Tennessee is where Will Levis "was meant to be"

The NFL Draft experience did not play out the way Will Levis envisioned.

Invited to the green room in Kansas City, he waited around for four hours Thursday night and never heard his name called. Instead of sticking around town, he returned home to prepare for a family function on Saturday. Travel problems arose and he almost missed hearing his name called on the NFL Draft stage.

The Tennessee Titans, who many believed may select Levis with the No. 11 pick, traded up to take the former Wildcat at No. 33 overall, the second pick of the second round. Despite the strange circumstances, Will Levis is grateful to be a Tennessee Titan.

He believes the lessons he learned through the pre-draft process will help him succeed with Tennessee, even if that process went a little longer than expected.

“Just be yourself,” he told Sam Ponder and Robert Griffin III on the ABC telecast. “You want to make a connection with the team so that they know that they believe in you for who you are as a player and as a person. And I definitely feel like I found that with Tennessee Titans. I’m just very grateful to be a part of such an excellent organization.”

Will Levis Ready to Learn in Crowded Quarterback Room

Will Levis is walking into a team with an established winning culture under Mike Vrabel, albeit one that is entering a new phase. The Titans are on their third offensive coordinator in four seasons with a first-year general manager, Ran Carthon. He’s stepping into a quarterback room with seasoned veteran Ryan Tannehill, who’s on the last year of his contract, and Malik Willis, a third round pick in last year’s draft. Despite the crowded confines, there’s a path for Levis to make a splash and earning significant snaps as a rookie.

“I’m just ready to learn,” said the former Kentucky quarterback. “I just want to learn as much as I can from them and I want to be the best teammate that I can be going in there to compete, for sure. They’ve got a lot more experienced than I have in the NFL and I just want to learn from them and just do whatever I can to help the team win.”

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How Levis Responded to Drop

Before his NFL career begins, Will Levis is facing adversity. A player who is at his best with a chip on his shoulder, he just got another one last night. However, he was not bitter the Titans passed on him in round one. He congratulated his peers as he prepares for the next step in Nashville.

“I’m happy for all the dudes that went in the first round. It’s definitely something that I would have liked to happen (for me), but I feel like I ended up exactly where I needed to be and where I was meant to be.“

"It's not when you get drafted, it's where you get drafted." – Vinny Cerrato, @MelKiperESPN.@will_levis ➡️ @Titans | #NFLDraft on ABC, ESPN and NFLN. pic.twitter.com/SrgF7N2ea0

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) April 29, 2023