Marcus Mariota to Tennessee Titans: Full Draft Pick Breakdown

Consensus opinion had the Tennessee Titans selecting Marcus Mariota for weeks, so the actual pick is no surprise. What is surprising is how badly Mariota was coveted by Chip Kelly (per Ian Rappaport), evidenced by the steep price he was reportedly willing to pay for his old college quarterback.

Even though I like the pick by the Titans, I have to think that the Philadelphia Eagles' offer should have been too tempting to pass up. Zach Mettenberger might not be the best, but between him and Sam Bradford, along with the defensive playmakers and the additional picks, it would immediately have made the Titans a close-to-complete team.

That's a pretty good situation to put even a mediocre quarterback in, so the fact that they passed it up shows how much the Titans brass like Mariota as a potential franchise player.

Quarterback is by far the most important position on the team, especially to a coach like Ken Whisenhunt who doesn't seem to love the running game.

Teams that win Super Bowls and consistently compete for playoffs have quarterback stability and quality play. It's difficult to win at all in today's NFL without a strong passing game, so if a team lacks that kind of play from a quarterback, it has to get it when it can.

Furthermore, picks at the very top of the draft, where quality quarterback prospects are available, are rare. The Titans haven't picked as high as No. 2 since before they came to Tennessee and became the Titans.

That's a long time.

Admittedly, Mariota is a tough player to project to the NFL. The offense he played in at Oregon rarely required him to deal with the pass rush, make anticipatory throws to receivers or fit passes into tight windows.

He'll need to do all those things in the NFL, but his ability in those fields is completely unknown, so it's hard to say whether he'll be able to play in the NFL.

Mariota has great production as a passer; had very few interceptions (4) in his last year; and was also productive on the ground, rushing for 15 touchdowns.

He displayed good footwork at the combine and unquestioningly has all of the physical tools to play quarterback in the NFL. All this along with the fact that he was so highly coveted by his former college coach—it shows that there are a lot of reasons to believe that Mariota will be successful.

If the Titans hit on the pick, and have obtained a true franchise quarterback that can be the face of the team for the next decade, then not taking even that steep of a trade will be worth it.

However, if the current staff is wrong about Mariota, then the Titans could have missed a golden opportunity to add a tremendous level of talent to the team.

I think that the pick is a good one and that the team does have some trade value in Mettenberger, whose agent reportedly wants him to be traded (per Evan Silva), though the Titans seem to have no plans to trade him at the moment.

Either way, you can expect to see a different offensive style in 2015. Mariota is not the ideal quarterback for Whisenhunt's system.

As for the rest of the draft, I could see the Titans going for whoever their best player available happens to be at the 33rd pick. They are most likely improved with Mariota at quarterback, but they still have a lot of holes to fill.