What Titans' Marcus Mariota must do to make the leap to elite

That is a lot of play development the quarterback must process. If he moves on too quickly in that situation, he could miss a potential scoring opportunity. On the play above, Mariota did a nice job hanging tight, keeping his base set, and delivering the throw once he deemed that the concept on the right side of the field had beaten the defense.

Later in the game, Mariota’s red-zone rifle struck the Eagles once again. This time, it was a game-winning blow with under 20 seconds left in overtime.

Just like on the throw to Sharpe above, it was again Mariota’s poise shining through. The Titans once more line up in a trips formation, this time with three receivers to the left. The Eagles don’t have a safety deep, and they are going to rush all six defenders on the line, leaving the three corners matched up with the three receivers and two safeties responsible for the back and tight end.

Mariota knows his back and tight end are going to stay home and pass block, so he must keep an eye on the safeties. If they are in man-to-man against the back and tight end, they are likely to be sucked into the trenches, leaving the deep middle wide open. Corey Davis, the innermost wide receiver to the left, is going to run a post that will carry him straight into the vacated area.

It turns out that the safeties do indeed crash down, leaving it up to Davis to win his post route. He burns Avonte Maddox and is open deep. Mariota hangs tight, trusts his back (Dion Lewis) to buy him just enough time, and delivers the throw as he is about to take a hit. It isn’t a perfect ball, but it gets the job done. Good read and nice poise from Mariota, who delivered a win for the Titans.

Making the most out of his legs

Mariota was known for his athleticism and mobility at Oregon, and he has made the most of those abilities in the NFL. Since entering the league, Mariota has rushed for 1,270 yards and 11 touchdowns, each total the fifth-highest mark among quarterbacks since 2015.

The most impressive aspect of Mariota’s rushing production is the efficiency at which he has been able to produce on the ground. He has averaged 5.8 yards per rushing attempt and picked up a first down on approximately 38 percent of his rushes.

Football Outsiders measures a stat called DYAR, short for defense-adjusted yards above replacement. This metric takes the value of the quarterback's rushing performance compared to replacement level, adjusts it for situation and opponent, and then translates it into a total yardage value.

Mariota ranked fifth among quarterbacks in rushing DYAR in 2018 and third in 2017. He was the only quarterback who ranked top-five in rushing DYAR in each of the past two seasons.

For a quarterback at any level, it is important to know when it is smart to use your legs and when it is not. A smart quarterback scramble occurs when the decision to scamper presents more upside than any passing option that was available. In general, passing is more productive than rushing (especially in the NFL), so a quarterback must prioritize going through as many reads as he can before choosing to take off.

Mariota consistently does a good job with this. On this play against the Jaguars, the Titans are facing third and 11 in Jacksonville territory. Mariota checks all of his options first, and then decides to take off only once he feels that his legs present the best opportunity for a successful result. He then puts his athleticism on display, using his 4.52 speed (96^th percentile among quarterbacks) to outrun the safety to the marker.

He also tops it off with a nifty lunge over the diving defender, enough to get beyond the sticks. Mariota has a savvy craftiness to his running game.

WEAKNESSES

Taking sacks on third down

On third downs last season, Mariota took a whopping 22 sacks while throwing 97 pass attempts. That resulted in an abnormally high sack rate of 18.4 percent, the second-highest mark among the top 32 quarterbacks in third-down passing attempts. Only Ryan Tannehill was sacked more frequently on third down.

In a 21-0 loss to the Ravens last October, Mariota took an unfathomable 11 sacks, tied for the third most in a game since sacks were first tracked in 1981. Seven of those sacks came on third down.

Mariota should not take a sack on this play, a third-and-12 at the edge of field-goal range. Any one of the three Titans receivers were open enough to be worthy of a target. These aren’t necessarily wide-open  throws, but in the NFL, these are open windows. In the middle of the field, Darius Jennings could have been targeted for a potential first down.

In 2018, Mariota led qualified quarterbacks in adjusted completion percentage on 20-plus yard attempts, with a mark of 58.8 percent. However, he ranked only 28^th out of 35 qualifying quarterbacks in deep-ball frequency, throwing only 10.3 percent of his passes over 20 yards down the field.

Putting the team on his back

As his career has progressed, the Titans seem to rely on Mariota less to carry them to a victory. 

Mariota's yards passing per game average has declined each season in the NFL, hitting a low of 180.6 in 2018. Of the 29 quarterbacks to start at least 10 games last season, only Josh Rosen, Josh Allen and Ryan Tannehill picked up fewer passing yards per game than Mariota.

He was even more unreliable on the road, throwing for a ghastly average of 160.6 yards per game in eight games. In road games against the Colts and Giants, Mariota threw for  85 and 88 yards, respectively.

 Mariota played too conservatively from the start against the Giants. Although it was raining at the time, Mariota makes a conservative choice here on the Titans' first drive of the game. He has an open Taywan Taylor crossing over the middle but instead throws across his body to a tightly covered MyCole Pruitt. The pass falls incomplete.

I think Mariota’s conservatism in some of these games where he struggled is an issue that plays into one of his biggest questions: Can he carry a team?

The Titans aim to escape mediocrity and make that leap into the NFL's elite ranks. Their quarterback is in the same boat. If Mariota can stay healthy and mesh all of his unique talents consistently, he is more than capable of escaping mediocrity –- and taking the Titans with him.