Mariota Reunites with a Former Titans Coordinator

Tennessee's one-time quarterback signs a two-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons and gets another chance to work under Arthur Smith.

Marcus Mariota’s third NFL team provides him a second chance. Two of them, in fact.

The Tennessee Titans’ first-round pick (second overall) in 2015 once again is in position to be a starting quarterback in the NFL after he agreed to a two-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons, who announced the move Monday afternoon. The deal was struck shortly after the Falcons agreed to trade Matt Ryan, their starter since 2008, to the Indianapolis Colts.

The pact also reunites Mariota with former Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who became Atlanta’s head coach a little more than six years ago.

Mariota and Smith only worked together as starter and coordinator for the first six games of the 2019 season, a disappointing stretch that ended with a 16-0 loss at Denver. Ryan Tannehill took over at quarterback late in that contest, was named the starter for the next game and has had the job ever since.

The game against the Broncos (Oct. 13, 2019) was Mariota’s most recent NFL start. He completed seven of 18 passes for 63 yards and two interceptions before he was pulled. He also was sacked three times.

At that point, Mariota had completed 94 of 159 passes for 1,179 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions for the season. He appeared in just one game and attempted one pass (a 24-yard completion) after Tannehill replaced him.

In five seasons with the Titans, Mariota had three different head coaches (Ken Whisenhunt, Mike Mularkey and Mike Vrabel) and five different play-callers (Whisenhunt, Jason Michael, Terry Robiskie, Matt LaFleur and Smith).

Robiskie was the only play-caller with whom he had two full seasons (2016-17), and it was during that time that he set career-highs for completions (281 in 2017), passing yards (3,426 in 2016), passing touchdowns (26 in 2016) and passer rating (95.6 in 2016). Mariota led the NFL with four game-winning drives and three fourth-quarter comebacks in 2017 and then helped Tennessee overcome an 18-point deficit in a 22-21 wild card victory at Kansas City (the franchise’s first postseason victory in well over a decade).

Now, he gets to spend some more time working with Smith, who already understands his strengths and weaknesses.

The only other quarterbacks currently on Atlanta’s roster are veteran journeyman Josh Rosen and Feleipe Franks, an undrafted rookie in 2021.

Mariota spent the past two seasons as Derek Carr’s backup with the Las Vegas Raiders. In that role, he appeared in 11 games, completed 18 of 30 passes for 230 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. He also spent time on injured reserve in each of his two years with the Raiders.