If Tennessee Titans must draft Will Levis or Anthony Richardson, there's a clear answer

Let's imagine a world where the Tennessee Titans must use their first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft on a quarterback. A world where Roger Goodell saunters to his podium on April 27 and decrees the Titans are required to use their selection on a QB or else they'll be relegated to the USFL and replaced by the Memphis Showboats.

Ohio State's C.J. Stroud is off the board. So is Alabama's Bryce Young. The team's three best options are Kentucky's Will Levis, Florida's Anthony Richardson and contemplating if Derrick Henry could run for 2,000 yards in a 10-game USFL season.

In this dream land, the choice seems obvious: pick Richardson.

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In my most recent mock draft for the 2023 NFL Draft, I had the Titans trade up from No. 11 to No. 6 to pick Richardson. To land Richardson or Levis, the Titans might need to trade up even higher. There's a world where one or both could fall to the 11th pick, but it's hard to imagine two passers with such high upside falling out of the top 10 in a quarterback-driven league.

And when I say high upside, I mean it. Too many NFL draft comparisons are reduced to caveman-style rhetoricians screaming "Player A good! Player B bad!" I think Levis and Richardson are both capable of developing into good NFL starting quarterbacks. At his best, Levis reminds me of Matthew Stafford. At his best, Richardson reminds everyone of Cam Newton. If they live up to those comparisons, that's an MVP and a Super Bowl winner to decide between.

Still, there are a few reasons I think Richardson is a better prospect and a better fit for what the Titans need at quarterback.

Anthony Richardson does more than Will Levis

Discussions about Levis and Richardson are often framed the same. Both are big-armed, big-framed passers who throw beautiful deep balls and use their athletic prowess to run fluidly and physically. Both are also wildly inconsistent, prone to bouts of inaccuracy and put plenty of questionable decisions on tape.

Between the two, Richardson is more unfinished. Levis took 903 more college snaps than Richardson. That amplifies Richardson's inconsistency, since the bad reps are harder to hide.

But Richardson is just better at the things both players are good at. He's bigger. He's faster. He graded better on deep passes last season. He graded better as a runner last season. And he was a more productive passer with a clean pocket.

Richardson fits the Titans' identity better

In a lot of ways, Richardson resembles a super-sized version of Malik Willis, the passer the Titans picked in the 2022 draft. Richardson is − once again − bigger, faster and stronger. But they display similar top-level traits and share a significant weakness of holding onto passes too long before throwing.

Fit is as important as talent when drafting a quarterback. Richardson plays similarly to quarterbacks the Titans have favored in the past, including grading as college football's fourth-best play-action passer last year. And Titans offensive coordinator Tim Kelly knows how to build around a big-armed, dual-threat quarterback; his Houston Texans led the NFL in yards per play and yards per pass play in 2020 behind Deshaun Watson.

A quick argument in Will Levis' favor

In 2021, Levis was one of the nation's best play-action passers. Kentucky ran play-action on 36% of his dropbacks and posted a 117.3 passer rating. In 2022, Levis' offensive line got worse and his new offensive coordinator only called play-action 27% of the time, but his passer rating and yards per attempt actually improved, and were still better than Richardson's.

The Titans' offense has worked best when quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been able to build off play-action. If that trait from Levis' game is translatable to the pros, his transition into the Titans' offense could be smooth.

A final Titans verdict in Anthony Richardson's favor

Everything comes down to timeline. Tannehill's contract expires next offseason. So does Henry's. The Titans have a roster built to compete in the AFC South in 2023 but question marks for 2024 and beyond. This team can afford to sit a project player for a year and rely on coaching to build Richardson up for when he's needed.

If the Titans are willing to sit Richardson or Levis for a year, it makes more sense to draft the guy who'll benefit most from a year of NFL coaching. Levis will probably need game reps to work through his decision-making and lack-of-touch concerns. Richardson's footwork, timing and risk-taking flaws are coachable issues he can improve with help from Tannehill, Kelly and passing game coordinator Charles London.

Quarterback isn't the Titans' biggest need. But if the question is Levis or Richardson, the Titans' future makes more sense with Richardson.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: In NFL draft, Tennessee Titans' Will Levis-Anthony Richardson debate is easy