Delanie Walker injury could give Marcus Mariota additional test

In Week 1, the Tennessee Titans utterly dismantled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the most dominant performance any individual team put together in the 2015 season’s opening week, as Marcus Mariota dazzled the rest of the NFL by dropping a 158.3 QB Rating. The Buccaneers secondary seemed to be in complete disarray against Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker, and the run defense didn’t exactly seem to have an answer for Bishop Sankey, who took full advantage of the upgraded passing game to average 6.2 yards per carry on 12 attempts.

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This week’s test against the Cleveland Browns will be a much more difficult one for the entire offense, even if the Browns did let Chris Ivory run them over in a 31-10 loss. You can’t forget that the Browns fielded one of the league’s best defenses in 2014, as that D nearly propelled an offense led by Brian Hoyer, Isaiah Crowell, Terrance West, and Andrew Hawkins (their only skill position player qualifying as something close to a star) into the playoffs.

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The Browns were fourth in turnovers forced, ninth in points per game allowed, and fifth in net yards per attempt surrendered. Per Pro-Football Reference, Joe Haden, Donte Whitner, and star free safety Tashaun Gipson held passing offenses to just 5.8 yards per play on passes, leading the team to 21 interceptions in the process.

There are more than just three players to watch for in the Browns secondary, but that’s the “Big Three” that Mariota will be concerned with. The step-up from the Buccaneers defense to the Browns defense on paper is clear, and it’s unlikely that Sankey will have as much success on the ground as Ivory did last week, though the Browns run defense has been arguably the league’s worst since the start of the 2014 season.

Regardless, there’s another factor that could make Mariota’s life more difficult on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET, and that’s the fact that Walker is listed as questionable after spraining a wrist ligament in last week’s win. Walker still appeased fantasy owners with three receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown despite the injury, needing just three targets to efficiently put up nifty numbers on a defense that had no answers for him in coverage.

Walker was able to return to practice today and has steadily improved over the week, so it now looks like he will be playing on Sunday after his status initially seemed to be in some doubt. It’s further proof that Walker is one of the toughest players in the position, as he reportedly had a cast on after the game.

Even though Walker returned to the practice field today, ESPN NFL Nation’s Paul Kuhrasky says that he would still consider the star tight end “iffy” for the Week 2 battle against the Browns.

Losing Walker would be a tough blow for sure, as this is a guy who has been one of the Tennessee Titans most consistent players ever since joining the team in 2013. He’s caught at least 60 passes in each of the past two seasons, and the addition of Mariota at quarterback makes him a good bet to make that 70 in 2015, though missing a game would obviously put him behind the curve.

Even if Walker is able to suit up and get some snaps in on Sunday, there’s a decent chance they decide to limit him, because the injury sounds like it was somewhat serious following the Week 1 game. Walker’s absence would hurt the Titans entire offense, eliminating a key safety valve for Mariota, hurting the efficacy of the running game, and putting more pressure on young outside guys Justin Hunter and Dorial Green-Beckham (the latter being the better player of the two) to immediately pick up some pass-catching slack, particularly in the red zone.

Sep 13, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) looks on against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Tennessee Titans defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 42-14. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Marcus Mariota only attempted 16 passes last week, and while the Browns figure to have struggles scoring (Johnny Manziel will also get the start at quarterback), there’s no guarantee that he’ll be able to get out to a big, early lead and coast for the remainder of the game.

As we saw in Week 1 and in college, Mariota is comfortable with spreading the wealth around to a variety of targets, but the issue here is that the Browns are well-equipped to deal with a Titans wide receiver corps that still has questions to answer. Harry Douglas wasn’t the most consistent player for the Atlanta Falcons despite box score numbers that would suggest otherwise, DGB and Hunter are completely unproven, and only Wright is settled in as a starting-caliber wideout in this league.

That’s how the Delanie Walker injury could hurt them, because even if he is able to play on a limited basis, Mariota no longer gets to have the Titans best strength vs. weakness matchup. The Browns don’t truly have a weakness in their pass defense (their run defense is their defense’s overall weakness), but it is worth noting that, as per Football Outsiders, the “worst” position (they were still 15th) Cleveland was at covering in 2014 was tight end.

It looks like Walker’s chances of playing are about 50-50, and while it seems reasonable to lean on the side of optimism with a guy as tough as he is, Anthony Fasano will probably get more looks than usual. That’s something worth watching, because while Fasano isn’t a terrible player by any means, he isn’t an arguable top-ten tight end like Walker.

Mariota will already be tested more this week against the Browns, so not having Walker at 100% will hurt his chances of something resembling an encore, though I do have plenty of faith in his ability to have a positive performance.

Next: Should You Start Mariota In Fantasy This Week?

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