feet in the wrong place. And when you think about footwork, think about a baseball stance. When you're getting ready to swing, you want your feet basically lined up with each other a little bit wider maybe than shoulder width so that you have a good balanced base.

That's what you want to do when you're throwing the ball as well. Okay? Well, Will Levis will have his front foot a little too far out in front of him. Okay, and what happens is it stops him from being able to twist his hips correctly to throw the ball right. It kind of stops him so he can't get all the way through. That footwork right there leads to inaccuracies. And on his tape, you see ball placement issues.

There is an interception in that Missouri game that I referenced earlier where he has a guy wide open over the middle of the field. It's a little behind the receiver. Now you would expect the receiver to catch the ball. Don't get me wrong. If that happened in a Titans game, I would tell you the wide receiver needs to catch it. But the ball being just a little bit behind his target rather than in front of his target so he can keep running turns it from a run after catch opportunity to an interception that goes off the receiver's hands behind him, flies up in the air and is picked off by a safe. So his footwork leads to an accuracy. He has the tendency to throw balls high as well because he wants to lean backwards and throw it and it sails high. And you're just going to have turnover

worthy plays if you continue to do that. When we look at, and I talked about schemed up plays earlier, how he has a lot of screens, a lot of delay screens, and a lot of those rollouts, all play action and design plays. He had a tendency to, I guess, rely too heavily on the schemed up play. And if it's not there, he's just not going to give you anything. That is another thing that really concerns me here with Levis, His instinct, second reaction. If the play isn't there as it's drawn up, to me, he has the tendency to panic. And if he doesn't have a clear lane to scramble and run the ball, he's going to run into trouble. He's not a guy. People sometimes compare him to Josh Allen, Pat Mahomes, stuff like that, because of the arm talent and the physicality. He does not have instincts. He looks like a guy who was trained to play football, not a guy who was born to play football.

If that makes any sense. He was trained very well to play football, but he doesn't look like a guy who is naturally a quarterback. He looks like a guy who looks like a quarterback, who has the traits of a quarterback, but doesn't play quarterback like a quarterback. And that's one of the, one of the knocks I have on Ryan Tannehill.

It's his instincts, probably because he played wide receiver and things like that. Yeah, he had experience before a quarterback, but to me, it's just, you don't see a guy who has the natural feel to him. That guy was born to play quarterback. No, that guy looks like he was born to play sports, but doesn't have the natural feel of a quarterback that you would like to see,

at least that I would like to see personally. But the scheme fit is there. The size at 6'4 is there. He's got the traits. Can he develop the instincts? Can he develop the feel through repetition? That's what matters. That's what's going to matter going forward.

But with that being said, we're going to talk to Lance Dahl from Locked On Kentucky, and he's going to give us some additional perspective on Levis' time with Kentucky during college. Before we get into that, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by BetterHelp Online Therapy. Look, guys, life is tough.

Life is difficult. There's past traumas that we've all been through, tough days that we've all gone through. And even if you're somebody who doesn't feel like you've gone through a lot of trauma and things like that, still the journey of self-discovery throughout life can be a difficult journey to navigate. Well, you can get help with that from our friends over at betterhelp.com. For me, I worked with BetterHelp. I thought it was really easy, really convenient, really flexible. They go off your schedule. They do a quick, easy questionnaire to pair you with your licensed therapist. And it's really easy to change

therapists as well, because for me, something like that, it's just really important to trust the person that I'm working with and they make it really easy at BetterHelp to get a licensed therapist that you trust and that you feel works best for you. So find more balance with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash locked on to get 10% off your first month today. That's BetterHelp.com slash LockedOn to get 10% off your first month today. That's BetterHelp H-E-L-P dot com slash LockedOn. Titans fans, let's continue this Will Levis deep dive edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.

We talked about how he fits within the Titan system, his strengths and weaknesses as a player on the field. But now I want to get some additional perspective from somebody who covered Will Levis during his years at Kentucky. I am very, very excited to bring on Lance Dahl, part of the Locked On Kentucky podcast. Happy to have him join us here today. Lance, how are you doing today? And thank you so much for coming on. I'm doing great, Tyler. Really appreciate you having me on to talk a little Will Levis, a new quarterback in y'all's room.

