5 bad reasons people write off Tennessee Titans QB Marcus Mariota
By Will Lomas
3. “Good team” fallacy
The Tennessee Titans roster around Marcus Mariota is good…now. However, people don’t really seem to know a few things about the roster from last year.
This has led to many people thinking that the table has been set for Marcus Mariota to go out and have these big games only to be disappointed in the result. The problem is that people want to tear down the Titans roster and call it overrated and at the same time want to say that the quarterback isn’t elevating good players to greatness.
Here are the facts that we all need to understand.
1. Matt LaFleur was Marcus Mariota’s 4th offensive coordinator in 4 years. There has never been any consistency in the playcalling, but more importantly LaFleur changed the offense to a more zone-heavy scheme.
Suddenly, guys like Josh Kline and Quinton Spain were liabilities instead of assets and you know who has to pay the price when a guard doesn’t reach a 3-tech or can’t get to the second level? The ball carrier, whether that is the QB or RB.
2. That penetrations and the negative plays that came from it stunted the growth of both Mariota and Derrick Henry last year.
3. You may have noticed this from the second slide, but none of the Titans three leading receivers from last year really played in 2018.
These things combine to form a narrative that goes like this:
“The Titans offense had a good offensive line in 2016 and 2017, had a healthy Corey Davis and added an offensive mind from the L.A. Rams, why can’t Marcus Mariota make the offense work.”
If you look at the three reasons above, you will see why Mariota couldn’t just “make the offense work” which doesn’t mean he is bad, just that he is human.
Oh, and that isn’t even talking about the fact that a late shot left his hand numb for most of the season.
TL;DR: The Tennessee Titans have a great roster now, but Marcus Mariota doesn’t get the credit he deserves for doing so much with so little early in his career. He helped build a winner and the idea the he held back a contender is incorrect.