The Tennessee Titans Show the NFL How to Build Around a Quarterback
No team in the last two decades has been as committed to supporting its young quarterback as the Titans have with Marcus Mariota. It’s starting to pay off.
By
Andrew Beaton
Updated Nov. 14, 2017 1:56 p.m. ET
9 COMMENTS
Nashville
Five years ago, the Indianapolis Colts appeared to have a stranglehold on the AFC South for the next decade. They had just gone 11-5 in their first year with Andrew Luck, a quarterback prodigy who delivered a dizzying turnaround from the team’s 2-14 campaign the previous year.
It looked like the model rebuild for the modern NFL: Spend a year in the cellar, land a high draft pick and nab the right quarterback. Voila. That’s all that was needed.
Now the team with the brightest future in the division is the Tennessee Titans. And here’s what’s most telling: They have gotten to this point by, in many ways, doing the exact opposite of the Colts.
While Indianapolis enjoyed a meteoric rise, Tennessee’s growth has been maddeningly methodical. Some fans grew frustrated, saying the process was too slow and conservative.
But it has produced a team that looks like it can sustain its success over the long term possibly better than any team in the NFL. These days, few teams look smarter than the Titans, who are 6-3 entering Thursday night’s game against the Steelers.
The key difference in philosophies: The Colts invested little in young talent to surround their star quarterback, who was constantly battered and bruised and now will miss the entire 2017 season due to a shoulder injury. On the other side, no team in the last two decades has been as committed to supporting its prized quarterback as the Titans have with Marcus Mariota.
“Marcus is an integral part of our offense,” said general manager Jon Robinson, “but protecting him was first and foremost.”
A not-insignificant side benefit is that the Titans have a host of blue-chip offensive talents that aren’t only good, but they’re cheap.
Tennessee’s rebuild began with an idea that sounds simple: Drafting a franchise quarterback isn’t enough to build an offense.
Ever since the Titans drafted Mariota No. 2 overall in the 2015 draft, they haven’t stopped adding offensive pieces around him. Robinson compares it to building a house and the first thing his quarterback needed was a solid foundation.
Despite spending their top pick in 2014 on an offensive tackle, Taylor Lewan, they did the same thing in 2016 with Jack Conklin, giving their at-times fragile quarterback two personal bodyguards at the premier positions on the line.
After that, the Titans accessorized. They spent a second round pick in 2016, acquired from the Rams when they traded up for Jared Goff, on star Alabama running back Derrick Henry, a Heisman Trophy winner who along with DeMarco Murray now forms one of the NFL’s best backfield tandems.
With this year’s No. 5 overall pick—again part of the Goff trade—Tennessee took wide receiver Corey Davis. The team then spent its two third-round picks on another wide receiver and a tight end.
This may sound completely normal, even logical, but it’s nothing like how teams typically act after selecting a top quarterback.
According to the draft value chart, developed by former coach Jimmy Johnson and which awards points to each draft slot based on its expected value, no team since at least 1998 has supported a top quarterback prospect like the Titans have done with Mariota through his first three seasons.
The Titans have showered Mariota with 4,640 points of offensive talent, adding up all the offensive players they’ve drafted in the first four rounds, after which the expected value of picks becomes negligible. That’s about twice the average for quarterbacks selected first or second overall since 1998.
“If you go get that franchise quarterback, go get him some help,” said offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie. “Some guys turn around say, ‘I’m going to go the other way. I’ve got him, and he’s going to win the game.’”
There are two obvious points of comparison for what the Titans have done. The first is in Indianapolis, where the Colts spent roughly a third as much draft capital in the ensuing drafts on offensive players after picking Luck.
Eventually, the offense—even with a prodigious talent like Luck—began to break down when the front office tried to cobble together the roster around him with aging free agents like Andre Johnson.
Another clear point of reference: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who selected Jameis Winston No. 1 overall in the same draft the Titans took Mariota No. 2. Like the Colts, they didn’t spend many of their subsequent picks on offensive players. (In 2016, they spent a second-round pick on a kicker.)
That could help explain why the Tampa Bay offense has sputtered. The Buccaneers are 3-6 with Winston now rehabbing an injury of his own.
Meanwhile, Mariota has been among the best protected and least exposed quarterbacks in the NFL--27 quarterbacks have been sacked more than he has this year.
27 quarterbacks have been sacked more than Marcus Mariota has this year. PHOTO: FREDERICK BREEDON/GETTY IMAGES
At the same time, investing top draft picks at some of the positions that draw the highest salaries, like quarterback and receiver, has given Robinson and coach Mike Mularkey the financial flexibility to splurge elsewhere. Last offseason, the Titans spent more than $80 million on defensive free agents.
All the while, the Tennessee offense, once mocked for lacking explosiveness, has steadily improved. From 2015 to 2016, the Titans jumped from 28th in scoring to 14th. This year, they’re 13th.
Robiskie, who runs the offense that Mularkey dubbed “exotic smashmouth” for its run-heavy schemes that take advantage of Mariota’s versatility, says there are distinct advantages to having a gaggle of young players learn together.
Basically, he says, the players have bought in because they haven’t been previously exposed to other concepts and terminology in the NFL.
“It’s just that old theory of life,” Robiskie said. “It’s a new young puppy who learned those old dog tricks early.”
