Heisman busts: 12 biggest Heisman Trophy winners who flamed out in the NFL

While it remains to be seen if Jameis Winston will be back with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, the Tennessee Titans are almost certainly not bringing back Marcus Mariota on a second contract. The 2014 Heisman Trophy winner with the Oregon Ducks went second overall to Tennessee in the same 2015 NFL Draft that saw Winston go No. 1 overall to Tampa Bay.

Though the Titans have been the epitome of 9-7 with Mariota as their quarterback, he has never been anything more than a bland, bottom tier signal-caller that has been propped up by a good defense and a solid running game. While he can run, Mariota takes too many sacks and gets hurt too often enough for the Titans, or really anybody, to think he’s a viable franchise quarterback.

A lot of this has to do with the offensive system he came from at Oregon. It was a lot of up-tempo spread and not a lot of verbal communication or cognitive thinking before the ball was snapped. In short, Mariota reacted to what either Chip Kelly or Mark Helfrich told him to do. This seriously hurt any chances of Mariota becoming the dynamic signal-caller the Titans hoped they had drafted.

As with Winston, Mariota can at the very least find work as a serviceable backup for the second half of his career. What gives him a bit more hope for a better tomorrow than Winston is that Mariota has shown he can follow a great offensive play caller’s instructions. In the ideal situation, he could be a Pro Bowler in his late 20s. However, he’s only been just mediocre professionally.