Will Levis earns one final start for Tennessee Titans

Is this Will Levis‘ last chance in Nashville? He ain’t dead yet, folks. In what could be his final game as a Tennessee Titan, the former Kentucky star will start in the season finale on Sunday against the Houston Texans, head coach Brian Callahan announced.

“We’ll let him play,” he said Friday. “Let him take a shot to finish off the season on a good note and play well.”

The plan is to let Levis start with quarterback Mason Rudolph also set to earn reps, depending on how things are going for the former Wildcat. If Levis plays well early, his appearance will last longer. If he turns the ball over and makes mistakes, he’ll get yanked — likely for good.

“It’s a little bit of a feel thing,” Callahan continued. “If a guy is playing well, I’d like him to keep playing. But they will rotate. Mason will play at some point. I would say I’m almost certain, he will play at some point in the first half, so it won’t be a half and half thing. But again, if Will is playing well, and he’s feeling it, I’ll let him keep playing.”

Levis will make his 12th start for the Titans after being benched against the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 15 where he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble while finishing with 89 yards on 8-12 passing. He became the first player this season with multiple halves of zero touchdowns and three-plus turnovers, a mark he would also hit in Week 1 against Chicago.

Missing three games with a shoulder injury, the former Wildcat has completed 181-284 passes for a hit rate of 63.7 percent with 1,916 yards and 12 touchdowns with 12 interceptions — plus five lost fumbles. He’s averaging 1.6 turnovers per game this season, the most of any quarterback with at least 11 games played since Jameis Winston’s record-setting 33-touchdown, 30-interception season in 2019.

Tennessee is 4-16 overall in Levis’ 20 career starts and just 1-9 in 2024. He was taken with the No. 33 overall pick in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

At 3-13 on the year, the Titans are currently slotted to receive the No. 2 overall pick with a chance to claim No. 1 overall should New England defeat Buffalo on Sunday. A Tennessee win could push them all the way down to No. 7 — but potentially keeps hope in Levis as the franchise’s long-term starter alive.

“I’d say it all matters. Every time you take the field, it’s all a part of it,” Callahan said. “I don’t know that one thing in this game is going to overshadow, good or bad, the entire breadth of work for the season. But it certainly matters. I want him to play well, and I hope he does.”

BBN certainly wants him to play well, too.