Fact or fiction about the AFC South QBs after Trevor Lawrence's new deal
By Will Lomas
Fact or fiction: Will Levis is the most underrated QB in the AFC South?
Verdict: Fact
If you are a Titans fan you already know this, but if you aren't then this might be hard for you to come to terms with. Don't worry, there is plenty of information out there to convince you. If you are a fan of another AFC South team that doesn't want to acknowledge my opinion, you are in luck because plenty of other people also saying this.
Brent Sobleski said he believes Levis is the most underrated QB in the NFL, not just in the AFC South.
Marcus Mosher had Levis at the top of his list of QBs who were breakout candidates this season.
New Titans HC Brian Callahan has taken every opportunity to talk up Will Levis despite not being the guy who would be on the hook for Levis if he didn't work out.
Close your eyes and rank the AFC South QBs in your head based on what we have seen. Now look at what they have done on the field (highlighted categories are where each QB leads):
Will Levis (per game): 58.4%, 1 pass TD, 0.5 INTs, 7.1 YPA, 12.1 YPC, 9.9% sack rate
Trevor Lawrence (per game): 63.8%, 1.16 pass TD, 0.78 INTs, 6.7 YPA, 10.5 YPC, 5.1% sack rate
Anthony Richardson (per game): 59.5%, 0.75 pass TD, 0.25 INTs, 6.9 YPA, 11.5 TPC, 7.7% sack rate
(More on Stroud on the last page)
Despite the narrative, Levis is better at protecting the ball than Trevor Lawrence and he is creating more explosive plays than Richardson.
Keep in mind, Levis did that last year with:
-A coach who thought that the running game was more important than passing the ball
-Receivers that led the league in dropped passes (most of which have been upgraded)
-The worst OL coach in the NFL (replaced by the best OL coach in the NFL)
-The worst OL in the league (which will have 4 new starters next year)
Too many people in the NFL were bored by Mike Vrabel's preferred offense and skipped watching Titans games because of that. That won't be the case this season and while he will always have to pay the tax of playing for a small market team, it shouldn't take long for the people that pay attention to realize that they were way too low on him.