The Tennessee Titans have many question marks entering the 2022 campaign, the biggest of which might be at the quarterback position.
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been a revelation overall since joining the Titans and taking over the starting job from fellow signal-caller Marcus Mariota in 2019.
The Titans sported an elite offense in 2019 and 2020, and Tannehill has led Tennessee to a pair of AFC South titles and three playoff trips overall, one of which ended in the AFC Championship Game.
But things definitely took a turn for the worse in 2021. Tannehill struggled with turnovers throughout the season, culminating in a three-pick performance in the playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
To be fair, Tannehill was dealing with a plethora of injuries to his pass-catchers and shoddy offensive line play during the regular season, but he did have a full complement of weapons and better protection in the playoffs.
Going into 2022, Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport places the Titans’ quarterback situation at No. 17 in the NFL. The ranking is heavily weighted by who the starter is, but backups are also taken into consideration.
Barring a complete collapse, Tannehill’s job is probably safe for the 2022 season. But if he falters at some point along the way, the drumbeat will start for a changing of the guard.
The drumbeat to replace Tannehill began right after the aforementioned loss to Cincinnati, as his performance further cemented the notion that he doesn’t have what it takes to lead a win-now team like the Titans to a Super Bowl.
Unfortunately for Tennessee, the team was unable to land an upgrade this offseason, but not for a lack of trying.
The Titans did draft quarterback Malik Willis in the third round, which was great value, but the Liberty product is unlikely to see the field in 2022 given Tannehill’s status as the entrenched starter and Willis’ need to develop.
However, with Willis waiting in the wings, this could be the veteran starter’s last season in Nashville.
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