Which Tennessee Titans have thrived with Will Levis as the quarterback
By Will Lomas
It has been a month since the Tennessee Titans were forced to switch quarterbacks, and Will Levis has been a happy surprise for Titans fans.
Ryan Tannehill was a very successful quarterback for this team for a long time, but given his contract situation, it is hard to imagine that many people would be packing the stands for the 3-7 Tennessee Titans as they host the 1-9 Carolina Panthers this weekend.
However, Will Levis has been very fun and whether you want to talk about his quick release or how he leads the NFL in ADOT, it is clear to anyone with eyes that Levis should be someone that the Titans attempt to build around going forward. That is the type of player who can make a bad season watchable for fans.
Despite missing the first six games of the season, Will Levis is on pace to finish with nearly 2,400 yards, 17 TDs, and 6 INTs. As I was looking at what Levis could do this season, I started looking at which players Levis has and hasn't clicked with.
Tennessee Titans stock up and stock down with Will Levis at QB
It shouldn't surprise anyone, but DeAndre Hopkins has been Levis's favorite target. In just four games, Hopkins has been targeted 31 times which means that Levis has targeted him on one out of every four passes.
That volume has paid off for both parties with Hopkins racking up 15 catches for 274 yards and 4 touchdowns during that stretch. As it stands right now, Hopkins is on pace to have more receiving yards than any Tennessee Titans wide receiver in the last 20 years.
Some of that production has come at the expense of Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. One of the coaching staff's favorite players, NWI started off the season strong with four games with multiple catches and two touchdowns.
Since the switch, NWI only has 4 receptions (one in each game interestingly enough) and he doesn't seem like a big factor at all despite having two explosive catches during that stretch.
With NWI on the back burner, who is the Tennessee Titans second-most targetted player since the switch? Well, tight end Chig Okonkwo of course.
Shockingly, Okonkwo has more targets (17) than NWI (8) and Chris Moore (7) combined, the problem is that he just isn't doing anything with those targets.
Do you know who is doing something with more targets? Kyle Philips. That's right, Philips has led the Tennessee Titans in receiving yards in two of Levis's four starts this season and has had an incredible bounceback now that the Titans have taken him off of punt returns.
Since the QB switch, Philips has been the team's most efficient receiver. Despite only playing roughly 30% of the team's snaps, Philips has 11 receptions for 164 yards and nearly half of those receptions have gone for over 20 yards.
As the season progresses and comes to a close, it is going to be interesting to see whether Hopkins and Philips stay hot. If they can, it gives the Titans two receivers with clear roles to build around next season.
It would be great if Treylon Burks could stop sustaining freak injuries and if Okonkwo could snap out of it and get back to the guy who was a big play machine last season, but Tennessee Titans fans are starting to lose hope that this coaching staff can help anyone improve.