Will Levis Says He's Better Than Most Starting QBs While Fighting for Titans' No. 3 Job

Will Levis isn't hiding from where he stands on the Titans depth chart. He's just not buying that it reflects his actual ability.

"There are not 32 quarterbacks in this league better than me. I know that for sure," Levis told reporters Saturday, according to the New York Post. "I know I've put the tape out there already that I'm a dang good quarterback in this league."

The tape he's referencing is nearly two years old. Levis hasn't played in a game since the 2024 season, when Tennessee went 2-10 with him as the starter. That finish put the Titans in position to earn the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, which they used on Cam Ward out of Miami.

Levis then missed the entire 2025 season recovering from surgery on his throwing arm, per the Post's report. He returns to camp this summer not as a challenger for the starting job but as one of three players fighting to be QB2, or possibly QB3, on a rebuilding roster.

A Crowded Backup Race

Mitchell Trubisky, who signed a two-year, $10.5 million contract with Tennessee in the offseason, has taken the bulk of the backup reps in camp. Trubisky previously played for new Titans offensive coordinator Brian Daboll in Buffalo, a relationship that gives him a clear edge in learning the new system quickly.

Hendon Hooker, the Titans' 2023 third-round pick, is also in the mix. That leaves Levis, once considered a potential No. 1 overall pick himself before sliding to the second round in 2023, on the outside looking in for reps behind Ward.

Levis was candid about the limits of his current role. "I'm just trying to make the most of every opportunity that I get," he said, according to the Post. "I can't control the reps that I get, and I'm trying to take this time to obviously work on myself but also bring along others with me."

He added that most of his prior reps came "with mainly the ones and twos," and that he's now working with players "really fighting for a roster position" and trying to help them along the way he'd want help himself.

There's a fair argument for why Levis still believes in himself. He was a highly-touted prospect out of Kentucky, spent parts of two seasons as Tennessee's starter, and a lost season to injury has interrupted his development. A quarterback who hasn't taken an NFL snap in two seasons doesn't get to prove much of anything either way.

But the numbers tell a different story. A 2-10 mark as the starter in 2024, a franchise that used the No. 1 pick that finish helped secure to draft his potential replacement, and a full lost season to injury are hard facts working against the confidence. Whether Levis is right about being better than 32 other quarterbacks is unprovable and beside the point for a team managing his roster spot.

Tennessee doesn't need Levis to be right about his talent ranking. It needs him healthy enough to be a reliable third arm behind Ward while Daboll installs a new offense. The Titans have already shown, with the Ward pick and the Trubisky signing, that Levis is not part of their long-term plan at quarterback.

The open question is whether Levis makes the roster at all. If Trubisky locks up the No. 2 job and Hooker offers more developmental upside as a younger arm, Levis could be fighting simply to stick around as a No. 3.