Las Vegas Raiders Profile: Quarterback Marcus Mariota
In the past, I’ve previewed every opponent for the Raiders this season and profiled every coach.
As we inch closer to Week 1, I am now profiling every player on the Raiders roster.
Today, we’re profiling quarterback Marcus Mariota
Bringing Experience to the Quarterback Room
Quarterback Marcus Mariota was a free agent after getting benched by the Titans in Week 6 last year. Mariota was thought to be the “franchise quarterback” in Tennessee before he was replaced by Ryan Tannehill.
However, taking a look back at Mariota’s career thus far, it’s impressive what he was managed to accomplish.
Mariota was the No. 2 overall draft pick in the 2015 draft. During his three-year career for the Ducks, he completed just under 67 percent of his passes for under 10,800 yards. He threw 9.3 yards per attempt and threw a total of 105 touchdowns.
His efforts won him the 2014 Heisman Trophy.
However, when he came to the league, it was a different story.
During his five years in the NFL, Mariota has managed a mere 62.9 percent completion rate and averaged 7.5 yards per throw. He’s thrown 76 touchdowns and 44 interceptions.
That’s worse compared to his stats in college.
With that said, Mariota has dealt with challenges off the field.
So far in Mariota’s career, he’s worked with four different offensive coordinators and three different head coaches.
He’s pretty much had to relearn a playbook every year and adjust to different schemes depending on who his head coach was.
Granted Mariota didn’t have consistency in the field either.
Part of that had to do with Mariota struggling with injury his first four seasons in the league. The only season he didn’t struggle with injury was last season.
With that being said, Mariota has experience playing in the playoffs. At least deeper than Raiders starting quarterback Derek Carr.
During the 2017 season, Mariota managed to lead the Titans all the way to the division finals, losing out to the Patriots 35-14. The Pats would eventually lose to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII.
With this information scouted, when Mariota hit free agency this off-season, the Raiders decided to sign him to a two-year, $17.6 million deal with the Silver and Black. He would serve as the backup quarterback behind Carr.
Having a quarterback like Mariota, who knows the ups and downs of a season and the reality of playing the position, can help Carr become more consistent on the field, as Carr is still developing as a quarterback.
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