Tennessee Titans: 5 most disappointing players after 3 games

Marcus Mariota

Tennessee’s No. 2 overall draft pick from the 2015 NFL Draft has had his ups and downs since being named the starter in his rookie season. One of the biggest issues that come to mind with Marcus Mariota is his health. Through four seasons, Mariota has not been able to finish a full 16-game schedule.

However, that’s not his only issue.

Mariota has had his problems with accuracy throughout his time with Tennessee. Through his first four seasons, his best completion percentage was 68.9 percent in 2018. His lowest number of interceptions thrown also came in 2018 when he threw eight picks.

Mariota has thrown a total of four touchdown passes so far this season and zero interceptions, but three of the four touchdowns came in the first game against the Cleveland Browns. He threw just one touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts and zero touchdowns against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

This season was expected to be a big year for Mariota because his rookie contract expires at the end of this year. But for Mariota so far he hasn’t shown much improvement with his accuracy. For example, in the 20-7 loss against the Jaguars, Mariota struggled to hit open receivers all game long.

In the third quarter drive leading up to Mike Vrabel’s decision to go for it on fourth-and-6, Mariota missed a wide-open Delanie Walker in the back of the end zone and his pass was nearly intercepted because he threw it so short.

For the game, he went 23/40 for a season-high 304 passing yards, but he had his lowest quarterback rating of the season at 81.7, and he had a season-low completion percentage of 57.5 percent.

This is not a good start at all for the fifth-year starting quarterback out of Oregon. If the Titans want to make a playoff push at the end of the year, they are going to need much better play out of their prized draft pick.