QB Preview & Discussion thread

[georgiafan]

QB Preview​

Present
Former top 10 pick Jake Locker retired at the end of last year and will go down as bust mostly because he couldn't stay healthy. As everyone knows that is reading this the titans passed up lots of big offers to stay put and draft star Oregon QB Marcus Mariota. In real life Mariota may not start while he transforms to a pro style offense. Since this is madden and none of that matters then he is a lock to start right? Well some insiders say that is not the case and the job is still wide open. Zach could start and be on a short leash and hope to up his trade value since the team knows it isn't going to make the playoffs.

The other person in the QB race is Zach Mettenberger a strong armed 6'5 224 pound 6th round pick out of Athens Georgia. But Zach is not your normal 6th round QB he would have got drafted much higher had he not torn a ACL at the end of his senior year and off the field concerns. He did decent enough job as a rookie with 8 TD, 7 interceptions, 1,412 yards and 60%. While we do not know his ratings yet i would project it in the mid 70's with arm power around 90.

We do know Mariota's rating and he should be more effective in madden then in real life his rookie year thanks to his 88 speed, 90 acceleration an 79 elusiveness. When you take into account how the speed ratings have went down those are even more mind blowing. For comparisons sake last years leading rusher Demarco Murray is 89 spd, 91 acc, 95 elu. While the 6'4 220 pound QB is scrambling he is also a threat to pass thanks to a 90 throw on the run rating. He is more then just a runner while we don't know his throwing power yet his short accuracy is 87 and med is 88.

Future
There is no doubt that Mariota is the future at the position and at worst is a pro bowl QB with a rating in the 90's. If your projecting into year 4 or 5 he can even become a MVP winner. His accuracy (not deep) will quickly get into the low to mid 90's and arm power should settle in below that. Could he challenge Vick as the greatest madden QB of all time?

Anytime you have a QB that runs the ball the backup spot becomes even more important. You would like for your backup to have a similar playing style as your starter. But this isn't college and you need to be more then just fast to win in the NFL and Mettenburger is a classic drop back QB and complete opposite of Mariota. The titans are in perfect spot because Mettenburger has a very cheap contract and he isn't going to be able to leave as free agent anytime soon. Now only do they want to see what Mettenburger can do if he needs to start because of injury. They also want to boost up his stock/ratings so they can trade him as there is always teams that need a tall strong armed QB. Clipboard Jesus does not factor into the long range plans.

The Star - Marcus Mariota
The unknown - Zach Mettenburger
Start packing your bags - Charlie Whitehurst
Offseason priority - None

 

[georgiafan]

I have went back and added a poll to this thread be sure and cast your vote

 

[priestmvp]

We all know who's starting

 

[georgiafan]

I am seriously going to give Mettinberger a chance to win the starting job he has better size,arm strength and deep accuracy. I also don't want to get into any bad habits with MM speed and i'll be away for a weeks early on in the year.

 

[majesty95]

Man those accuracy ratings for Mettenberger are so low. You won't be able to bomb deep but you don't really have the receivers for that anyway. I think Mariota is the perfect QB for that offense.

 

[majesty95]

Also, if you want to see how to run a sim offense with a mobile QB, look at Spitta0 in Xbox league. He mixes it up well.

 

[georgiafan]

Yea mett's short and mId accuracy are low but his deep is 11 points higher then mm. DGB is about the only deep threat unless the 3 bench Wr with low overall and high speed play better then expected. I'm sure I'll still go with MM in the end but I am going test Mett out in practice games

Ok I'll check it out

 

[majesty95]

Do you really want 11 points higher in a category you might use to throw 3-4 passes a game in favor of 11 point deficits in two other categories that will contribute to 80-90% of your passes?

 

[georgiafan]

Final 2015 Regular Season Stats​

Marcus Mariota - 90.9 rating, 3,058 passing yards, 18 TD, 14 Interceptions, 222 for 352, 63%, 53 carries for 292 yards, 5.5 Avg.

