The Titans made things interesting in their quarterbacks room yesterday when they traded up to select Liberty quarterback Malik Willis with the No. 86 pick. Speaking with reporters, Titans GM Jon Robinson said the front office didn’t consult with veteran QB Ryan Tannehill before making the selection (via Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com on Twitter). Further, the executive seemed to indicate that Willis’ playing time will be dependent on the rookie’s development (vs. Tannehill’s production).
[RELATED: Titans Trade Up To Select Malik Willis At No. 86]
“His role will be determined by how quickly he comes in here and learns the offense and improves and gains the respect of his teammates,” Robinson said (via ESPN’s Turron Davenport).
“[Willis] was the best player on the board, and we’re excited to have him on the team. Good arm, athletic, moves around well and has a really good skillset. He throws a good ball and is tough to tackle. He’s got a lot of work to do like all these rookies do.”
Tannehill has seen plenty of team success during his three years with the Titans, guiding the squad to a 30-13 regular season. However, you can’t blame the Titans for seeking a QB with a higher upside; Tannehill finished last season with only 21 touchdowns vs. 14 interceptions, and the Titans have had two-straight one-and-done appearances in the postseason.
Of course, yesterday’s move doesn’t necessarily indicate that Tannehill is slowly being pushed out of Tennessee. While some pundits believe Willis has first-round talent, he was still selected in the third round, a pick that’s easy to write off. Perhaps the Willis selection will even light a fire under Tannehill and solidify the 33-year-old as the team’s sure-fire starter going forward.
Best thing ANY team can do with a #RookieQB is the make him sit for a minimum of a year. We see many of these QB’s come in and struggle because the game changes from college to the NFL. A.Rogers career is an example of that benefit.
This is how it used to be. Unless the team was so bad they basically had to start the rookie.
For every Rodgers, you have a Burrow, Manning and Herbert. Not an exact blueprint to do anything
Joe burrow, Justin Herbert, hell even Mac Jones took a team to the post season, sometimes if the situation is right and taking your lumps in the first year is good … Josh Allen used his playing time in year 1 to take a jump into year 2… And without his playing time in year 1 his leaos in 3 and 4 dont happen …. Now yes Mahomes sat but they were also a playoff team with Alex Smith … Russel Wilson, big Ben, Peyton Manning, Andrew luck, all played their first year, I believe it’s more in the individual, some the skills are there and what they need is game reps, some need to watch
They may have played but that doesn’t mean they were all good. Manning was terrible his first year. If they get off to a bad start like many of them do then waiting a year might have been a benefit. If Lawrence flames out we’ll never know if sitting a year might have helped his development.
Willis will have to sit, unless the Titans run a primarily RPO based offense to start him. I don’t mean just running RPOs occasionally, but as a system. Willis will need a lot of time to adapt to a NFL style offense before he even begins to play at all, the same as Matt Corral. I don’t think that Tannehill’s job is in any jeopardy for the foreseeable future, at least not from Willis.
Why does it seem the QB’s are the only players that get butt hurt when a team drafts another QB and doesn’t let them know beforehand? Teams draft players for every other position without letting the OT, LB or any other position aware of their plan ahead of time.
I think the media love to play it up- Even if it’s not a real issue. Teams with established QBs have drafted developmental QBs forever and this piece is another attempt to create drama where there may be none.
Oh yeah, definitely the Media
Probably because the quarterback is the most important player position in any sport. That position usually makes him the face of the franchise
GB missed that memo! They haven’t drafted a RB, WR or TE in the 1st in 20 years. Only had back to back HoF QB’s during that run.
Because only one QB plays at a time? And it’s the most important position? And they’re a de facto leader? And in the most notable case, Rodgers, because they traded up to draft a replacement candidate without warning their hall of fame, super bowl winning face of the franchise when he desperately needed more receivers and Pittman and Higgins were right there?
In hindsight, the Packers made a wise choice in passing on those players. The Love pick still was stupid though.
