Tag: Marcus Mariota

Titans stand at middle of the pack in Week 12 NFL power rankings

The team has evened out its record, now at 5-5 ahead of this week’s matchup against the division rival Jacksonville Jaguars (4-6).

The Tennessee Titans didn’t see any action Sunday, enjoying a bye week after a 35-32 home win over the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday.

The team has evened out its record, now at 5-5 ahead of this week’s matchup against the division rival Jacksonville Jaguars (4-6).

The Titans rose slightly in Touchdown Wire’s NFL power rankings for Week 12, standing at roughly the middle of the pack at No. 15. Tennessee was placed at No. 16 last week.

Here’s what analyst Doug Farrar had to say about his placement of the Titans on the list, directly ahead of the Carolina Panthers and behind the Philadelphia Eagles.

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“The Titans have an interesting decision to make at the quarterback position, and one assumes general manager Jon Robinson thought about it a bit during his team’s bye week,” he wrote.

It’s clear the writing is on the wall for former starting quarterback Marcus Mariota, but the future of Ryan Tannehill and the quarterback position in general remains uncertain.

“The Marcus Mariota era is clearly over, as Mariota was benched a few weeks back, and he becomes a free agent at the start of the 2020 league year. But what to do with Ryan Tannehill, who was maddeningly inconsistent through five years in Miami, but has played pretty well in four games as a starter for this team? From Weeks 7-10, Tannehill ranks fourth in the NFL in yards per attempt at 8.5, he’s tied for third with eight touchdown passes and he has just three interceptions. He ranks eighth in passing yards with 1,017, and he’s fifth in passer rating at 107.5. That’s not to say Tannehill is ready for a big-time contract and a multiyear commitment. But he clearly has become smarter and less frenetic in the pocket, and he’s helping his receivers make plays in ways Mariota generally struggled to. The Titans are 3-1 in Tannehill’s starts. At the very least, Tannehill has proven that he can be a valuable bridge quarterback, and with a 2019 cap hit of $1,875,000, that’s as good a situation as you can expect for a franchise that appeared to be in quarterback purgatory.”

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It will be interesting to see if Tannehill and the Titans can keep the momentum going as they take on the Jaguars at 3:05 p.m. CT on Sunday in Nissan Stadium.

Titans QB Marcus Mariota offers support for Tua Tagovailoa

Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota is no stranger to injury.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota is no stranger to injury.

He’s never play a full season because of it, although this year has been different for him since he was benched in favor of Ryan Tannehill.

He was watching when Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa went down with a serious injury against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday.

Mariota has connections to the signal-caller, and has known him since he was young.

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The two attended the Saint Louis High in Honolulu, Hawaii, and have stayed in contact since childhood.

“It was tough to watch,” Mariota said on Monday in a report by the team’s Jim Wyatt. “I am sitting there watching, and I was like, ‘C’mon, man, get up. Please get up.’ When I saw him get carted off, you just start praying and hoping he is OK. I felt for him.”

Tagovailoa underwent surgery on his dislocated right hip on Monday in Houston, Texas.

It will be interesting to see how the injury affects the star quarterback’s draft stock heading into next year. Before it, Tagovailoa was largely considered the top quarterback prospect available and one of the first five players overall projected to be taken in the first round.

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“I am praying for him and his family,” Mariota said. “and anything we can do to help and show him support we are more than willing to do. I hope this is just a stepping stone for him, and something he can grow from. He is a tough kid, and I really think he’ll bounce back from this.”

Titans were in attendance at Colin Kapernick’s workout

The future remains uncertain at quarterback for the Titans, and it’s clear the team is keeping its options open.

The future remains uncertain at quarterback for the Titans, and it’s clear the team is keeping its options open.

Tennessee was also one of eight NFL teams in attendance at Colin Kapernick’s workout on Saturday.

The workout was supposed to be held at the Atlanta Falcons facility, but Kaepernick changed the location and circumstances last-minute due to his own reservations with what the league was doing.

The Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets, Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions were some of the other teams that attended.

The original event was set to include 25 teams.

Neither Marcus Mariota nor Ryan Tannehill is signed onto a contract for next year, so it will be interesting to see if the team – or any other club for the matter – would make the move to add the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback to the roster.

Bringing on Kaepernick doesn’t necessarily sound like the best move for the Titans at this point in the season, or at any time between now and next season, given the talent of the 2020 NFL Draft class.

