No Quarterback Battle In Tennessee, Mike Vrabel Says Ryan Tannehill Is The Backup

Coming into this season, I truly thought that Ryan Tannehill and Marcus Mariota would have an open competition for the starting quarterback job for the Titans. Why else would Tennessee trade for Tannehill if they didn’t have that mindset? Apparently, I was wrong, or at least am wrong for now. There is no quarterback battle in Tennessee. Head coach Mike Vrabel said that Ryan Tannehill is the backup for the Titans. What a shame.

“His job as a backup — everybody’s job as a backup — is to push the guy in front of him,” Vrabel said, via Alex Butler of the United Press International. “To compete and try to make yourself better and try to make the team better and see how everybody responds.”

I don’t understand this. Even if you have every intention to start Mariota, why not let them compete? Let’s see what Tannehill shows in training camp and preseason action before declaring him the backup. What in the world has Mariota done to earn a starting job without competing for it? If you ask me, Mariota is very much on par with Tannehill.

• Mariota – 27-28 career record
• Tannehill – 42-46 career record

Looks pretty similar if you ask me. I could argue that Tannehill also had less talent to work with in Miami compared to what the Titans have to offer. Over the last two years, Mariota has a TD to INT ratio of 24-23. That’s absolutely pathetic. He’s also never played a full 16 game season. I compared him to Akili Smith coming out of college and that still feels pretty accurate today. Tell me again how Mariota is beyond having to compete for a job?

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I’m not saying Tannehill is sunshine and rainbows either. He’s a converted wide receiver that has been a very below average quarterback in the NFL. That’s what Tannehill is. A lot of people would probably argue that his best attribute is his wife. Just being honest. Still, a change of scenery could help Tannehill. Everybody knows that Mariota isn’t the future anyway. I guess it doesn’t matter, Mariota will get hurt at some point this year anyway.

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