The history of the Tennessee Titans dates all the way back to 1960, when the team began play as the Houston Oilers. Impressively enough, they won the first two AFL Championships right after their birth.
Those two AFL Championships were led by future Hall of Fame quarterback George Blanda, who spent the majority of his six years with the team as the starting quarterback.
Trying to follow in the footsteps of a future Hall of Famer is a tall task, but somebody had to do it. The rest of that first decade was led by a myriad of passers leading up to the AFL/NFL merger in 1970.
Blanda would see plenty of quarterbacks take the reins over the next several decades, as Tennessee was home to some of the more exciting and polarizing quarterbacks at times. From fellow Hall of Famer Warren Moon to one of the pioneers of the idea of the dual-threat quarterback, Steve McNair, the Titans have seen a whole lot of talent come through their doors at the position.
Looking back on the 80-plus year history of the team, the Titans have had 13 quarterbacks start at least 20 games and six have started 60 or more games. The quarterback position certainly feeds a rich history in both Houston and Tennessee, so why don't we take a look back at every single quarterback who has ever started a game for the franchise?
Taking a trip down memory lane, we will begin, of course, with the late, great George Blanda and lead all the way up to present day.
Every Oilers and Titans starting quarterback in franchise history
To simplify things, we're listing these starting quarterbacks by decade. And, a quick reminder: the Oilers moved to Tennessee prior to the 1997 season and then became the Titans in 1999.
Oilers starting quarterbacks from 1960-1969
Name (Years spent with team) | Starts this decade (Career starts with HOU) |
|---|---|
George Blanda (1960-1966) | 82 (82) |
Jacky Lee (1960-1967) | 10 (10) |
Don Trull (1964-1969) | 15 (15) |
Buddy Humphrey (1966) | 1 (1) |
Pete Beathard (1967-1969) | 26 (26) |
Bob Davis (1967-1969) | 6 (6) |
Fun fact: George Blanda played quarterback in the NFL until age 48.
Oilers starting quarterbacks from 1970-1979
Name (Years spent with team) | Starts this decade (Career starts with HOU) |
|---|---|
Charley Johnson (1970-1971) | 14 (14) |
Jerry Rhome (1970) | 4 (4) |
Dan Pastorini (1971-1979) | 107 (107) |
Lynn Dickey (1971-1975) | 10 (10) |
Kent Nix (1972) | 2 (2) |
John Hadl (1976-1977) | 6 (6) |
Gifford Nielsen (1978-1983) | 1 (14) |
Fun fact (or not so fun): Despite his long tenure as the team's starting quarterback, Dan Pastorini never threw more touchdowns than interceptions in a single season.
Oilers starting quarterbacks from 1980-1989
Name (Years spent with team) | Starts this decade (Career starts with HOU) |
|---|---|
Ken Stabler (1980-1981) | 28 (28) |
Gifford Nielsen (1978-1983) | 13 (14) |
John Reaves (1981) | 2 (2) |
Archie Manning (1982-1983) | 8 (8) |
Oliver Luck (1983-1986) | 9 (9) |
Warren Moon (1984-1993) | 84 (139) |
Brent Pease (1987-1988) | 3 (3) |
Cody Carlson (1988-1994) | 5 (19) |
Fun fact: Warren Moon won one more game than he lost as a starter with Houston (70-69), which is eerily similar to his career record across the NFL (102-101).
Oilers/Titans starting quarterbacks from 1990-1999
Name (Years spent with team) | Starts this decade (Career starts with HOU/TEN) |
|---|---|
Warren Moon (1984-1993) | 55 (139) |
Cody Carlson (1988-1994) | 14 (19) |
Billy Joe Tolliver (1994) | 7 (7) |
Bucky Richardson (1992-1994) | 4 (4) |
Chris Chandler (1995-1996) | 25 (25) |
Steve McNair (1995-2005) | 49 (131) |
Neil O'Donnell (1999-2003) | 5 (8) |
Fun fact: Steve McNair's nickname, "Air McNair," was one he earned all the way back in high school, and it stuck.
Titans starting quarterbacks from 2000-2009
Name (Years spent with team) | Starts this decade (Career starts with TEN) |
|---|---|
Steve McNair (1995-2005) | 82 (131) |
Neil O'Donnell (1999-2003) | 3 (8) |
Billy Volek (2001-2005) | 10 (10) |
Matt Mauck (2005) | 1 (1) |
Vince Young (2006-2010) | 39 (47) |
Kerry Collins (2006-2010) | 25 (32) |
Fun fact: Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns squared off against Reggie Mush, Matt Leinart and the USC Trojans in the 2006 Rose Bowl -- a game that will forever be known as one of the greatest college games ever played.
Titans quarterbacks from 2010-2019
Name (Years spent with team) | Starts this decade (Career starts with TEN) |
|---|---|
Vince Young (2006-2010) | 8 (47) |
Kerry Collins (2006-2010) | 7 (32) |
Rusty Smith (2010, 2012) | 1 (1) |
Matt Hasselbeck (2011-2012) | 21 (21) |
Ryan Fitzpatrick (2013) | 9 (9) |
Jake Locker (2011-2014) | 23 (23) |
Zach Mettenberger (2014-2015) | 10 (10) |
Charlie Whitehurst (2014) | 5 (5) |
Marcus Mariota (2015-2019) | 61 (61) |
Matt Cassel (2016-2017) | 2 (2) |
Blaine Gabbert (2018) | 3 (3) |
Ryan Tannehill (2019-2023) | 10 (63) |
Fun fact: Ryan Tannehill led the Titans to their first AFC Championship Game appearance in 17 years when the team appeared back in the 2020 AFC Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Fun fact:
Titans starting quarterbacks from 2020-present
Name (Years spent with team) | Starts this decade (Career starts with TEN) |
|---|---|
Ryan Tannehill (2019-2023) | 53 (63) |
Malik Willis (2022-present) | 3 (3) |
Joshua Dobbs (2022) | 2 (2) |
Will Levis (2023-present) | 9 (9) |
Fun fact: Will Levis puts mayo in his coffee.
All the above data obtained from Sports Reference and the Tennessee Titans Franchise Encyclopedia.