Very excited about him for you guys. Yeah, it does make sense. I mean, I wasn't the biggest fan of the Will Levis, the prospect profile of Will Levis personally coming into the draft, but you dig a little bit deeper, you could see why the Titans may have been so high on Levis coming into this draft, but Lance, we'll just kick it off there. First off, what did you like about Will Levis when he was at Kentucky? What stood out to you about him as a quarterback? Well, I think the

first thing that you've got to look at is physically what he is as a quarterback. He's a big dude, physical. I think that the word that I would use to describe him, if we're talking about really solid attributes is toughness. I mean, this kid, regardless of, you know, what he was physically injury wise, I think he was battling through a lot during his time at Kentucky and he just played through it all. He went out there and gave 110% to the team every single day, every single game. He was a very, very hardworking, high effort player. He never gave up on anything. And I think that really speaks to what he is potentially at the next level in terms of competition, in terms of sticking it out. I really do think that he

does have the potential to be a long and durable quarterback in the NFL. I would say that it's his physicality and his toughness. If you go and watch his first season with the Wildcats and what he was doing under O.C. Liam Cohen, I mean, he was good. He was efficient, and he did something that he didn't do in his second year, which is he ran the ball quite a bit. And whenever you got to see Levis get downhill,

he could run past you. He could run through you. He could jump over you, as we saw in the Louisville game. I mean, he could do it all. He's a very, very athletic quarterback and it's not your typical, okay, he's a quarterback, but can he throw the ball? It's a, okay, he's a running quarterback, but he's also got the arm to do it as well. He's not Josh Allen by no means. He's not going to be out there scrambling for 800 yards a season, but he has that mobility and the ability to break tackles as well. So yes, physicality and then competition and strength are probably the three things that are the biggest compliments

I could give Will Levis. You know, it's funny that you point those out because we just got done in the show, not me and you, obviously, but in the first segment of the show, we were talking about kind of just a breakdown of his profile as a player. And one thing that did stick out to me a lot is his toughness, not only running the ball, getting downhill. There was a play against Missouri in 2021, where he completely bowls over a defensive player to get a couple extra yards and pick up a first down on a third down.

Another play against South Carolina, I think in 2021, he stands in there, takes a shot right in the chin and delivers a comeback on the sideline. So those sort of attributes that you're talking strength, toughness, competitiveness, while they may not be as flashy of, you know, topics to talk about as arm strength and second reaction, playmaking and accuracy, there are things that would definitely appeal Will Levis to Mike Vrabel, a guy who cares a ton about toughness and physicality and playing through injury. And those are all secondary things that I guess people don't talk about enough that definitely have to appeal to coaches.

But Lance, as I understand it, you weren't somebody who was super high on Will Levis during his time at Kentucky. I guess what were some of the things that stood out to you that concern you about him as a player? Well, I'll say this, Tyler. As far as what he projects out to be in the NFL, I think he's got a lot of upside, but when you watched the things that he did at Kentucky, I would say that there are two things that stood out to me that were kind of frustrating at times for the Wildcatsats I think it was his turnover issues and then his inconsistencies on intermediate to to longer throws down the field I think that he has a lot to do uh in terms of working on his timing

uh when it comes to downfield and intermediate throwing I think he asked a lot to a lot to work on when it comes to holding on to the ball a little too long I think he has a lot to work on when it comes to holding onto the ball a little too long. I think that Kentucky's offensive line was abysmal last season, to put it bluntly, but there were a lot of times where Kentucky could have really benefited from Will Levis working through his progressions a little bit quicker than he did. I understand he was working with a new OC and maybe a system that, quite frankly, didn't the quarterback at out at all last season. But Levis was not the, the he was not the truck driving the trailer.

He was not pulling the team along and kind of masking their, their inconsistencies and their problems. Like, you know, compare another quarterback in this class, Bryce young, who I think did a lot for two seasons at Alabama to kind of really overhaul some of the issues that they had on that offense outside of what he was doing. I think Will Levis, it's the inconsistency throwing the ball. He's got a great, great arm,

but it's finding ways to get those intermediate, again, the timing down on those intermediate routes. Whenever you have those deep routes open, making the right decision, getting the ball out on time. We got to see several really nice throws down the field in both seasons with the Wildcats. There's a really, really good one on tape against Florida earlier on last season. You see the potential. You see the upside. You see the flashes, but it's the turnover issues.

