Some notes on just how good Will Levis was in his NFL debut

The stat line for rookie Will Levis in his first NFL start for the Tennessee Titans is crazy enough - 19 for 29 for 238 yards and 4 touchdowns. Ryan Tannehill only has 2 touchdowns in 6 games. Levis looked like the best quarterback on the roster today.

Levis looked so much better in his first NFL start that Malik Willis has looked at any point with the Titans including the preseason. There was talk that they might try to trade Willis before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline. I’m not sure what team would want him, but if they can get anything for Willis at this point they should do it.

The vertical piece of Tim Kelly’s offense was on full display today. They threw the ball down the field at ton when Kelly was calling plays for the Houston Texans. We hadn’t seen much of it here before today. Levis has the arm to pull it off.

Another interesting thing today was that Levis was only sacked twice. A quarterback who knows how to move in the pocket can make an offensive line look better than it is. Tannehill doesn’t move well in the pocket at this point in his career and Willis is too indecisive back there.

Here are some more notes courtesy of the Titans media relations staff:

• Completed 19 of 29 passes for 238 yards and four touchdowns without throwing an interception. His passer rating was 130.5, which was the best in franchise history among qualifying players (minimum 20 attempts) in the first start of a rookie season.
• Became the fifth player in NFL history with a minimum 20 attempts and a passer rating of 130.0 or better in his first NFL game. The only previous players to accomplish the feat were: San Francisco’s Nick Mullens (151.9 vs. Oakland on Nov. 1, 2018), Minnesota’s Fran Tarkenton (148.6 vs. Chicago on Sept. 17, 1961, Washington’s Robert Griffin III (139.9 at New Orleans on Sept. 9, 2012) and St. Louis’ Marc Bulger (134.1 vs. Oakland on Oct. 13, 2002).
• Became the third player in NFL history to record four touchdown passes in his NFL debut, joining Minnesota’s Fran Tarkenton and the Titans’ Marcus Mariota.
• Became the first Titans quarterback with four touchdown passes in a game since Ryan Tannehill accomplished the feat at Houston on Jan. 9, 2022.
• Joined San Francisco’s Brock Purdy (Oct. 8 vs. Dallas) and Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa (Sept. 24 vs. Denver) as the NFL’s only quarterbacks in 2023 to complete a touchdown pass in all four quarters of a game. Levis became the first Titans quarterback to accomplish the feat since at least the beginning of the 2000 season.