Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota has more than his fair share of doubters as he heads into the 2019 season.
It marks the fifth and final year of his rookie deal, and could very well turn out to be the most important one of his NFL career.
Earlier this week, Pro Football Focus’ Steve Palazzolo ranked all 32 starting quarterbacks in the league, placing Mariota in Tier 3 at No. 22 overall.
Here’s a look at what a Tier 3 quarterback is, per Palazzolo.
“Volatile or conservative quarterbacks whose production will rely even more heavily on supporting cast and play calling. Tier 3 quarterbacks can post top-10 production in any given year in the right situation.”
Here’s what he had to say specifically about Mariota, who ranked directly behind Tampa Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston and right above Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.
It’s a make-or-break season for Mariota who has had bouts of good play during his career but is still plagued by inconsistency,” he wrote.
“Mediocre performance from a clean pocket throughout his career is a concern, but for such an athletic quarterback, Mariota has struggled to bridge that gap with plays outside the pocket where he has the ninth-worst grade in the league since entering the league. Overall, Mariota has yet to post a PFF grade of 80.0-plus in his career, and the Titans have a decision to make about whether to continue to build around his skillset or to move on after the season given the number of mid-tier quarterbacks currently available in today’s NFL. This has a chance to be the best group of playmakers during Mariota’s career, so a statistical uptick is not out of the question even if he continues his baseline of play.”
Mariota will get his next chance to prove his abilities as the franchise quarterback when the Titans take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at 7:00 p.m. CT on Sunday evening in Nissan Stadium.
