The Tennessee Titans kick off their 2024 preseason on Saturday against the reigning NFC champion San Francisco 49ers, but will the big names be getting reps? Specifically, is quarterback Will Levis going to be out there?
Typically, we don't see a lot of preseason snaps handed out to the notable names around the league. However, the Titans are a team with some younger players at prominent positions and have a lot of new faces on this team.
A couple of weeks ago, before the start of training camp, head coach Brian Callahan made it very clear when asked about whether or not the starters will play during the preseason:
"Our team needs to play together. They need to play football together," Callahan said. "We need to operate on offense. We need to operate on defense. We’ve got a lot of new faces and new people here. That’s an important part of the preseason for me, so our starters will play."
Does it make sense for Will Levis to play during the preseason?
To Callahan's point, it does make a lot of sense for Levis and company to be out there for, at least, a couple of series in the first exhibition game.
Levis is only entering Year 2 and was not a full-time starter as a rookie. Plus, the Titans have added so many key players around their young quarterback over the offseason. Calvin Ridley, Tyler Boyd and Tony Pollard deserve to have some real, live opportunities to work on their relationship with Levis.
With a strong training camp thus far, fans are excited to see their quarterback take the field with all the new faces.
Not to mention, Tennessee isn't rolling in with the same offensive line as last year. The Titans want to make sure that group gets a chance to gel in a game situation or two. After all, protecting Levis is going to be priority number one.
To keep it simple, it would seem likely for Levis to play a couple of series on Saturday, at the very least. In the team's second preseason game against the Seahawks, the following Saturday, we're probably going to see Levis play the most snaps he'll play all preseason.
Then, in the team's final tune-up against the Saints (August 25), Levis might get one or two series, just to try and keep him fresh and avoid an injury risk.
Tennessee opens up their preseason Saturday night against the 49ers, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. ET.