Is Marcus Mariota the franchise guy for Tennessee Titans?
By Adam Bowers
With one more year left on his deal, the Tennessee Titans need to know if Marcus Mariota can be the franchise.
The Tennessee Titans are less than a year away from a major decision on QB Marcus Mariota, and the key to that decision is simply whether or not he can be what they drafted him to be: a franchise quarterback.
It is the most important question for the most important position in the most popular sport. Marcus Mariota, the former #2 overall pick from the 2015 draft, has had an up and down career 4 years in and is looking for a new deal.
With the new Carson Wentz deal, and rumors that Dak Prescott is looking for around $34 million per year according to Bleacher Report, I take a deep dive into the Titans history, recent contracts, and upcoming quarterback market to determine whether or not Marcus should get a second contract as the Titans quarterback of the future.
The biggest thing when analyzing whether or not Marcus deserves around $30 mil/yr is taking in a full perspective and trying to look at the glass as having water in it not just half full or half empty.
When evaluating the Titans history with quarterbacks there are some hits, but more memorable are the misses. In just Tennessee Titans history there has been a mixed bag of drafted quarterbacks. You have Steve McNair, Vince Young, Jake Locker, and Marcus Mariota to only include first round quarterbacks. McNair just had his number 9 retired so it’s safe to say he is the standard at which Marcus is being compared to, especially since Young didn’t make it to a second contract, and Locker retired after his 4th season. So let’s take a deep dive and look at the late great Air McNair v Mariota in their first 4 years as a starter.
(Editor’s note) Just a reminder, this is just a comparison of stats to look back at the only real franchise QB that the Tennessee Titans have had and see how Marcus Mariota stacks up.