Who is under the most pressure for the Tennessee Titans
By Will Lomas
In this week’s Monday Morning Quarterback, Peter King gave his opinion on which player in each franchise is under the most pressure. The winner of that title is…Marcus Mariota.
So, I know this makes a lot of sense, but I was sort of expecting all the spotlight to be on Ken Whisenhunt. He wouldn’t have been the only coach on that list, and after a 2-14 record in 2014 there is no reason to assume that a lot of this team’s failures or success will fall on his shoulders.
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Not to mention that the offense will be molded to fit Marcus Mariota and it will be Ken Whisenhunt’s experience coaching different quarterbacks that will dictate exactly what the playbook looks like this year.
When Peter King discussed Marcus Mariota, he said:
“He’ll be adapting to the stylings of head coach Ken Whisenhunt, who has never been a mobile-quarterback guy. Now he is. I look for Whisenhunt to be significantly flexible with Mariota. Their jobs depend on each other.”
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So on further inspection it looks like he could have gone either way with his decision, but ultimately the quarterback is the most visible person on any roster including the quarterback.
I believe that Marcus Mariota will be a success in this league, and the only question is: what system makes him most successful?
If Ken Whisenhunt can develop a system that makes this team instantly successful (which is a low bar for this franchise right now, 7 wins should do it) then all pressure would be off.
However, if not there could be dozens of coaches thrilled with the prospect of the Tennessee Titans current roster, cap situation and above all else their quarterback.
Don’t think that coaches that have been waiting to make the Chip Kelly leap like Gus Malzahn, David Shaw, Art Briles, or even (Mariota’s former coach) Mark Helfrich wouldn’t be very excited to take over this team.
In fact while his name is being talked about, Chip Kelly isn’t an impossible “get”. Think about this, after completely revamping the Philadelphia Eagles roster, he hasn’t made a lot of friends. In fact, if things go poorly this season many have speculated that he could be a dark horse candidate to get fired.
If he does hit the open market, what could possibly entice him more than a team with money, Marcus Mariota, Kendall Wright, Taylor Lewan, and Dorial Green-Beckham? Players that are all perfect fits for what he ran in college and has run to some degree in the NFL.
So while I agree Marcus Mariota is under pressure, I think Ken Whisenhunt is more replaceable. Marcus Mariota is guaranteed another year in Tennessee, Whisenhunt is not.