Ken Whisenhunt: Marcus Mariota expected to start if the Titans draft him
By Andrew Ross
The 2015 NFL draft is from April 30th – May 2nd, and the Tennessee Titans still aren’t convinced what they should do with their second overall pick.
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For a long time now, all the signs and mock drafts have pointed to the Titans taking Leonard Williams (defensive end from USC) with that pick, but the flavor of the month can surely change when the whole draft process is spread out to eternity.
The first buzz around Marcus Mariota and Tennessee that really grabbed everyone’s attention was when they brought him in for a private workout a couple of weeks ago. This was before the Philadelphia Eagles shocked the world by trading Nick Foles for Sam Bradford, and it was plausible to think that the Titans were simply trying to put some heat on the Eagles to make a trade happen. Well, the Eagles got their quarterback and the Titans are still very interested in Mariota, so it looks like they truly have been interested in him for a while now.
Yesterday, Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt spoke at the NFL owners meeting about the former star quarterback for Oregon. According to SI’s Don Banks, Whisenhunt had this to say about Mariota: “If he comes to us at No. 2, if we pick him at No. 2, then you definitely think he’s going to be the day-one starter.”
Whisenhunt followed up with Banks by saying, “If you draft a quarterback at No. 2, generally he’s going to be your day-one starter, because you’re investing in a young guy that high. There are not that many first or second picks at quarterback that don’t start for you. Especially with where we are.”
Who knows, this could be more smoke Whisenhunt is throwing, but there doesn’t seem to be a good reason to do that anymore. Jameis Winston to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the first overall pick seems like a done deal, so nothing would stop the Titans from getting their guy with the next pick.
As good as Williams is as a pass rusher, he still doesn’t change the game like a quarterback does. The Titans are coming off a 2-14 season and have little hope to make a drastic improvement unless they get a good quarterback.
The draft is still a month away, but it looks like two quarterbacks will go back-to-back to start things off.
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