Marcus Mariota Gets No Respect from NFL Spinzone
By Les Bailey
I had some fun last night reading Maxwell Ogden’s “NFL: Every Team’s Top Candidate For 2015 MVP” at the NFLSpinZone and was surprised that Marcus Mariota was not on the list. Other than the Tennessee Titans, the Houston Texans, and the Miami Dolphins, the list was a who’s-who of top-name quarterbacks and running backs from around the NFL.
Be sure to read: Tennessee Titans Position Breakdown: Quarterback
I understood why J.J. Watt was his pick from the Texans. They have no real dominating quarterback in Houston, and barring some kind of last-minute miracle that brings Peyton Manning to Texas, the Texans will need to rely on their defense, and Watt to keep them in ball games this year.
I also get Ndamakong Suh in Miami. The Dolphins just put their faith in Ryan Tannehill by giving the young quarterback out of Texas A&M a new contract, but the newly acquired Suh is the man that they will need to shut down Tom Brady and the Patriot machine in the East.
But Jurrell Casey will be the MVP in Music City?
Here’s what Ogden had to say about the Tennessee Titans:
"The Tennessee Titans are stuck in an interesting position, to say the very least. Neither Marcus Mariota nor Zach Mettenberger have the weapons at wide receiver to be MVP candidates, and both David Cobb and Bishop Sankey have question marks at running back.If anyone on the Titans’ reloaded defense is going to win MVP, it’ll be Jurrell Casey.Morgan is one of the NFL’s most underrated players. He gets after the quarterback, breaks up the run game and converts a high percentage of his tackles.With superior players playing behind and alongside him, Casey can afford to gamble more and spend more time on SportsCenter.That may seem like silly reasoning, but exposure is a big part of being an MVP candidate in the NFL. Tennessee’s offense may struggle from time-to-time, but the defense should rank amongst the best in the AFC.Casey is in store for a big year, and a Titans resurgence should place him directly into the spotlight."
I agree that Jurrell Casey carried this defense in 2014, and was probably one of the top candidates for a team MVP in 2014. I also agree with his assessment that the Titans defense should be one of the best in the AFC this year, but come on……!
In my assessment of the situation, if Marcus Mariota is not the MVP on this team in 2015, both Ruston Webster and Ken Whisenhunt will be looking for new jobs at the end of the season.
The 2014 Heisman Trophy winner does not exactly fit the Whisenhunt system, but you have to figure that if he drafted Mariota, he thinks he can make the marriage work. Why not?
Mariota has all of tools necessary to be a successful quarterback in the NFL, and has the work ethic to improve on his weaknesses.
The Titans did a lot in the draft to put pieces around their new quarterback, and have made a huge commitment to improve the running game. All Mariota needs is for two of the receivers they picked up to step up and make some plays for him, and I think they will.
How could Ogden pick Blake Bortles and Geno Smith to be their teams MVP’s and not include Marcus Mariota on this list?
Next: AFC South Overrated Player: Blake Bortles