Due to the change at the helm and blatant reality of a team going through a rebuild, expectations are low here in Nashville for the Titans. After the pre-draft spectacle and guessing game of who the Titans would select at Pick 11, where options ranged anywhere from OL Paris Johnson Jr. to WR Zay Flowers, the team in two-toned blue eventually took the safest option on the board in OL Peter Skoronski.
Peter Skoronski is a 6’4″ 315 lb. technician in the trenches with the footwork of someone several pounds lighter. The Northwestern offensive linemen dominated at the collegiate level and punched his ticket as a Top 10 worthy draftee.
The reason why Skoronski is a win-win draft pick is because if he becomes what most of us expect, the decision will be applauded. It filled a need and was a practical choice. I liken it to bunting in the correct situation in baseball. If it doesn’t pan out it will be largely regarded as an anomaly. Of course, you’ll have those that will cry when they didn’t create any form of documentation showing conviction in wanting the Titans to go elsewhere. But collectively there’s almost zero criticism to come from this selection either way until more aggregate drafts are evaluated from this regime.
Now as for the 33rd overall selection of the 2023 NFL Draft, QB Will Levis was apparently coveted and worthy to start the proverbial clock on the current GM and HC. His 2022 tape was a headache but there’s a story behind some of the drop-off from 2021. A change in environment to say the least was one story for starters. From talent on the field to a change in offensive coordinators, there can be an argument that Levis has been judged unfairly.
I was a secret supporter of Levis after some awesome moments in 2021 and thought he should’ve entered the 2022 NFL Draft with momentum on his side and in a back-up QB kind of draft class. He obviously stayed and he dropped what some believe at least 20 spots from where he would have gone a year prior.
But the reason why selecting Will Levis is a win-win for the Titans is that he’s a high upside prospect. Similar to the QB they took in the 3rd round in 2022 but with experience operating pro style offenses. And it’s worth noting Levis is a physical freak in his own right at 6’4″ 230 lbs. and the muscle definition that most positions, much less quarterback, struggle to have.
If Levis hits, the Titans are geniuses and calculated risk takers. They showed the ability to logically work through a complicated narrative surrounding a prospect then had the gall to trade up and take him. But if Levis doesn’t hit then the narrative will be “well, he was the fourth QB taken for a reason.”
The storyline is different if this is the team fresh off of an AFC Championship game or with any aspirations that involve being in a legitimate Super bowl window. But no, those days are gone.