Malik Willis is clearly ahead of Will Levis; Is that a red flag on Levis?

Joe Rexrode asked the question on the radio this morning if it is a red flag on Will Levis that Malik Willis is so far ahead of him at this point. It’s an interesting thought because there were a lot of people, myself included, that just assumed Levis would be the backup quarterback when the season started. That belief wasn’t really based on anything having to do with Levis. It was more based on how bad Willis was when we saw him last year.

To me, it isn’t a red flag because the reason Willis is so far ahead at this point is that Willis has gotten a lot better. We heard after the offseason program that Willis was ahead. That was confirmed by what we saw on Saturday. Both guys had some good moments and some not so good moments, but Willis was pretty clearly the better of the two.

You can hear more about this on today’s Home Run Throwback podcast. Listen here.

We have to remember that Levis is in the same spot Willis was in last season. That was the first NFL action we have seen from him. If we don’t see improvement throughout the preseason we can start to talk about red flags, but at this point, we should just view it as a starting point in his development as an NFL quarterback.

It will be interesting to see how both guys perform this week when the Tennessee Titans have their joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings. Both guys will get a ton of reps. Will Willis further separate himself with that work?