Tennessee Titans facing unlikely quarterback controversy?

The Tennessee Titans nearly made the playoffs last year with a stellar running game and very good defense. It was the passing game and quarterback play which held them back, spurning an unlikely QB controversy this season.

It took us all by surprise: The AFC South turned into a respectable division in 2018. Nine wins was only good enough for third place for the Tennessee Titans. It was a nice start to the Mike Vrabel era, but the team wasn’t going to rest on its laurels. It went out at the start of the NFL year and snagged Adam Humphries and a backup quarterback!

In all seriousness, the Titans look to be in solid shape heading into 2019, but they need improvements from many folks already in uniform. Specifically, they need to address the biggest elephant in the room, the quarterback position. Tennessee’s weakness in 2018 was the passing game and its quarterbacks were nothing to brag about. An unlikely quarterback controversy must be resolved for the Titans to improve this year.

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the Tennessee Titans in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

The Tennessee Titans stand at a crossroads. We can’t wait any longer for Corey Davis to become a go-to receiver. Delanie Walker needs to return to full health. Is the Derrick Henry from December the real deal, or is it the Henry from September through November who never made a peep? What about quarterback?

There are pieces to love at all three levels of the defense. Jurrell Casey is a load up front. The secondary would be the best in the division if Malcolm Butler could find himself. The linebacker corps will need maturation from Harold Landry after the retirement of Brian Orakpo and free agency of Derrick Morgan. But Landry was one of my favorite values in the 2018 draft after he dropped to the second round. First round tackles bookend an offensive line with a ton of talent as well.

This all shades over the elephant in the room. Tennessee added Ryan Tannehill this offseason to back up Marcus Mariota at quarterback, but rumors are circulating that the quarterback depth chart may be more of a position battle.

Mariota certainly isn’t the franchise quarterback everyone envisioned him becoming. He has already played four seasons in the league, which is enough time to know if someone has it or not — except no one feels sure about Mariota.

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He’s missed roughly half a season of games within that four-year span. His completion percentage had been poor for three years before last year, when his attempts were really curtailed. His touchdown-to-interception ratio has been on a steep decline in years three and four after a scintillating opening two seasons. His rushing has been fine, but nothing game-changing, yet he gets sacked an awful lot.

So what is he? Is he a guy who likes to go deep but gets wild with the ball? Is he a check-down artist who won’t reach 200 yards passing in a game? Does he take care of the football? Does he affect defenses with his legs? He seems to be trending in the wrong direction on nearly every point.

Tannehill winning the starting quarterback job isn’t the answer for the Titans. To find success, they will need Mariota to make a leap just like all these other young, questionable talents. It seems like there are currently too many of those questions for Tennessee to compete in the suddenly deep AFC South, which then puts another franchise-altering question on the front burner. Is it time to move on from Mariota, who is a free agent in 2020?

Dan Salem:

Tennessee is truly caught between a rock and a hard place. They were polar opposites on offense and defense last season, which could be great or awful, depending on how you spin things. The Titan’ defense ranked third in the NFL in points/game, while the offense ranked 27th in points/game. It’s unlikely that Tennessee is that good on defense or that bad on offense in 2019. This is good news overall.

Entering the new season with a strong defense is a great way to win in the NFL. Tennessee maintained defensive continuity more or less, so everything comes down to Mariota and the offense. Even a slight drop in defensive metrics means the Titans are still top 10. That’s how good they were last year. Tennessee’s offense can’t get much worse, but the numbers are completely skewed by the lack of a passing game.

Overall the Titans ranked 25th in yards and 27th in points/game, yet they were 7th in rushing yards per game. Henry put up over 1000 yards. They need him to repeat things.

It’s fair to say that Mariota has failed at quarterbacking this football team, but I’m not ready to give up on him completely. He struggled to stay on the field last season and it showed in the team’s complete lack of a passing threat. If he can’t fix things this offseason and find a rhythm, then Tannehill deserves to start. He still has starter level abilities.

The Tennessee Titans are too good everywhere else for Mariota to hold them back. He was once the reason they were succeeding. Well-rounded quarterback play likely pushes Tennessee over the hump in a crowded AFC South division.