It's the fumbles. It's the holding onto the ball too long. It's just things that he needs to clean up and polish. If he wants to develop, to develop into a solid NFL quarterback, which I believe he can, it's similar to Josh Allen. He spent several years in the league as a really big bodied physical guy out of Wyoming. That was not good flat out for a couple of seasons. It took him time to develop, figure things out. And I think with the Titans, it's a little bit different of a situation because thankfully Levis isn't going to get thrown into the fire. I assume I would expect that Levis to have time to develop and kind of learn these

things during practice. And so maybe he does work those things out. I would expect him to with a, with an organization like the Titans and NFL organization, getting that opportunity to develop him a little bit more. But Tyler, it's just sometimes he was too inconsistent to go along with what the media was saying about him which was that this is a first round this is a top 10 pick I maintained throughout the entire time that Will Levis was here he's got that upside but he needs to show this that and the other and last season part of the part of the reasons weren't his fault, but some of them were he didn't show that progression. Yeah. And you know what? You ultimately were proven right. He did drop out of the first round to the second. And I think maybe

if he was more consistent with certain things that you were talking about, that probably doesn't happen. Well, Lance, I can't thank you enough for coming on the show. Obviously diving into Will Levis as much as I possibly can right now, but can't have the perspective and the experience that you had covering him. I got two more things for you here. Number one, let people know where they can find your content. And of course, where they can find the podcast. Absolutely.

Well, you can check out the Locked On Kentucky podcast wherever you get your podcast. You can also check us out over on YouTube. Just search up at Locked On Kentucky. And if you're there, subscribe. We got a lot of great content coming out. If you care anything about basketball, you will want to stick around and hang out with us. And if you want to talk a little bit of Will Levis, leave some comments. I'd love to discuss that as well. Absolutely. And there are a lot of people who are Kentucky fans who watch the Locked On Titans podcast,

listen. So definitely give Lance a follow and a subscribe out there. The last thing, though, I left the most important thing for last. I saw on your Twitter bio that you consider yourself a wing connoisseur. I think we may be cut from the same cloth. So I have a few questions to ask you. One, traditional or boneless? And then two, your favorite sauce? Ooh, that is a tough question, Tyler.

I think that for me, traditional. This is hard-hitting journalism, Lance. That's why you come on the Locked on Titans podcast. This is what we come here for. We are locked on chicken wings. I would say traditional all the way for me. I've had boneless a few times. I've never had a place do them well for me.

Like every single time I've had them, I'm like, I feel like this could be better, but this is not this restaurant's a game. And then I would say as far as sauce goes, I'm a big fan of Nashville, uh, honey, hot, anything that's like the Nashville type of flavor. I love that type of sauce. I'm just a huge, huge fan to be honest with you, Tyler, of anything that may just light my mouth on fire. Like if I'm looking at a menu, if I'm at B dubs, if I'm at a, at a place where they serve wings, I'm asking what's the hottest thing on the menu,

and I'm probably going for that or something right underneath it. I really like those spicy flavors. So absolutely, I would say Nashville hot. I would say some type of Cajun, and then lemon pepper is a classic as well. Those are all really good. Right, right. Absolutely. What a hard-hitting list. I mean garlic pepper is a classic as well. Those are all really good. Right, right. Absolutely.

What a hard hitting list. I mean, that is what the people want. Lance likes it hot. We like it hot here on the Locked on Titans podcast. We're going to continue the Will Levis deep dive here in just a moment. But Lance, thank you so much for coming on. Absolutely, man. Thank you so much for having me. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.

It is our Will Levis deep dive. I dove into Will Levis schematically, talked strengths and weaknesses. We talked to Lance Dahl about Will Levis' time in Kentucky, what Lance liked, what he didn't like, as well had a little fun at the end there talking chicken wings, something I can never pass up as well. But with that being said, we are going to move into Will Levis' background. We kind of went backwards in terms of chronological order. We talked about what I think he can be in the NFL. We talked his college days. Now I want to cap off

with his background before college. Before we get into that, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms all year long and always for free.

Make sure that you get subscribed and stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, where it's your team every day. Of course, shout out to my everydayers listening to the show Monday through Friday. If that ain't you, you better get like them, baby. Nobody is giving you Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content for free all year long like I am here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But with that being said, so Will Levis, background, who he is as a person. Well, not who he is as a person, but where he came from. So he's a mass hole.

Oh, God. He is a mass hole. Born in a Boston suburb, Newton, Massachusetts. Moved to Madison. Spent some time in Middleton or Middletown, however they want to pronounce it there. I've seen it both ways. But he is from Massachusetts.

