Titans making same critical QB mistake Jets did with Zach Wilson

The New York Jets faced plenty of criticism for how they handled Zach Wilson’s rookie season in 2021, and rightly so. They handed the second overall pick the starting job with zero veteran insurance on the quarterback depth chart behind him.

In fact, not a single quarterback in the building had ever taken an NFL snap going into training camp. That lack of experience and mentorship became a defining failure of Wilson’s early development, and as we all see years later, he never really recovered from it.

Now, the Tennessee Titans appear dangerously close to making the same mistake with their own rookie quarterback. No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward was always expected to be his team's Week 1 starting QB, but with Will Levis undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery, there's no longer even a competition.

The only other backup QBs on Tennessee's roster are Brandon Allen, a journeyman with one touchdown pass since 2021, and the infamous Tim Boyle, best known for somehow sticking around in the NFL for going on eight years now.

That's it. Those are Ward's "veteran mentors."

Titans making the same Zach Wilson mistake with Cam Ward

That Jets’ 2021 quarterback room has become somewhat of a cautionary tale. Wilson entered his rookie year as the unquestioned starter, but behind him were Mike White, a former fifth-round pick who had never played in an NFL game, and James Morgan, another unproven prospect from the previous year’s draft.

The Jets eventually added well-traveled veteran Josh Johnson to the roster in August, but he began the season on the practice squad. White won the backup job out of camp, and the Jets entered the season without a single snap of NFL experience in their active roster QB room.

That depth chart became a problem when Wilson suffered a midseason knee injury. White started a handful of games, including his famous 400-yard performance against the Bengals, but battled injuries of his own and quickly regressed.

The Jets ultimately traded for Joe Flacco in late October, when they realized they needed some semblance of experience in the room. By then, the damage had been done. Wilson’s development never recovered. The entire setup was flawed from the start.

Now, to be clear, none of this is to say that Wilson would’ve magically turned into a franchise quarterback if the Jets had simply paired him with a competent veteran. But having an experienced backup certainly wouldn’t have hurt. The Jets failed him in that regard.

And now the Titans are on the verge of doing the same with Ward.

With Levis out for the year, the pressure is on Ward to step in immediately. That was the likely plan all along, but it becomes far riskier with the current depth chart. Allen has started two games over the last four years and hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass since 2021. He’s more of a third-stringer than a reliable QB2.

As for Boyle, Titans fans might want to look away. His resume includes more interceptions than touchdowns across both college and the NFL, and he’s inexplicably bounced around eight teams in eight years.

If either of those two is the fallback plan for a rookie quarterback learning on the job, the Titans are setting themselves up for disaster.

There are still options available. Veterans like Carson Wentz, Tyler Huntley, and Teddy Bridgewater remain free agents. None of them are long-term solutions, but all would offer valuable experience, and that’s exactly what Ward could use in his first NFL season.

If the Titans want to avoid finding themselves in a Zach Wilson situation a few months from now, it may be worth making a move before it’s too late.

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