Quote:From NFL.com regarding Mariotta...
"Who leads the league in touchdown passes since Week 5 (17)? It's Mariota, whose first pro season in 2015 was disjointed, due to a spate of injuries caused in large part by poor offensive line play. He's matured quickly in Year 2, and one of the things that has been particularly impressive is what Mariota is doing with his surrounding cast. Brady has Gronk; Ryan has Julio Jones; Mariota has ... Delanie Walker, Rishard Matthews and Tajae Sharpe. (OK, Walker's a pretty darn good tight end, but still.)
Bill Walsh used to say you should have an idea of who a quarterback is -- and what kind of player he's going to be -- by the time he's played 18 games. Mariota, who now has 22 NFL games under his belt, is looking every bit the part of a franchise QB in his sophomore season. He has yet to throw an interception inside the red zone in his career, with 30 touchdowns to zero interceptions in the area of the field where windows are the tightest and decisions have to be made the fastest. That alone should qualify him for this list. And we haven't even talked about the yards he can account for on the ground. For the first time in years, Tennessee's offense is a legitimate pain to game plan for."
Bortles is so far away from being a franchise QB right now it's sad.
I am not going to dispute Mariota's status as a franchise QB. I think most people would agree that he is going to be a very good and a right pain in the [BLEEP] for the AFC South because not only do we have Andrew Luck to contend with, we now have Marcus Mariota to contend with...
That said, what do the Tennessee Titans have this year to aid Mariota? A very strong running game. DeMarco Murray sits second in the league in rushing with 930 yards, behind only Ezekiel Elliot. He's averaging 93 yards per game. Add to that Heisman winner, Derrick Henry, and his 252 yards; and Mariota's 235 yards. They are averaging 146 rushing yards per game, behind only Buffalo (155) and Dallas (161). Having a strong running game has helped Mariota and the passing game. They realised they needed to upgrade their running game after last season when they averaged 92.8 which was 25th in the league.
Where do we rank? 26th in the league with 88.1 yards per game.
Where did we rank last year? 27th in the league with 92.1 yards per game.
We have moved up one place but average four less yards per game. Our running game for the most part has struggled and that has led to Bortles needing to take the offense on his back and pass more. Now it would be great if he was the next Tony Romo or Drew Brees, but he's not. He needs help just like other quarterbacks in this league get. The Titans upgraded their running game and that has helped their overall offense. We tried to upgrade our running game but have failed. With a better running game, Bortles might be better than he currently is. I don't think he's going to be Luck or Mariota good, but he's certainly capable of being a starting quarterback in this league and being productive, but this team needs to do a better job of helping him. It's all well and good having Robinson, Hurns, Lee, Thomas and co for the passing game. But sort the running game out, don't abandon it. If they did that properly this season, like the Titans, this offense would be better for it.