Zach Mettinburger - 108.3 rating, 3 for 3, 30 yards (missed most of the season with injury)

Charlie Whitehurst - No stats

Thoughts - Mariota didn't have flashy stats but we was very pleased with how he got better as the season went along. He struggled in weeks 10-13 with interceptions throwing 9 in those 4 games with only 2 TD's. In the final 3 weeks his TD to Interception ratio was 5 to 2. The week 17 game despite a loss was a good sign when he threw 29 passes and went over the 300 yards. He started to not force passes and scramble to throw something he wasn't doing early in the season. He also went over 3,000 yards.

2015 Grade C+

 

[georgiafan]

2016 QB PREVIEW​

Marcus Mariota (85 ovr) returns have a solid rookie year but he knows he will be counted on to throw more then he did his rookie year. So he has to show that he can take care of the football and still make plays. His accuracy both short and medium (93 for both) seems to improved in practice then it was last year. He still needs to work on his playaction (63) something that is a big part of the offense. He is still a major threat to run though very little designed run plays was called during his rookie year.

Zach Mettenburger (78 ovr) returns after missing most of last year with a injury and this will be a key preseason for him. His arm strength is still one of the best in the NFL (95) and his playaction is much better then that of Mariota (88). While his accuracy is still improving (79-78-75) he still has some work to do in that area though his deep ball accuracy is pretty good. Aaron Murray (70 ovr) was signed to a 2 year deal after Charlie Whitehurst retired and he is a fan favorite (75 personality) but shouldn't see the field during the regular season.

 

[georgiafan]

Final 2016 Regular Season Stats​

Marcus Mariota - 199 of 320 62 %, 2,471 yards, 9 TD, 21 Int, 68.6 Rating - 26 carries for 219 yards1 1 TD

Zach Mettinburger - 46 of 73 63%, 544 yards, 3 TD, 4 Int, 76.1 Rating

Aaron Murray - 0 for 1

Thoughts - It looked like Marcus had slighty turned things around but a week 17 game vs the CPU broncos with 0 TD and 5 interceptions killed his stats and momentum going into next year. He had a positive TD to Int his rookie year and this year when the titans tried to open up the playbook and throw it more he didn't respond well. He also ran less season 2 mostly bc the OL gave him more time to throw. Mettinburger saw one start and was slightly better. They was some trade talk a few weeks back but in the end we expect all 3 QB's to be back next year.

2015 Grade F

 

[georgiafan]

2017 FINAL STATS​

Marcus Mariota 155 of 253, 62 %, 14 TD, 12 Interceptions, 87.6 rating - 79 rushing yards

EJ Manuel - 30 of 51, 58.8 %, 3 TD, 3 Interceptions, 84.9 rating

Thoughts - This was a much improved year for Marcus after his disaster of a 2015 when it came to TD:Int Ratio. He did get hurt and missed a month so that hurt his final stats. EJ Manuel proved to be a good FA pickup and came in played good enough to win some games. Officiall the titans was last in the NFL in yards but that's because the low attempts not because he can't do it. Also the 2 month injury to #1 Wright and the games missed by both starting OT early on hurt. He still is going to have to prove that he can beat a team with arm and not by handing off. But the biggest issue has been fixed and that's not turning the ball over. It will be a big year for him next year in a contract year and they have been some rumors a QB could be brought in this offseason as insurance incase a deal can't be worked out.

Grade B

 

[georgiafan]

2020 QB Preview​

Last year Rookie QB Garet Gilbert came in and took the league by storming not only wining rookie of the year honors also being in the MVP race. He is the only QB in the NFL with a perfect 99 accuracy rating in both short and medium throws. He is also the fastest QB in the league. He is still working nonstop in the practice field this year and the 2 focus area is deep accuracy and play action.

If heaven forbid Gilbert was to get hurt then Marcus Mariota is one of the best backups in the league and also has 96 short accuracy and 99 medium accuracy. The beauty is that Mariota is a identical player so the play calling would not have to change.

From the stat side of things it will be hard for him to improve as he lead the NFL in passer rating and set owner Georgiafan's personal record for TD passes in a year. We are hearing reports that the team will ask him to do more this year then they did last year. The 3rd QB on the roster is Michael Griffin who has one of the strongest arms in the NFL just has yet to improve his accuracy. Even with the conservate offense of the team they had one of the elite offense in the NFL. If Gilbert can make more plays downfield then the sky is the limit for him. He should also greatly benefit from Ben Hall coming over to take the place of Calvin Johnson.