The Tennessee Titans have a new quarterback in Marcus Mariota and he could be the starter over Zach Mettenberger in Week 1 and this comes as the Titans offense has some major depth now with Dorial Green-Beckham, David Cobb and Tre McBride joining Kendall Wright, Bishop Sankey, Justin Hunter and Hakeem Nicks on offense.
The Titans were under heavy speculation coming into the draft, as many teams were interested in Mariota, but the deal never happened. According to Pro Football Talk, head coach Ken Whisenhunt said that Mariota would get the chance to win the starting job and that he has the potential to be a starter in Week 1. The team has Zach Mettenberger and he has not asked to be traded and according to Pro Football Talk, Mettenberger said that he is not "going down without a fight" when it comes to competing for the job.
Mariota comes in with a strong pedigree and he led his team to the national championship while playing at Oregon and winning the Heisman trophy. Mettenberger got the chance to play last season and while he was not terrible, the team likely will push Mariota as the starter. The team only won two games last season, so they really do not have much to risk while starting Mariota. Whisenhunt said that while Mettenberger is "up for the challenge" with Mariota, but Jim Wyatt on Twitter reports Mariota is coming in as the starter.
Whisenhunt said it was the "plan" to start Mariota and obviously things could change if he struggles in offseason workouts or minicamp. NFL.com reports that Titans GM Ruston Webster said that the team will be re-working their offense to help Mariota get used to the NFL. Mariota played in a unique offense at Oregon and some scouts have wondered whether he will be able to adapt to the NFL quickly.
Whisenhunt said that he doesn't expect Mariota to have any issues and Webster added that the coaching staff has been "working on a plan" to get the offense tailored to Mariota. Mariota is going to get his chance and the Titans brought in some players in the draft to add depth on offense. The team took Dorial Green-Beckham, David Cobb and Tre McBride along with Jalston Fowler and they join names like Kendall Wright, Bishop Sankey, Justin Hunter, Shonn Greene, Dexter McCluster, Harry Douglas and Hakeem Nicks.
The Titans may not be a good team in 2015, but they should be much better than they were last year and could at least compete to finish .500 this year. Things obviously will be dictated a lot by how fast Mariota picks up things in the NFL and if he does, the Titans should be in good shape. Cobb was wildly productive in college and he should give Sankey and Shonn Greene some depth along with McCluster. One of those backs could be on the way out, but Sankey should get a boost with Cobb there.
Dorial Green-Beckham has off the field issues and he is a risk, but he has immense talent and could have been a top 10 pick in another time without his problems. The Titans are hoping the Dorial Green-Beckham breaks out as a value pick.