Prospects like Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert and Jordan Love have plenty of upside and would probably serve as a better long-term option for Tennessee than Kaepernick would.

The Titans will face the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars next at 3:05 p.m. CT on Sunday.

Why the Titans shouldn’t have any interest in QB Colin Kaepernick

There’s hardly any doubt the Titans will make some major changes at signal-caller between this year and the 2020 NFL season — but Kaepernick probably won’t be and shouldn’t be a part of those plans.

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been one of the most polarizing sports figures of the decade, and he hasn’t given up on a career in the league just yet.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, 24 teams are set to attend his Saturday workout in Atlanta, and those not there in-person have the chance to watch it on video.

The Tennessee Titans are a team with plenty of unknowns surrounding the quarterback position, with the benching of Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill taking the reins in Week 6.

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There’s hardly any doubt the Titans will make some major changes at signal-caller between this year and the 2020 NFL season — but Kaepernick probably won’t be and shouldn’t be a part of those plans.

Casting all concerns about how controversial of a figure he’s been in recent times aside, it’s important to recognize Kapernick’s shortcomings as a quarterback overall.

Kaepernick was trending downward as a passer toward the end of his career, with a cumulative quarterback rating of 52.0 that placed him at No. 30 on a list of 32 quarterbacks.

He was 196-of-331 passing for 2,241 yards, with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions in 2016.

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On a six-year NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers, Kaepernick completed 1,011-of-1,692 passes for 12,271 yards, with 72 touchdowns and 30 interceptions, with a rating of 88.9.

Whether or not Kaepernick gets another chance to prove his worth in the league remains to be seen, but it doesn’t make sense for the Titans to add a mediocre passer like him to their roster at this point.

Titans QB Ryan Tannehill has been efficient up to bye week

It’s bye week for the Tennessee Titans, and the team should be pretty pleased with its change at quarterback to this point.

It’s bye week for the Tennessee Titans, and the team should be pretty pleased with its change at quarterback to this point.

Since replacing starter Marcus Mariota in the third quarter of Week 6’s shutout loss to the Denver Broncos, Ryan Tannehill has posted a starting record of 3-1.

He’s completed 97-of-136 passes for 1,161 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions.

The former Miami Dolphins signal-caller was key to leading the Titans to their most recent 35-32 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in Nissan Stadium, 13-of-19 passing for 181 yards with two touchdowns.

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Tannehill has looked more comfortable and decisive in the pocket than Mariota did this season, and has been a factor in bringing new life to what was a stagnant offense.

“I don’t think we’re playing clean football right now in the first half and that has come back to haunt us,” he said in a TitansOnline report. “We have to be able to come out early and play clean football. There is nothing complicated about it – we just have to be able to sustain drive and get points.”

The Titans’ record stood at 2-4 after Week 6, when Mariota was removed from the helm.

Mariota was 94-of-159 passes for 1,179 yards, with seven touchdowns and two interceptions before the decision to bench him was made.

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The Titans will hope to see continuity from Tannehill as they face the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars at 3:05 p.m. CT on Nov. 24 in Nissan Stadium.

Former Browns GM Michael Lombardi says Titans were split between Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill ahead of 2019 season

The Titans weren’t even through Week 6’s shutout loss to the Denver Broncos before they benched Mariota in favor of Tannehill.

The Tennessee Titans acquired former Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill ahead of the season to serve as an insurance policy for starting quarterback, Marcus Mariota.

But the Titans weren’t even through Week 6’s shutout loss to the Denver Broncos before they benched Mariota in favor of Tannehill.

The team hasn’t looked back since, and Tannehill has completed 97-of-136 passes for 1,161 yards, with eight touchdowns and four interceptions.

Before Tannehill took over, Mariota was 94-of-159 passing for 1,179 yards, with seven touchdowns and two interceptions.

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According to former Cleveland Browns general manager Michael Lombardi on his “The GM Shuffle” podcast, the move to hand over the reins to Tannehill could have come much sooner than six games into the season.

He claims to have been informed of quarterback controversy earlier in the year, and that the decision to keep Mariota as the starter came down to the opinions of the front office.

“I was told this summer that the coaches really wanted to play Tannehill, but the front office was so endeared that they had to give this Mariota one more look,” he said.

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Regardless of whether or not this has any true substance to it, Tannehill is the man under center for Tennessee for the foreseeable future, and will be leading the charge as the Titans face the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars at 3:05 p.m. CT on Nov. 24.