4 options to replace Ryan Tannehill as Titans quarterback in 2023

Tennessee Titans replacement for Ryan Tannehill No. 3: Malik Willis

Malik Willis was an exciting prospect in the 2022 NFL draft. He has a strong arm, some speed, and maybe he has some of the tools that you need to be a good NFL quarterback.

But he was also very raw, played at a small college against not-good competition and any projection of how good he might be was truly a guess. Wilis has the physical traits to be good, maybe, but he also might not have the accuracy to be a starter in the NFL.

In 2022, Willis was forced into action due to Tannehill being injured. He started three games, played in eight, and he was, well…bad. he completed 50.8 percent of his passes, and threw 0 touchdown passes but managed 3 interceptions. His quarterback rating was 42.8 but his total QBR, which includes a quarterback’s running ability, was an extremely low 12.6. Willis picked up almost as many first downs running the ball in 27 attempts as he did in his 61 pass attempts.

The truth is that we have no better read on whether Willis in the future will be a good quarterback than we did before he was drafted in 2022. Can he throw better than most humans? Yes. He can run faster as well. But does he have the football acumen to combine all his physical skills with the instinct of when and where to pass or when and where to run?

It did take Bills quarterback Josh Allen a bit of time to get acclimated to the league as well. Out of college, Allen was not an accurate thrower and a player who had raw skill but needed the experience of playing to get better. Willis could be the same. Allen wasn’t really good until his third season so maybe if the Titans work through more growing pains with Willis in 2023, he will be really good by 2024.