He's got three sisters, as the world seems to be very aware of now after the NFL draft. He was a guy who, this is something that really appealed to me, something that I really like to see. He was a three-sport athlete for most of his life. Football, basketball, baseball, just like me. I appreciate you, Will. Obviously, six-foot-four NFL player Will Levis, much better at sports than I was. But obviously, football was something that he took very seriously and more serious than the other sports because in eighth grade, he started working with a quarterback trainer.

Like, a quarterback trainer. You see what I mean? I don't know too many people from where I'm from who started working with a pro quarterback trainer when they were, what, in the eighth grade? My God. So Travis Meyer was the quarterback coach that he started working with, and that was in Connecticut.

So he really cared about football early on. This is a guy who's cared about sports, been an athlete for a long time, and I love hearing that. That really appeals to me, a guy who's lived his life centered around sports, to see Will Levis care that much, and that matches up with the things you see in college. Forget who it was off the top of my head. An NFL scout, one of the scouting reports that I read on Will Levis,

an NFL scout said football is really important to him. Former offensive coordinator Liam Cohen, who worked with the Rams for a long time, but was the guy with Will Levis as the coach in 2021 when he had his good year. He even said the team feeds off him. This was at Kentucky. His personality is one that guys naturally follow. So you love hearing that.

And it makes sense from a guy who's ingratiated himself in sport, in sports culture his entire life. He went to a Catholic high school with all boys. Got to say that wouldn't work for me personally, but again, a lot of big differences between me and Will Levis. Growing up, he had money for a private trainer, was obviously a monster in sports in all boys high school. Not for me, but that allowed Will Levis to have time to focus on the sports for sure. And by his sophomore year, by his sophomore year,

he was the starter on varsity in high school. So he was ready to go right away. His senior year, he set a bunch of records at his school, most passing yards. He had like 27, close to 2,800 passing yards, 2793. I believe that it was 27 passing touchdowns, added six touchdowns on the ground. He was second team all state. Who was a better quarterback than Will Levis in Massachusetts in, what,

2015 or 2016, whenever he was a senior? Who did that end up being? Wow. That's something you can hang your hat on there. As I mentioned, though, multi-sport athlete. Levis also lettered in baseball. So he's a good baseball player.

And I love to hear about the multi-sport abilities because I think that makes a great athlete rather than the specialization culture that we see now. But I digress from all that big picture nonsense. 4.0 GPA. So he's not a guy who slacked off with his studies. And look, I'm sure an all boys Catholic school

is probably more difficult than regular public school. I'm certain of it. But high school is not super difficult anyway. So I don't want to act like he's some genius. But 4.0 in high school, to me, that just meant he gives effort. That's really what it takes in high school is just effort. You know what I mean? So Will Levis is a guy who gave effort everywhere he needed to,

checked all the boxes, did all the right things. Wasn't really a guy who was highly recruited going into his junior year, but at Nike's The Opening, which is a high school football event, he was the first quarterback to win the ratings MVP. And that really got him on the radar. Got a bunch of offers from Ivy League schools, from Power 5 schools. He chose Penn State because he wanted to stay close to home

and play for, God, it makes me mad when I forget stuff like this. Went to Penn State, wanted to play for, oh man, I can't believe that I'm forgetting the coach's name. You guys got to let me know down in the comments, but I got to move on. It'll come to me here in just a moment.

Either way, he went to Penn State, and he was there for three seasons, red shirt, two seasons, but ultimately, couldn't get on the, James Franklin. Yes. There it is.

He wanted to play for James Franklin at Penn State. Why could I not remember his name? Anyways, got it. Wanted to play for James Franklin at Penn State. Why could I not remember his name? Anyways, got it. Wanted to play for James Franklin at Penn State. Couldn't beat out Sean Clifford. Was something that people bring up a lot. That is concerning. Transfer portal, went to Kentucky,

and from day one, he was the guy at Kentucky. That's in his scouting reports. So, good background. Kind of checks all the boxes from what you would want from a franchise quarterback. Considered a humble guy. He has the right wiring as a person to take hard coaching and get better and improve. Clearly in the weight room, he's a driven dude, so I get the

strengths. I get the scheme fit. He showed things in college. He has the background that makes sense. This is the guy. This is the guy. So strap in, folks. We are Will Levis people now. Pat is going to do it, though, for me today.

As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.