As Nick said this spring in his pre-draft breakdown of Will Levis, “There’s a phrase from the movie Varsity Blues that comes to mind when I watch Levis play: He can “Fire that f-ing pigskin!”
This seems particularly relevant for describing his debut against the Falcons on Sunday. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Levis threw 3 of the 10 longest TD passes by air distance this season. All 3 traveled 50+ yards through the air, which is the most in a single game since 2016.
More relevant for the Titans is that they had 0 such passes in their first 6 games of the season. Levis’ ability and willingness to attack downfield brings a new dimension to this offense.
His first long touchdown speaks more to his willingness to take shots down the field than anything else:
When you’ve got DeAndre Hopkins to throw to, it’s certainly not a bad idea to give him a chance if you see 1-on-1 coverage. Especially when you consider Hopkins’ ability to use his… “savvy” to create separation:
The refs didn’t call it, so it’s not a penalty.
From the end zone angle, you can see the Titans were making a concerted effort to take advantage of Levis’ best asset and attack downfield. Notice the max protection off of play-action:
This wouldn’t be a one-time thing throughout the afternoon.
In the third quarter, Levis again found Hopkins downfield. This time, they attacked with a double-move: