During the Titans’ offseason program, wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson was impressed by quarterback Marcus Mariota’s “deadly accurate” passing during the team’s practices.
Mariota’s accuracy and overall feel for the offense left Jefferson feeling “giddy” about the future of the offense with Mariota at the controls and he’s not the only one feeling good about the rookie’s ability to put his teammates in position to succeed. Wide receiver Harry Douglas said that Mariota has shown “unbelievable accuracy” that he thinks will lead to bigger gains after the catch for him and his fellow receivers.
“If you have an accurate quarterback, it allows us to get more yards after that catch,” Douglas said, via Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. “And that’s one thing that makes a receiver dynamic -- first being able to catch the ball and then being able to do some things with it after you catch it. I feel like [to this point] Marcus has done everything he needs to do to get the ball to his receivers.”
Kuharsky points out that a high completion percentage and yards after the catch totals don’t always go hand in hand and that they don’t always lead to great offenses when they are linked, as evidenced by Pittsburgh and Washington finishing in the top five of both categories last season. That may be the case, but it’s hard to see the Titans getting any better on offense if they aren’t a more accurate team throwing the ball and that’s obviously going to have almost everything to do with Mariota’s performance.