Marcus Mariota: -1.79
Marcus Mariota was benched this weekend against the Denver Broncos. That was the right decision because he was easily the least effective player in the NFL this weekend. He was the only player with a negative OSM grade, at -1.79. Essentially, what that means, is that Mariota not only didn’t contribute to the Tennessee Titans offense, but he was actively detrimental to their production.
Mariota’s completion percentage was a dismal 38.9%, an absurd 20.6% lower than expected according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. Not only is that differential the worst of the week by more than 5%, but it is also the worst differential produced by any quarterback this entire season. That means that, on nearly a quarter of his pass attempts, throws that statistically should have resulted in completions instead ended up either on the ground or in the arms of a Broncos defender. Taking that into account, it’s no surprise that Mariota only managed 63 passing yards in almost three quarters of play.
One could argue that Mariota’s disastrous showing this week wasn’t actually disappointing, because he has been playing poorly all season. While that is true, he was never this bad. Prior to Week 6, his lowest grade of the season was a 15.0 in Week 2. That is truly terrible. But at least he didn’t completely hamstring his own offense.
Meanwhile, Ryan Tannehill significantly outperformed Mariota when he came into the game with an OSM grade of 36.97. Mariota hasn’t had a grade that high all year. Assuming the Titans are still trying to win games this season, it might be in their best interest to consider a change at quarterback going forward.