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Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota's career trajectory has certainly been an odd one.
He had a solid rookie year in 2015, and in 2016, he began to show why the Tennessee Titans took him with the No. 2 overall pick, throwing for 3,426 yards, 26 touchdowns, and nine interceptions while completing 61.2 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 95.6.
But the last couple of years, Mariota has backslid.
In 2017 and 2018 combined, the 25-year-old has thrown 24 touchdowns and 23 interceptions, an awful ratio for any quarterback, let alone one who was chosen so high in the draft.
Yes, injuries have played a role, as Mariota has dealt with pesky elbow and hamstring issues, but let's be real here: that's not the only reason why he has struggled.
Mariota has just been flat out bad, and it has gotten to the point where some have wondered whether the Titans should just move on.
But the thing is, Mariota has shown he is capable of being a solid NFL quarterback, as evidenced by his impressive 2016 campaign. Was it a mirage? Maybe, but we owe it to Mariota to give him one more chance to prove that it was the real deal.
With Mariota's contract up at the end of 2019, this may very well be his last chance in Tennessee, so he absolutely has to take that next step this coming season to prove his worth.
In order to do that, Mariota is first going to need to regain some confidence.
When a player drops off that much, there are generally a lot of things that are going wrong, and confidence is almost always one of them. While Mariota has never had Patrick Mahomes arm strength, he was confident enough to rack up 26 touchdown passes in 2016, so there is certainly talent there.
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Watching Mariota, it seems like he is a bit tentative to try and do anything, which leads to him second-guessing himself and ultimately throwing an interception or taking a sack, the latter of which happened 42 times in 14 games this past year.
There is no reason why Mariota (or any starting quarterback in the NFL, for that matter) should be that low on himself. Mariota needs to believe he can make those throws to move the chains and put his team in a position to win, as he has done it before.
And you know what? There is nothing wrong with short, quick throws.
Again, Mariota does not have ridiculous arm strength, so it actually suits him to make those quick throws on short and intermediate routes. That is perfectly fine.
He needs to play to his strengths, and if he does that, he should have a much more successful 2019.
It also may come down to Mariota stepping up in the pocket a bit more and being more confident in his ability to make plays without using his legs. We know that Mariota can scramble, which is great. But it seems like he relies on that a bit too much.
Mariota should watch a ton of Tom Brady film this summer and pay attention to how Brady drops back, steps up and makes quick throws to his receivers. Now, to be fair to Mariota, Brady certainly has a better offensive line, but it's about the concept more than anything else.
This could be the make-or-break year for Mariota's career, and he needs to dig deep and find what made him successful in 2016 as well as add in some new wrinkles in order to show he can still start in the NFL.
