Less than two minutes remained in the first quarter when Derek Carr left the field with an apparent groin injury. With three whole quarters left to go, the former 2015 number two overall pick Marcus Mariota took the field. Using not only his arm, but also his legs (keep this in mind), Mariota took command of the offense, and kept the Raiders in the game.
MARIOTA HAS ARRIVED ?pic.twitter.com/2eYnyJc9Bx
— PFF (@PFF) December 18, 2020
Mariota only throws dimes ?pic.twitter.com/xgk6vbxgSM
— PFF (@PFF) December 18, 2020
Though the Raiders’ pathetic defense coughed it up in overtime, Mariota still looked sensational. It was a true flashback to when he played for the Oregon Ducks prior to being drafted.
Marcus Mariota: 82.1 PFF Grade vs. Chargers
— PFF (@PFF) December 18, 2020
First game w/ a 80.0+ PFF Grade since Week 10, 2018 vs. Patriots pic.twitter.com/8NDqgvrygQ
At the end of the game I couldn’t help but to pause and think. Is this what Mariota could’ve been if the Tennessee Titans had used him properly? Could Mariota have been successful in Tennessee if they understood what they truly had? The answer I believe, is yes.
How the Titans Held Mariota Back
I’m not even going to get into how terrible the Titans roster was when Mariota was drafted. It’s the definition of a low-hanging fruit. Know this though, his other “weapons” outside of Delanie Walker were Dexter McCluster, Bishop Sankey, Dorial Green-Beckham, Harry Douglas, and arguably the worst offensive line of any team. Not only was Mariota placed on the worst roster in the NFL, but he couldn’t even play his brand of football.
What Could Have Been
Thursday night against the Chargers, Mariota ran nine times for 88 yards and a touchdown. He kept the Chargers defense off balance. If not for an unfortunate turnover, he probably secures a victory. If you extrapolate that out over a season, Mariota would’ve ran 144 times. 32 times less than Lamar Jackson’s career-high.
Now obviously, the odds of a Quarterback running nine or so times every game is unrealistic. This is why Lamar Jackson’s MVP season was so extraordinary. However, with Tennessee, Mariota’s career-high in rush attempts for a season was 64. That’s an average of four rushes a game.
Buffalo’s Josh Allen (who I don’t think anyone would say is faster than Mariota), has run more than 89 times every year of his NFL career. He’s on pace for back to back seasons with 100+ carries, while Mariota couldn’t get past 65. Plain and simple, the Titans tried to turn Mariota into a pocket passer, and utterly failed. They did an incredibly poor job of incorporating anything from his days in Oregon and ultimately never found true success. The Bills and Ravens embraced who Allen and Jackson were in college, while the Titans tried to change Marcus from the get-go.
Now in fairness to the Titans, Mariota has never played all 16 games in a season. However, the majority of, if not all of his injuries, occurred while he was in the pocket. Not while he was running. If the Titans had treated him more like Lamar Jackson and not RGIII, it’d be interesting to see how his career in Tennessee would’ve panned out.
Hot Take
If you look at the numbers in college, Marcus Mariota could’ve, and probably should’ve been better than both Colin Kaepernick and reigning MVP Lamar Jackson. He was a career 66.8-percent completion passer in college, while Kaepernick and Jackson were sub 60-percent. The two might be a touch faster than Mariota, but he was far and away the more polished thrower. For the Titans to have mismanaged him the way they did should be grounds for termination as a franchise. It’s utterly ridiculous to have a guy who could run and throw the way Mariota did and not know how to use him.
All the Titans needed to do was embrace Mariota the way Kaepernick, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson were embraced by their respective franchises.
Where Does Marcus Mariota Go From Here?
When the Raiders signed Mariota to a two-year, $17.6 million dollar deal, it was viewed as a move to put pressure on Derek Carr. And while Carr has kept his starting job, his injury could be the opening for Mariota to show other teams it was a Titans problem, and not a Mariota problem. Gruden appears to allow him to play his game. So with Carr’s availability up in the air for their game against the Dolphins, this could be Mariota’s chance to change the narrative surrounding him.
With that being said, the ball is in Mariota’s court. If Gruden goes forward the rest of the season with Mariota at the helm, this off-season could be even more fascinating for the Raiders.
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