Titans Offseason Storyline: Two players fighting against irrelevancy

Willis, a 2022 third-round pick, made three starts in his rookie season relieving former Tennessee passer Ryan Tannehill. Then-Titans coach Mike Vrabel and interim general manager Ryan Cowden had seen enough from the Liberty product at the time to replace him with veteran journeyman Joshua Dobbs in an effort to salvage their season. Tennessee went winless in Dobbs' two starts, but was unquestionably a better option than Willis at the time.

When the Titans hired Ran Carthon as GM ahead of last season, upgrading at quarterback in the draft behind Tannehill was one of the first orders of business.

Carthon selected Kentucky quarterback Will Levis with the 33rd overall pick. Levis sustained a thigh injury in his first training camp that kept him from winning the back-up job behind Tannehill over Willis. When Tannehill went down again in the team's 2023 trip to London against the Baltimore Ravens, Willis again came in an showed little in-game progress. 

Levis was named the team's starter over Willis two weeks later when Tennessee returned to action off of their Week 7 bye.

New coach Brian Callahan comes to the Titans with a decorated resumé of quarterback success, including Peyton Manning, Joe Burrow and Matt Stafford. Willis, again, will be relegated to competing for a back-up role with free-agent acquisition Mason Rudolph. Levis enters 2024 as the club's undisputed first-string passer.

Farley's situation carries far more tragedy.

Tennessee's first-round draft choice in 2021 has been ravaged by injury in every season of his professional career. Farley did not play a down of football last year due to back issues. Since coming into the league, the Titans corner has appeared in only 12 total games with two starts because of those lingering back issues and an ACL tear in 2022. The team understandably declined Farley's fifth-year contract option heading into this season. 

Beyond that, Farley's father passed away last August in a house explosion in his home state of North Carolina due to a natural gas leak. His mother lost her battle with breast cancer in 2018. 

"I think our training staff's done a great job between Todd (Toriscelli) and Matt (Gregg). Knowing when to push (Farley), knowing when to back him off," Callahan said last week. "I mean, that's a pretty significant amount of injuries that he's had that he's trying to come back from, and he's done a really nice job. He communicates really well with how he feels. We listen to him and what his body tells him. And then, when our trainers push him, they push him to go. 

"I think he's done a nice job, and it's hard to overcome a lot of the things that he's had to overcome. So, I'm proud of the fact that he keeps working at it. What might have shut a lot of guys down and the fact that he keeps coming out, keeps trying to play, keeps rehabbing is really impressive. So, we manage it the best we can, with a lot of input from the performance side and the training room, and hopefully get him to a place where he can help us."

Both Willis and Farley maintain positive attitudes despite their respective adversities.

Farley has been participating in the team's voluntary offseason program without setback so far. The Titans brought in corners L'Jarius Sneed and Chidobe Awuzie this Spring to fortify their secondary alongside nickel Roger McCreary. Carthon also added corner Jarvis Brownlee, Jr. in the fifth round of this year's draft, so Farley is competing for CB4 or 5 at best.

Willis' situation may be helped by the NFL's emergency quarterback rule that allowed Tennessee to keep he, Tannehill and Levis all on the active roster in 2023. 

The emergency game-day quarterback had to be on the 53-man roster last year. Teams will have the option to elevate the emergency quarterback from the practice squad in 2024 after NFL owners passed the proposal from the Competition Committee this March. 

The emergency quarterback rule allows the third quarterback to play only if the first two quarterbacks are unavailable, due to injury or ejection. Once an injured quarterback is cleared to return, the emergency quarterback must leave the game.

It will be fascinating to see if either Willis or Farley are able to rebound under the new coaching staff.