You think the Packers were wise to pass on Higgins and Pittman? I certainly wouldn’t say so.
Because only 1 can play, and when one plays typically the other doesn’t for the entire season
Probably because they make the most and if they get replaced, they won’t be making that money anymore. Only one QB can start.
Well said Wettle! That is because some of them are entitled divas.
Talentless people love to call professional athletes divas.
Perhaps it would be wise to wait until Tannehill actually says something himself before calling him a diva.
This is just a media hype story to generate clicks.
Tannehill hasn’t said a peep about the pick.
Willis is very raw and will need time to learn to play well in an NFL system (like a couple of seasons).
Tannehill will be 36 in two years so this seems like prudent planning and nothing more.
There is only one QB on the field at a time, and usually don’t rotate guys in and out during the course of a game.
There are plenty of 2qb formations…
Platoon QB is in early stages. So far though, it throws offenses out of whack and not defenses. Lol.
This guys whole career is a dream. He keeps attaching other stars to his evaluation. Lol. Amazing. I bet we give him credit for developing this QB and if good. Gets a job as the cardinals HC.
This is mostly a two prong situation
1: Ryan is one of the highest paid QB’s but is really on of the top skill sets of QB’s?
2: teams are recognizing the benefit and to an extent the need for ultra mobile QB’s
Tannehill won Comeback Player of the Year on his old contract, and took them to the playoffs despite missing all of his receivers and Derrick Henry. I think that he’s mostly been good. And he is actually pretty mobile, even if they don’t run him very much in comparison to actual scrambling QBs.
As far as production versus compensation goes, last year Tannehill did not fulfill expectations towards the end of the year, but again his number one target was their third/fourth WR and the leading rusher was a free agent signed midseason (who did an excellent job). I think he did as well as could be expected for most of the season under those circumstances, but the Titans do have an out after this year on his deal. Burks looks like an interesting WR, but trading away one of the league’s most athletic receivers in A.J. Brown-when the Titans also needed a number two rather desperately-will definitely affect Tannehill’s stats.
With the big money comes the big expectations. He’s making almost $30 mil a year, and that Titan roster was ready otherwise the last two years, especially last year. He threw the pick to end their season instead. I’m still scratching my head as to how you lose a playoff game where your defense got 9 sacks.
How is it Tannehill’s fault that that roster that was “ready to go” lost its three top offensive weapons for most of the season? Three picks certainly isn’t what QBs are expected to do to win, but we keep acting like it’s all Tannehill’s fault when there isn’t any guarantee that the Titans would have even gotten that far with another QB. It’s not as if other players didn’t make mistakes contributing to that loss-which wasn’t a blowout where the Titans didn’t compete at all.
The first year on a job is always the toughest.
Age? What in the world? Ryan Tannehill is an amazing QB:
The media is annoying sometimes, but something is going on there. They might just realize that their window is closing if not already closed, which is sometimes just as important as anything (just ask the Falcons). You can still be competitive though instead of this ridiculous tanking while retooling your team for the future. Tannehill is 33, 34 on opening day. Henry can’t go forever. Tannehill also missed the beginning of the off-season, which no team wants to see from their $30 mil QB.
Good move by the Titans. Tanneinterception Sant winning anything. Serviceable QB but like Alex Smith not taking you to the promised land.
It’s was one of the best best picks of the whole draft IMO
As the article says he has first round talent but went in the third. Sit and learn for a year or two. Then when he gets the chance makes the most of it. Even as a trade chip Titans can flip him in a year, or two or threes time and get a second rounder for him no sweat. If he works out he could be a great dual threat QB much like Josh Allen, Kyler Murray, Lamar Jackson etc etc
They took a QB that needs time to develop and they have a QB with 2 years left on his deal who is NOT anywhere near a HOF level QB. He has a job for 2 years and if he’s still starting caliber he’ll get a job somewhere otherwise he’ll get backup money 5-10M until he retires at like 38.