Malik Willis trade could haunt Titans for a new reason in second straight week

The Green Bay Packers acquired Malik Willis in late August from the Tennessee Titans as part of their QB depth chart shuffle. Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt hit the waiver wire after some struggles in the preseason. While Clifford was eventually brought back into the fold, Pratt signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad.

Willis was forced into action thanks to an injury to Jordan Love. In his two starts, Willis performed well enough, specifically on the ground. Matt LaFleur rebuilt the Packers offense on the fly, and it played to Willis's advantage. When he did throw the ball, he showcased enough accuracy (thought to be his primary issue coming out of Liberty), passing for 324 yards and two touchdowns. By no means is Willis a better player than Love – let's not kid ourselves – but he's a productive backup.

Even Titans general manager Ron Carthon admitted Willis performed well enough in the preseason to earn an opportunity elsewhere. Perhaps he misread the situation altogether.

"I think Malik earned the opportunity to have a chance to be the backup, whether it was here or somewhere else," Carthon said. "He fought his ass off while he was here and did everything we asked him to do."

Titans could've used Malik Willis the last few weeks

The Titans opted for the quarterback duo of Will Levis and Mason Rudolph over Willis when they made this deal. Since then, Carthon has been proven wrong in that Levis is not their quarterback of the future. Rather, Levis and/or Rudolph are now placeholders for the next Tennessee QB, who could be acquired in the offseason or via the NFL Draft.

That was our argument last week. On Sunday, Levis will miss action thanks to a shoulder injury. This leaves Rudolph on a bit of an island, with only tested veteran Trevor Siemian behind him. While Siemian does have game experience, wouldn't this have been a better opportunity to provide Willis with more game action, or at least week-to-week preparation?

Willis should be thankful he's in Green Bay – don't get me wrong, he is the clear winner of this trade – but the Titans are now short a developmental QB in Levis. What Willis did show in Green Bay is that he's worth a flyer, a chance the Titans never really gave him this season.