—Michael Salfino contributed to this article.
No team in the last two decades has been as committed to supporting its young quarterback as the Titans have with Marcus Mariota. It’s starting to pay off.
By
Andrew Beaton
Updated Nov. 14, 2017 1:56 p.m. ET
9 COMMENTS
Nashville
Five years ago, the Indianapolis Colts appeared to have a stranglehold on the AFC South for the next decade. They had just gone 11-5 in their first year with Andrew Luck, a quarterback prodigy who delivered a dizzying turnaround from the team’s 2-14 campaign the previous year.
It looked like the model rebuild for the modern NFL: Spend a year in the cellar, land a high draft pick and nab the right quarterback. Voila. That’s all that was needed.
Now the team with the brightest future in the division is the Tennessee Titans. And here’s what’s most telling: They have gotten to this point by, in many ways, doing the exact opposite of the Colts.
While Indianapolis enjoyed a meteoric rise, Tennessee’s growth has been maddeningly methodical. Some fans grew frustrated, saying the process was too slow and conservative.
But it has produced a team that looks like it can sustain its success over the long term possibly better than any team in the NFL. These days, few teams look smarter than the Titans, who are 6-3 entering Thursday night’s game against the Steelers.
The key difference in philosophies: The Colts invested little in young talent to surround their star quarterback, who was constantly battered and bruised and now will miss the entire 2017 season due to a shoulder injury. On the other side, no team in the last two decades has been as committed to supporting its prized quarterback as the Titans have with Marcus Mariota.
“Marcus is an integral part of our offense,” said general manager Jon Robinson, “but protecting him was first and foremost.”
A not-insignificant side benefit is that the Titans have a host of blue-chip offensive talents that aren’t only good, but they’re cheap.
Tennessee’s rebuild began with an idea that sounds simple: Drafting a franchise quarterback isn’t enough to build an offense.
Ever since the Titans drafted Mariota No. 2 overall in the 2015 draft, they haven’t stopped adding offensive pieces around him. Robinson compares it to building a house and the first thing his quarterback needed was a solid foundation.
Despite spending their top pick in 2014 on an offensive tackle, Taylor Lewan, they did the same thing in 2016 with Jack Conklin, giving their at-times fragile quarterback two personal bodyguards at the premier positions on the line.
After that, the Titans accessorized. They spent a second round pick in 2016, acquired from the Rams when they traded up for Jared Goff, on star Alabama running back Derrick Henry, a Heisman Trophy winner who along with DeMarco Murray now forms one of the NFL’s best backfield tandems.
With this year’s No. 5 overall pick—again part of the Goff trade—Tennessee took wide receiver Corey Davis. The team then spent its two third-round picks on another wide receiver and a tight end.
This may sound completely normal, even logical, but it’s nothing like how teams typically act after selecting a top quarterback.
According to the draft value chart, developed by former coach Jimmy Johnson and which awards points to each draft slot based on its expected value, no team since at least 1998 has supported a top quarterback prospect like the Titans have done with Mariota through his first three seasons.
The Titans have showered Mariota with 4,640 points of offensive talent, adding up all the offensive players they’ve drafted in the first four rounds, after which the expected value of picks becomes negligible. That’s about twice the average for quarterbacks selected first or second overall since 1998.
“If you go get that franchise quarterback, go get him some help,” said offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie. “Some guys turn around say, ‘I’m going to go the other way. I’ve got him, and he’s going to win the game.’”
There are two obvious points of comparison for what the Titans have done. The first is in Indianapolis, where the Colts spent roughly a third as much draft capital in the ensuing drafts on offensive players after picking Luck.
Eventually, the offense—even with a prodigious talent like Luck—began to break down when the front office tried to cobble together the roster around him with aging free agents like Andre Johnson.
Another clear point of reference: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who selected Jameis Winston No. 1 overall in the same draft the Titans took Mariota No. 2. Like the Colts, they didn’t spend many of their subsequent picks on offensive players. (In 2016, they spent a second-round pick on a kicker.)
That could help explain why the Tampa Bay offense has sputtered. The Buccaneers are 3-6 with Winston now rehabbing an injury of his own.
Meanwhile, Mariota has been among the best protected and least exposed quarterbacks in the NFL--27 quarterbacks have been sacked more than he has this year.
27 quarterbacks have been sacked more than Marcus Mariota has this year. PHOTO: FREDERICK BREEDON/GETTY IMAGES
At the same time, investing top draft picks at some of the positions that draw the highest salaries, like quarterback and receiver, has given Robinson and coach Mike Mularkey the financial flexibility to splurge elsewhere. Last offseason, the Titans spent more than $80 million on defensive free agents.
All the while, the Tennessee offense, once mocked for lacking explosiveness, has steadily improved. From 2015 to 2016, the Titans jumped from 28th in scoring to 14th. This year, they’re 13th.
Robiskie, who runs the offense that Mularkey dubbed “exotic smashmouth” for its run-heavy schemes that take advantage of Mariota’s versatility, says there are distinct advantages to having a gaggle of young players learn together.
Basically, he says, the players have bought in because they haven’t been previously exposed to other concepts and terminology in the NFL.
“It’s just that old theory of life,” Robiskie said. “It’s a new young puppy who learned those old dog tricks early.”
—Michael Salfino contributed to this article.
