Hope For Marcus Mariota in His First Year?
May 15, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans first round draft pick quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) passes during his first minicamp work out as Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt observes at Saint Thomas Sports Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
Leading up to the 2015 NFL Draft, No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota was looked at as a project. And early in the offseason program, he struggled as calling plays in the huddle and taking the ball from under center was foreign to him. But as the offseason program went along, Mariota started to figuring it out and impressed the Tennessee Titans.
And now, the team has reason to believe Mariota will find instant success as a rookie.
Veteran receiver Harry Douglass was thoroughly impressed with the accuracy Mariota threw with in OTAs and minicamp. He described as Mariota having “unbelievable accuracy” and told ESPN.com’s Paul Kuharsky and, “If you have an accurate quarterback, it allows us to get more yards after that catch.”
“And that’s one thing that makes a receiver dynamic — first being able to catch the ball and then being able to do some things with it after you catch it. I feel like [to this point] Marcus has done everything he needs to do to get the ball to his receivers.”
Other teammates have raved about his accuracy, the way he’s grasped the offense and the way the guys respond to him lately. That’s a far cry from the earlier reports on the Titans offseason workouts so much progress has been made. Next, we’ll get to see what Mariota does with live bullets flying in his direction.
But Mariota’s progression to date gives the Titans hope.