Tennessee Titans May Be Souring On Marcus Mariota
By Erik Lambert
Jan 20, 2015; Mobile, AL, USA; North squad head coach Ken Whisenhunt of the Tennessee Titans walks amongst players during Senior Bowl North squad practice at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Andrews-USA TODAY Sports
A lot of things go into the selection of a player in the NFL draft, especially a quarterback. However, experts will say it doesn’t take much for a team to take certain names off their boards. It doesn’t always have to be glaring reasons either. It could be something as simple as, say, skipping the Senior Bowl. Don’t believe it?
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Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron, winner of two national titles, was widely considered a solid Day 2 pick for the 2014 draft. Instead he fell all the way to the 5th round last year and ended up a backup with the Cincinnati Bengals. While ability may have played a part in the issue, McCarron was one of the big names that year who decided to skip the Senior Bowl.
Tennessee Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt made that clear after the first day of practice down in Birmingham when he stated he wished Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota would’ve attended.
Whisenhunt would like to see Mariota at Senior Bowl: Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt is coaching in the... http://t.co/bmXFrlgP5n #NFL #NCAA
— died from cringe (@TheZimmMaster) January 20, 2015
It’s understandable. The Titans currently hold the #2 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft and could be looking for a quarterback. That would put the Heisman trophy winner in their sights, but not being able to see him up close on the field is problematic. Whisenhunt is notorious for never taking quarterbacks early in a draft during his entire tenure as head coach, first in Arizona and now in Tennessee. One can imagine he won’t pull the trigger on Mariota unless he’s absolutely sure the pick will be a home run.
Some speculate it has to do with injury while others believe he’s trying to protect his draft stock. That’s a fair argument, but the bottom line is coaches aren’t high on players they can’t meet in person, and the Tennessee Titans are running out of chances to greet Mariota before the draft this coming April.