An in-Depth Look at Tennessee Titans' Most Intriguing Selection, Marcus Mariota

Despite saying for some time that they were ready to roll with Zach Mettenberger as the starter (per Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean), the Tennessee Titans used the second overall selection to grab Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota.

Now that they have him, what is the plan going forward? Mariota has a lot of strengths, but there are also some questions about his abilities.

Mariota gets knocked a lot for the system he comes from. Oregon's offense is a spread offense, which, to put it in the simplest terms, is an offense that has the quarterback line up in the shotgun formation and using multiple receivers to spread the defense.

So why is this such a big deal? Because in that system, defenses are spread out over a larger area of the field, isolating defenders in space way more often than in a standard pro-style offense.

If the offense also has an athletic dual-threat quarterback (like Mariota), that makes it easier for the quarterback to find a hole in the defense and run through it. That's part of why Mariota racked up over 700 rushing yards in each of his three years as a starter.

It also means that quarterbacks will almost never have to throw passes into tight windows—there are no tight windows with defenders spread out.

In that same vein, spread quarterbacks are usually throwing to open receivers, so they don't have to make anticipatory throws.

Lastly, in Oregon's scheme specifically, the sideline calls the play with visual signals that every player can see so they don't have to have a huddle. That means less time between plays and a faster-paced offense, but it also means Mariota has never had to work a huddle.

All of those are things that Mariota will have to be able to do as an NFL quarterback, and right now, we don't know if he can do those things.

He's also much more likely to see pressure a lot more often as a pro. Oregon had a great offensive line, so Mariota rarely had to deal with making a play with pressure in his face.

That seems like a lot of unknowns, and it is, but the reason the Titans still drafted Mariota so highly is because there are also a lot of things he can do very, very well.

Mariota's numbers are pretty impressive by themselves. In 2014, Mariota threw for 4,454 yards. He completed 68.3 percent of his passes and averaged 10 yards per attempt. He also threw 42 touchdowns to a mere four interceptions.

As a rusher, he ran for 770 yards and 15 touchdowns, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.

Now, of course, the Oregon scheme contributed to some of his success, but it's hard to dismiss numbers that lopsided entirely. For the sake of comparison, Andrew Luck's touchdown-to-interception ratio in 2011 was 37 to 10.

Mariota's is 42 to four. While we're at it, Mariota's numbers are better in every category as a passer and a runner than Luck's except completion percentage, where Luck's 71.3 edges him out.

Mariota is also an impressive physical specimen. Mariota stands 6'4" tall, weighs in at 222 lbs and ran the 40 in 4.52 seconds, the best time at the 2015 NFL Combine. Mariota also had the best time on the three-cone drill (6.87 seconds).

Mariota is no slouch in the classroom, either. He scored a 33 on the Wonderlic test (per Charles Robinson), which is a pretty high score. Again, for comparison, Luck (who was the valedictorian of his high school class) scored a 37.

Then there's his work on the field. Oregon's record under Mariota was 32-5. In 2014, the team lost only two games: one to Arizona, which it beat later, and the other to Ohio State in the National Championship Game.

Mariota may have spent most of his time in the shotgun, but he's no stranger to taking snaps under center, and made sure to take all of his snaps under center at his pro day (per Rob Rang of CBSSports.com).

Mariota does a lot of things well that pro quarterbacks have to do, even in the spread offense. He would regularly make NFL-like throws, stepping into the pocket and throwing in a smooth motion.

He showed great footwork at the combine and improved immensely at his pro day in the one receiver route that gave him trouble at the combine.

The long and short of it is that Mariota has the numbers, track record, physical tools and mental capability to be an NFL quarterback. He's been fantastic at everything he's done as a quarterback so far; we just haven't seen everything he'll have to do at the next level yet.

If he learns to do those few things, and there's every indication that he'll be able to, especially with Tennessee changing its offense to fit Mariota's skills (per Kevin Patra of NFL.com), then he should be the quarterback that the Titans have been looking for.