Marcus Mariota: Chicago Bears
Whether the Titans retain Tannehill or not, it would seem that Marcus Mariota’s time in Tennessee has come to an end. The former second-overall selection never quite lived up to the potential he showed while winning a Heisman Trophy at Oregon, and needs to restart his career with another franchise.
Now the fit in Chicago perhaps made more sense a few weeks ago, before the Bears let go of Mark Helfrich, who was Mariota’s college coach back in Oregon. Even without Helfrich in place, bringing Mariota to the Windy City makes sense for two critical reasons.
First up is the quarterback situation in Chicago. After two seasons with Matt Nagy, it seems that the Mitchell Trubisky experiment is coming to an end. Trubisky continues to struggle as a passer, specifically with the decision-making aspects of playing the position but also with his accuracy. The Bears at the very least need to bring in someone to compete with Trubisky, whether a rookie (Jake Fromm was suggested here a few days ago) or a veteran.
Second is this: Who Mariota is as a quarterback and how that would fit in Nagy’s system. When Mariota was a prospect, Eric Stoner, who used to write for the Matt Waldman Rookie Scouting Portfolio, wrote a piece titled “Marcus Mariota: The Task-Oriented QB.” In it, Stoner theorized that Mariota was good at working through the tasks put in front of him on a given play by his coach. Working through the recipe, if you will.
This is a concept I expounded upon over at the RSP this summer when I talked about the idea of quarterbacks being either “Bakers or Chefs.” The idea is basically the same. Some quarterbacks are bakers, and they are great at following the directions step by step. If, however, they try and get creative, they struggle. Or they are so set in checking off the boxes that they miss on opportunities to create. Kirk Cousins was the baker example that I used.
Other quarterbacks, like say a Patrick Mahomes, are chefs. They are willing to create, and sometimes they might get burned, other times what they end up concocting is something incredible.
Nagy’s offense badly needs a baker right now. Someone who will just work through the reads and check off the boxes and make the right decisions with the football. Trubisky’s difficulties in this area has hamstrung Nagy’s offense, and held the team back to the point where they might miss out on a potential Super Bowl window. Nagy has tried different things with his quarterback but he cannot get the offense to a point where they can be effective enough to complement what has been a very good to great defense.
Mariota (for many of the same reasons I argued for Fromm to Chicago) can give the Bears that. A competent, task-oriented baker at the quarterback position who might not deliver on splash plays, but can do enough to keep the offense operating at a sufficient level. Sexy? Absolutely not. Worth a huge free agent contract? Probably not, given Chicago’s cap situation.
An upgrade? Yes.