I see that Marcus Mariota is going the bigger is better route. The Titans are working out, and Mariota says he’s 5-10 pounds heavier.
Mike Vrabel says he likes the idea of quarterbacks being larger. He says he remembers when he played against Dan Marino and John Elway was back when that they were bigger guys.
“I just want to make sure he’s doing everything he can to stay healthy, stay durable and help us on the field,” Vrabel said at a press conference (as posted on Twitter via Erik Bacharach of the Tennessean.
Whatever the reason, Mariota has gotten worse rather than better since Tennessee selected him with the 2nd pick of the 2015 draft. Early on, it looked like the Titans definitely had landed a franchise-type quarterback. Now it looks iffy whether they’ll even be interested in re-signing him when his contract expires at the end of the season.
Mariota has averaged fewer passing yards (per game) every season he’s been in the league, and his touchdowns have declined two years in a row. The Titans have ranked in the bottom 10 in passing four years in a row.
For reasons I can’t explain, Mariota has gotten a lot worse when the team has been around the goal line. When the offense was inside the 10 in the 2015-16 seasons, Mariota successfully got the ball into the end zone on a league-best 54 percent of his pass plays. That’s 35 of 53, with 26 touchdowns and 3 two-point conversions.
| PASSING INSIDE THE 10 (2015-16) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Com | Att | Pct | TD | 2Pt | EZ% | Int | Sck |
| Marcus Mariota, Tenn. | 35 | 53 | 66.0 | 26 | 3 | 53.7% | 0 | 1 |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 63 | 107 | 58.9 | 41 | 5 | 42.2% | 2 | 2 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 52 | 78 | 66.7 | 33 | 1 | 42.0% | 1 | 3 |
| Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 45 | 83 | 54.2 | 24 | 11 | 41.7% | 1 | 1 |
| Blake Bortles, Jac. | 45 | 82 | 54.9 | 32 | 2 | 40.5% | 3 | 2 |
| Andrew Luck, Ind. | 40 | 58 | 69.0 | 22 | 3 | 40.3% | 0 | 4 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 36 | 74 | 48.6 | 24 | 6 | 40.0% | 0 | 1 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 45 | 74 | 60.8 | 30 | 1 | 39.7% | 3 | 4 |
| Philip Rivers, S.D. | 38 | 71 | 53.5 | 27 | 2 | 39.2% | 2 | 3 |
| Jameis Winston, T.B. | 38 | 78 | 48.7 | 26 | 4 | 38.0% | 0 | 1 |
| Eli Manning, NYG | 36 | 68 | 52.9 | 27 | 0 | 37.5% | 4 | 4 |
| Carson Palmer, Ariz. | 39 | 85 | 45.9 | 32 | 1 | 37.5% | 2 | 4 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 59 | 92 | 64.1 | 35 | 0 | 36.8% | 2 | 3 |
| Cam Newton, Car. | 28 | 54 | 51.9 | 20 | 1 | 36.8% | 2 | 3 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 28 | 58 | 48.3 | 21 | 0 | 35.6% | 3 | 1 |
| Alex Smith, K.C. | 29 | 51 | 56.9 | 14 | 4 | 35.3% | 2 | 0 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 54 | 93 | 58.1 | 32 | 2 | 35.1% | 2 | 4 |
| Sam Bradford, Phi.-Min. | 31 | 54 | 57.4 | 19 | 0 | 33.9% | 2 | 2 |
| Joe Flacco, Balt. | 33 | 60 | 55.0 | 16 | 5 | 33.9% | 2 | 2 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ | 28 | 61 | 45.9 | 19 | 0 | 31.1% | 2 | 0 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 22 | 58 | 37.9 | 18 | 1 | 31.1% | 0 | 3 |
| Tyrod Taylor, Buff. | 20 | 40 | 50.0 | 13 | 1 | 30.4% | 1 | 6 |
| Brock Osweiler, Den.-Hou. | 22 | 45 | 48.9 | 14 | 0 | 30.4% | 1 | 1 |
| Ryan Tannehill, Mia. | 31 | 65 | 47.7 | 18 | 2 | 29.9% | 2 | 2 |
| Kirk Cousins, Wash. | 41 | 85 | 48.2 | 24 | 2 | 29.5% | 2 | 3 |
| Jay Cutler, Chi. | 21 | 46 | 45.7 | 10 | 1 | 22.4% | 2 | 3 |
Look at the same part of the field for the last two years, and Mariota has been the worst quarterback in the league, completing 16 of 43 passes, with just 8 touchdowns (and 3 sacks).
On both charts, I’m showing all quarterbacks with at least 40 pass plays.
| PASSING INSIDE THE 10 (2017-18) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Com | Att | Pct | TD | 2Pt | EZ% | Int | Sck |
| Carson Wentz, Phil. | 37 | 54 | 68.5% | 24 | 5 | 52.7% | 1 | 1 |
| Andrew Luck, Ind. | 32 | 46 | 69.6% | 19 | 2 | 44.7% | 0 | 1 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 30 | 48 | 62.5% | 23 | 0 | 44.2% | 1 | 4 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 43 | 79 | 54.4% | 31 | 3 | 41.5% | 1 | 3 |
| Cam Newton, Car. | 35 | 57 | 61.4% | 22 | 2 | 40.0% | 0 | 3 |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 24 | 51 | 47.1% | 19 | 2 | 39.6% | 1 | 2 |
| Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 30 | 55 | 54.5% | 22 | 1 | 39.0% | 0 | 4 |
| Jared Goff, LAR | 49 | 84 | 58.3% | 30 | 3 | 38.8% | 2 | 1 |
| Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 50 | 88 | 56.8% | 29 | 5 | 37.8% | 3 | 2 |
| Blake Bortles, Jac. | 29 | 56 | 51.8% | 18 | 3 | 37.5% | 1 | 0 |
| Alex Smith, KC-Wa | 18 | 38 | 47.4% | 16 | 0 | 37.2% | 1 | 5 |
| Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 27 | 49 | 55.1% | 19 | 0 | 36.5% | 0 | 3 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 53 | 75 | 70.7% | 27 | 1 | 36.4% | 1 | 2 |
| Philip Rivers, LAC | 48 | 89 | 53.9% | 29 | 4 | 36.3% | 1 | 2 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 37 | 78 | 47.4% | 28 | 2 | 34.9% | 0 | 8 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 39 | 72 | 54.2% | 22 | 3 | 34.7% | 1 | 0 |
| Eli Manning, NYG | 35 | 67 | 52.2% | 23 | 2 | 34.2% | 1 | 6 |
| Kirk Cousins, Wa-Mn | 28 | 61 | 45.9% | 19 | 3 | 33.8% | 1 | 4 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 41 | 81 | 50.6% | 27 | 2 | 33.3% | 1 | 6 |
| Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 30 | 57 | 52.6% | 15 | 3 | 31.6% | 1 | 0 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 29 | 66 | 43.9% | 21 | 1 | 31.0% | 1 | 5 |
| Joe Flacco, Balt. | 29 | 60 | 48.3% | 17 | 1 | 30.0% | 1 | 0 |
| Case Keenum, Min-Den | 33 | 65 | 50.8% | 19 | 1 | 29.4% | 3 | 3 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 29 | 62 | 46.8% | 17 | 1 | 26.9% | 2 | 5 |
| Marcus Mariota, Ten. | 16 | 43 | 37.2% | 8 | 0 | 17.4% | 1 | 3 |
—Ian Allan