NFL Talent Evaluator Tells MAQB Mariota 'Not Fixable'

Questions about the former Titans quarterback's decision-making and durability make him a dangerous trade option in the mind of at least one personnel person.

Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports

The questions about Marcus Mariota have not changed.

That is why it is possible that he will find himself changing teams once again this offseason.

It has been reported recently that the former Tennessee Titans quarterback could be traded to a team that needs a reboot at the position and would like a short-term option with the potential to provide a long-term solution. In other words: Mariota, who has one season remaining on the two-year, $17.6 million pact he signed with the Raiders last offseason, is viewed as someone who can do for a team what Ryan Tannehill did for the Titans when he unseated Mariota.

One veteran NFL talent evaluator, however, cautioned the quarterback-needy clubs to beware of the 28-year-old who spent 2020 with the Las Vegas Raiders.

“He can throw it, he’s accurate, he’s got good enough arm strength,” the anonymous personnel man told SI.com/MMQB senior reporter Albert Breer in this week’s MAQB column. “The problem in a conventional offense, when the bullets are firing and things happen fast, his instinct is to be so conservative. He’s terrified to make a mistake, so he’ll come off his progressions and check the ball down, or he panics. When things get dirty, he abandons progressions, and that’s an instinctive thing. I’m not sure at this point that’s correctable.”

Mariota appeared in just one game during the 2020 season and completed 17 of 28 passes for 226 yards with one touchdown and one interception in relief of an injured Derek Carr in Week 15. He also ran nine times for 88 yards, but Las Vegas came up short, 30-27, against the Los Angeles Chargers.

It was not enough to quell any of the concerns that developed – and lingered – during his four-plus seasons as Tennessee’s starter. He was 29-32 with the Titans, plus 1-1 in the playoffs, and had some big games as well as some forgettable performances under three different head coaches and four offensive coordinators. Some of the schemes in which he played suited him better than others, but none looked like a perfect fit.

There also was the issue of his health. He never played all 16 games in a season and only once as the starter, was he available in Week 17. With the Raiders, he started the season on injured reserve.

Mariota will count $11.35 million against the salary cap in 2021 (source: OverTheCap.com), which is reasonable figure that would allow a team to surround him with other talented players. That does not mean acquiring him is without risk.

“He’s not fixable if you’re plugging him into a run-of-the-mill offense,” the evaluator told Breer. “He’s capable of doing something else for you, if not for the fact that he’s always hurt. If he were playing for the Ravens, and I’m not just saying it’s only them — I think they’ve done an awesome job with Lamar Jackson — he could be a Pro-Bowler. But he’d get hurt, and that’s the Catch-22. Short of that, it’s just getting lucky, and his being durable all of the sudden.”