One of the most misleading NFL statistics is a quarterback's completion percentage. After Will Levis' rookie season with the Tennessee Titans, it is one of the metrics that is held against him the most in discussions around the young passer heading into Year 2.
Box-score scouting football players is one of the fastest way to showcase ignorance.
Will Levis' accuracy issues an overblown concern
Levis completed 58.4% of his passes in nine games as Tennessee's starter last season.
It was lower than any completion percentage the former second-round pick had posted in the last five years. In fact, Levis had not completed less than 59% since his sophomore season at Penn State in 2019 before transferring to the University of Kentucky to finish his collegiate career. His first professional season deserves the context of how the team around Levis helped, or rather, hindered the young quarterback after he claimed the starting job from incumbent Ryan Tannehill.
Among NFL quarterbacks with at least 175 pass attempts last year, the Titans starter had one of the lowest rate of incompletions due to inaccurate passes.
Data analytics expert Warren Sharp shared a Tweet on Sunday morning listing qualifying players in descending order. Levis' percentage of 27.4 was higher than only eight other NFL signal-callers. Cleveland Browns' quarterback Deshaun Watson posted the highest figure at 43.9%.
Nearly impossible to succeed in the 2023 Titans offense
Context is required when discussing Levis' NFL career to date.
In 2023, Pro Football Focus graded Tennessee as the least efficient pass-blocking group of offensive lineman in the league (74.5%). The Titans front five also allowed the third-most quarterback pressures in football last season (245). General manager Ran Carthon also spent this past Spring upgrading the skill talent around Levis significantly to give the quarterback a better chance to succeed.
Whether Levis will claim a seat at the table among the NFL's top passers this season remains to be seen.
Using his rookie completion percentage against him, however, is a faulty exercise.
