• Building off a rocky rookie season: Levis, the 33rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, had a very turbulent first year. He didn’t take the field until Week 8 last season and finished the season with four PFF grades below 51.0 and five above 66.0.
• Working on reeling it in: Levis’ relentless aggression is part of what makes him exciting, and it should not be entirely coached out of him. However, there’s a fine line between aggression and recklessness, and right now, Levis is teetering on the edge, leaning too far into recklessness.
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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
The 2024 NFL season was always going to be a big test for Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis.
The 33rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, who was once a contender for the top selection, had a very turbulent first year. He didn’t take the field until Week 8 in Year 1 and finished the season with four PFF grades below 51.0 and five above 66.0.
Will Levis: PFF game grades in 2023
Levis’ Week 2 performance — which has been featured on seemingly every nationally televised sports show — mirrored much of that rookie season. There were plenty of encouraging moments, but also some plays that left fans (and coaches) asking a very particular six-word question.
Here's the thing with Levis: He simply isn’t afraid to seek out the big play.
Since Week 8 of last season, he ranks second in deep passing attempts of 20-plus yards and leads the league with an average target depth of 10.9 yards. However, this aggressive style comes with risk, as he also ranks third in turnover-worthy plays on those deep attempts.
Levis is strikingly similar to Jameis Winston during his Buccaneers tenure, when his decision-making — both brilliant and questionable — was jaw-dropping at times.
From 2015 to 2019, Winston ranked fifth in deep pass attempts and led the league with an 11.2-yard average depth of target. Similarly, he also ranked fourth in turnover-worthy plays on those deep attempts.
Winston was one of the most entertaining quarterbacks in the league, but his inability to control the reckless side of his game ultimately cost him his job in Tampa Bay.
Levis flips it backwards and its a Jets fumble recovery!
📺: #NYJvsTEN on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/nZ38jEOfOo— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2024
Levis is walking a similar path.
By now, everyone has seen Levis' Week 2 fumble — a baffling decision on its own, made even more shocking by the fact that it was the second time this season he's turned the ball over while trying to throw as he was falling.
Most coaches can accept turnovers — they're part of the game, even for the best quarterbacks. What they can’t tolerate are turnovers like that, where a quarterback gives up easy points by trying to salvage a play that’s already dead. It's a pattern becoming too familiar with Levis this season, and at some point, he needs to understand that taking a sack isn’t always the worst outcome.
That fumble didn’t stop Levis from taking risks, either, because on the next play for the Titans offense, he threw an interception.
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) September 17, 2024
The decision and throw weren’t necessarily poor, with the deep safety closing his hips to the route and the receiver getting a step of separation. If the ball were placed farther ahead, it could have resulted in a huge completion.
However, at the moment Levis released the deep shot, the crossing route underneath was wide open for a significant gain.
Levis has consistently shown a tendency to take the deeper shot, and while he was a bit unlucky that this one resulted in an interception, it speaks to his mindset. Even after a costly turnover, he refused to shy away from attacking tight windows downfield.
On the Titans' next drive, following a run and a screen pass, Levis wasted no time returning to his aggressive style, firing the ball downfield into tight windows once again.
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) September 17, 2024
The Jets showed man coverage on this play, and after the defender began to go underneath the rub routes, the Titans quarterback knew he'd have the slot wheel open and fired a perfect pass into a tight window.
Many young quarterbacks might hesitate after two turnovers in the same quarter, but not Levis. He refuses to back down, which is a great quality for a young quarterback. And with his arm strength, it's encouraging to see him continue to trust himself in those situations.
This next throw was his best of the day, even though it fell incomplete. And it was a throw most quarterbacks wouldn’t even dare to attempt.
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) September 17, 2024
The above play came on third-and-long. In this situation, many signal-callers would have just hit the underneath route, lived to fight another day and settled for the punt. Not Levis.
It was essentially a flood concept from a bunch look, where all three receivers break their routes out toward the sideline with a flat route, an intermediate route and a deep route. Levis was always going to take that deep corner, and he nearly connected on it, too, with the ball going right through the receiver's hands.
Levis’ relentless aggression is part of what makes him exciting, and it’s not something that should be entirely coached out of him.
However, there’s a fine line between aggression and recklessness, and right now, Levis is teetering on the edge, leaning too far into recklessness.
It’s reminiscent of how Josh Allen started his career in Buffalo. Now, I'm not calling Levis the next Josh Allen, but early on, Allen's reckless play led to too many turnovers to find consistent success. Over time, Allen learned to rein it in just enough to become one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks.
If Levis wants to thrive at this level, he’ll need to learn to strike that same balance.
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