Grading Mariota

burgold

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Looking back on the season that Mariota has had I have this weird vibe that he's played pretty well, but has he? I mean I guess as with all things team-related we are grading on a curve. Mariota has also been dealing with a M*A*S*H unit at wide receiver, a slowed down Ertz, and a defense that couldn't stop me if I told them the play I was calling beforehand. Still, it feels like he's been pretty accurate, made heady runs, and been more than okay.

So, I don't know what to think about his season. Has he done well as a starter? Has he done well as a backup pressed into starting? Do we ignore the fact that our scoring has dropped into the teens or worse in too many games? It sees like everyone takes it as a given that we should re-sign him and I'm in that camp, too, but should it be that clear cut? How do we grade him? What do we think of him?
 
Of course he has done well as a backup. Far better than any of us imagined. And if they want to retain him his price just went up with the Jayden situation. Now is he good enough to get a starting job on another team? I hope not, that will be a bigger offer. But I sure would like to see him return.
 
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Resign him I don't think there are better options out there
 
He periodically has brain-fart decisions that make you say "that is why is not a league starter anymore." However, in my humble opinion he is one of the best, if not the best, QB2s in the league. He is definitely far and away the best QB2 for this offense. I would lock him up for 2 more years and even overpay a little.
 
Darrell Green Fan said:
Isn't that how it's always pronounced?
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Most of the time I have heard Mariotuh, not Mario-TAH
Although I think Collinsworth may have been emphasizing it since he probably learned it was mispronounced a lot? Just a guess.
 
Marcus has the same issue as Jayden- scarcity of options. Both of them have lost games as starters

All things considered, he has played well. Seems to be a good guy who has a great rapport with Jayden.

I say .... re-sign.
 
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AngryChuckT said:
He periodically has brain-fart decisions that make you say "that is why is not a league starter anymore." However, in my humble opinion he is one of the best, if not the best, QB2s in the league. He is definitely far and away the best QB2 for this offense. I would lock him up for 2 more years and even overpay a little.
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Pretty much this. Sometimes Mariota looks like he could still start, other times he reminds you why he doesn’t.

He looked great against Denver two weeks ago, even the announcers were effusive in praising his quick release and scrambling ability, and he kept making plays to keep us in the game. But he could not have been worse than he was last week against Minnesota, when he was 2 for 4, with an interception, and a lost fumble.

I was really impressed with him last year when he put up great numbers against Carolina and Dallas. He has not been that good this year, but he has had his moments. He has had some bad games like Minnesota and KC, but also some pretty good games like Vegas, Detroit, and Denver.

So he has been inconsistent, but I think his ability to run Kliff’s offense adds value as a backup to JD5. He’s a good runner and ran a similar system in college, so you don’t have to change the playbook for him. He has also been a model teammate.

All things considered, he is a good backup, a veteran who has a lot in common with the young starter, and we need a good backup given JD’s injury history. He’s likely to get some more playing time here in the last few weeks of the season, so we will see how he looks.
 
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Mariotta is one of the best QB2 options available, but just like any other career QB2, there is good reason for it and if the QB2 is forced to play an extended time, their quality of play will decrease as the sample size increases, especially on a team that isn't stacked with talent around them.
 
He's a backup, will never be good enough to be an NFL-caliber starting QB. The alphabet networks and their resident sages were so adamant about this guy when he came out. Backup only, and only in spot duty. If you think your starting QB might have durability issues, you need a more reliable option as a backup. Poor decision-making and a case of turnoveritis.....that's his MO.
 
skinzplay said:
He's a backup, will never be good enough to be an NFL-caliber starting QB. The alphabet networks and their resident sages were so adamant about this guy when he came out. Backup only, and only in spot duty. If you think your starting QB might have durability issues, you need a more reliable option as a backup. Poor decision-making and a case of turnoveritis.....that's his MO.
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He is also good in just the way we brought him in for. If you draft a new high QB that you'd like to start at some point in year one you let him start until you feel comfortable enough to let you rookie get a shot. We were fortunate that Jayden was able to start right away. Then he becomes a solid backup
 
Tah or Tuh? When I asked myself how I've been saying it all I could come up with was Ta Ta.

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Keep Mariota another year or two. QB2's are backups for a reason and he's as good as any of the other QB2's.
 
NoCalSkins said:
Mariotta is one of the best QB2 options available, but just like any other career QB2, there is good reason for it and if the QB2 is forced to play an extended time, their quality of play will decrease as the sample size increases, especially on a team that isn't stacked with talent around them.
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This. We know what the 'worst thing' about Mariota is - and that's that you do not know which Mariota is going to show up on a given day, the guy who looks great and can win you games and make you wonder why he isn't starting for someone, or the guy who sees ghosts and throws giveaway balls to defenders.

But the reason he is an ideal backup in Washington is because his play style is very consistent (albeit not nearly as effective at times) as Jayden's. That means we don't need two separate play lists depending on which QB is playing. And Kingsbury can call any play in the book and have some confidence, even with his older backup, that Mariota is physically capable of carrying out the play as designed. Add in his great attitude and his acceptance of his back up role and it's a no-brainer.
 
Boone said:
This. We know what the 'worst thing' about Mariota is - and that's that you do not know which Mariota is going to show up on a given day, the guy who looks great and can win you games and make you wonder why he isn't starting for someone, or the guy who sees ghosts and throws giveaway balls to defenders.

But the reason he is an ideal backup in Washington is because his play style is very consistent (albeit not nearly as effective at times) as Jayden's. That means we don't need two separate play lists depending on which QB is playing. And Kingsbury can call any play in the book and have some confidence, even with his older backup, that Mariota is physically capable of carrying out the play as designed. Add in his great attitude and his acceptance of his back up role and it's a no-brainer.
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A perfect summation.

If you are looking for a side hustle, my son could use your help on his college applications. ;)
 
Bring him back. Period.

He is one of the best QB2s in the league, often better than some of the low-end QB1s (who should probably be QB2s, if we are honest).
 
Absolutely bring him back.. i would also draft a development QB. MM is a perfect compliment to JD in his movement ability. He is not a starter, but an excellent backup. We also need a development guy with some abilities, because if Jaden cant keep himself healthy, his starting stay wont be very long.
 
We definitely need to bring Mariota back. He's played as well, or better, than Daniels has this year. A guy like that has value.
 
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