Two projections on Marcus Mariota in his rookie year
By Will Lomas
For those of us who play fantasy football (or just fans that want more information on what Marcus Mariota could do) rookie projections are very interesting. It shows you a glimpse of what a new contributor can do and starts to allow you to think what other players on the team might need to do to win games. These are the first two realistic projections I have seen on Tennessee Titans rookie Marcus Mariota.
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Alessandro Miglio, Bleacher Report
2015 stats: 275/450 (61%), 3,400 yards, 18 touchdowns, 11 interceptions; 70 rush attempts, 400 yards (5.7 YPC), 2 touchdowns
My thoughts: That would be a pretty impressive, but still modest season for the Tennessee Titans rookie. On one hand, his completion percentage would be 24th in the league (right behind Andrew Luck), but it would have been second among rookies.
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The passing yards would have been 16th in the league last year, which the more you think about it the more realistic it seems. If Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker both get 1,000+ yards, it is up to the combination of Harry Douglas, Dorial Green-Beckham, Justin Hunter, and the running backs to get a combined 1,400 yards.
Mike Clay, Pro Football Focus
2015 stats: 315/521 (60.4%), 3579 yards, 19 TD, 15 INT, 91 att, 549 rush yds (6.03 YPC), 2 TD
My thoughts: Again, another very solid projection. Any rookie quarterback to throw more touchdowns than interceptions is a good, especially for a site as conservative as PFF.
This projection also expects the Tennessee Titans to use Marcus Mariota to run the ball significantly more. If that is what they plan, then that would surprise me. I think Marcus Mariota is the perfect mental comparison to Russell Wilson. He can get inside the playbook and manipulate it to his advantage, that is what he did in Oregon.
I have always thought of Marcus Mariota as a blend of Russell Wilson’s upper half with Colin Kaepernick. That may sound a little lofty, but that is just what I have seen on tape with him. The sky is the limit for Marcus Mariota, and if he has a rookie season that amounts to either of these two projections combined with what should be a much better Tennessee Titans defense, the Tennessee Titans could easily win five or six more games than they did last year. While an 8-8 record isn’t going to blow away fans, but a huge step in a positive direction will.