Marcus Mariota outlook and projections

Admit it. I won’t judge you, but admit that through the first three weeks of the season you were terrified that this offense would never click and that maybe, just maybe this coaching staff was going to hurt Marcus Mariota’s growth as a franchise quarterback.

If you can honestly say you weren’t worried then kudos, because you are the 1% of the 1% among Titans fans including myself. I heavily criticized Terry Robiskie’s inability to adapt to Mariota’s legs and his limited weapon.

Even though the Miami Dolphins and the Cleveland Browns aren’t the toughest defenses in the NFL, I have seen enough from a play calling standpoint to honestly say that I think I was wrong.

So, with a 6 game sample size and the NFL’s best pass defense (Minnesota Vikings) behind the team let’s see what Marcus Mariota’s numbers would look like if he keeps up his current pace.

62% completion, 3,659 passing yards, 522 rushing yards= 4,181 total yards

Last year, those yards would have put him just below the number 9 spot. To be fair, Mariota was on a better pace last year, but as we all know the key difference this year is that he is being protected better by a much improved offensive line.

That protection from the Titans offensive line should give fans every reason to expect that Mariota can and should stay healthy this year. They are on pace to allow 53 quarterback hits. Now, that does sound pretty bad off the cuff, but last year that would have half the number the Titans allowed to their quarterbacks.

53 would also have made them the best offensive line in the league last year, and that is after two starters were put out for the year thanks to injury. That is a huge leap from last year and it is a testament to Russ Grimm’s coaching and Jon Robinson’s talent acquisition.

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30 TD and 16 interceptions

That second number is pretty high given Mariota’s accuracy, but if the Titans are going to try more deep throws (which they are) this is going to happen. For every game where he has those two “wow” throws like he did on Sunday, he is going to have that “oh crap” throw like he did against the Detroit Lions when he tried to fit the ball in on the sideline.

Mariota is also the victim of a potent running game. The Titans may drive the ball all the way to the 10-yard line and then lean hard on the run and their punishing run blocking offensive line for three plays to get those points.

As fans, we all scream for a run in those situations, but it does short change the QB who drove them the length of the field to get there. You can’t have it both ways, so I will take a win over making a bad play call.