The Marcus Mariota ultimatum: What should the Tennessee Titans do?

NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: Marcus Mariota #8 of the Tennessee Titans runs the ball for a first down in the final minutes of the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Nissan Stadium on September 15, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. Indianapolis defeats Tennessee 19-17. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: Marcus Mariota #8 of the Tennessee Titans runs the ball for a first down in the final minutes of the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Nissan Stadium on September 15, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. Indianapolis defeats Tennessee 19-17. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
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(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

What option is left?

So, what I learned looking all of this stuff up is that even if you are confident enough in your team and a QB prospect to move up in the draft, history has shown us that only 1 out of every 4 QBs taken in that range over the last decade will live up to expectations.

And when I say expectations I don’t mean a Super Bowl, I just mean a QB who will be top-12 for the majority of his career and still be in the NFL in a decade.

If you want to talk about truly elite QBs, there is one of those guys maybe once every six years? Even then it is more about the development and surroundings of the QB instead of the prospect himself, so even if you get the right guy you could Andrew Luck-it and put the QB in such a bad position that he is forced to miss expectations.

For people so ready to cut bait with Marcus Mariota and restart, understand that history says that you are basically gambling the next 5 years of your franchise on a player with a 25% hit rate to be above average.

Is the potential of a fun and exciting QB worth the cost it takes to get him? Absolutely. Is it worth the cost of wasting the next five years for an upgrade of many one or two wins per season? That is the question Titans fans are facing with Marcus Mariota.

It wasn’t so long ago that the team was winning 2-3 wins per season and while I am not saying to accept mediocrity at 9-7, I am telling you that if you are ready to move on and you think you have a QB in mind to target then the odds are that your team will get much worse not better.

But, like in gambling and sports in general, it is that little bit of hope that maybe…just maybe this time you are going to hit big and beat the odds, that feeling is what keeps people coming back.

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