NFL Draft: Ranking 5 Potential Landing Spots For Marcus Mariota
By Robby Sabo
3. Tennessee Titans, 2nd Overall Pick
Draft Possibility: Very Possible
No team has more influence on what will happen to Marcus Mariota than the Tennessee Titans.
Drafting out of the No. 2 spot, they hold most of the cards (assuming Jameis Winston goes No. 1). If they want Mariota, they will get him. It’s that simple.
On the surface it looks as though the Titans are without a franchise quarterback. However, that’s only on the surface.
Second-year head coach Ken Whisenhunt is a guy who knows his way around quarterbacks. He was the offensive coordinator for Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, and the head coach for Kurt Warner in Arizona. Both tenures earned him a trip to a Super Bowl, including one championship in 2005 with the Steelers.
Does Marcus Mariota Fit?
As possible as it seems the Titans will draft Mariota, it’s even more likely they’ll trade out of that slot.
Whisenhunt has seemingly already made his claim in another guy. That guy is Zach Mettenberger, the Titans sixth-round selection from a year ago. In six games started in 2014, Mettenberger finished with a record of 0-6 and a 83.4 quarterback rating.
Even though he wasn’t overly impressive, nor terrible, he is exactly what Whisenhunt likes his quarterbacks to be: a prototypical strong-armed, deep thrower.
All indications out of Tennessee lead us to believe they like Mettenberger a lot.
From Roethlisberger to Warner, Whisenthunt likes his field generals to be those big pocket-passing types. I find it hard to believe Mariota fits into Whisenhunt’s offense. Whisenhunt doesn’t like the small, mobile guy. His deep attacking offense is not set up for the kid to have a ton of success.
While Whisenhunt is no doubt a fantastic quarterbacks guru, Mariota is not the type he’s after. It would be like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
Next: Number 2