During the month of July, the Last Word On Sports NFL department will determine which three players deserve to be considered the faces of each franchise. For this series, we will only consider active players. In this edition, the Tennessee Titans are the focus.
Faces of the Tennessee Titans
Marcus Mariota
With the second overall pick of the 2015 NFL draft, the Tennessee Titans selected Marcus Mariota. Yes, it is true that Marcus Mariota has never played an NFL game with 2015 being his rookie season. However, there is no doubt Mariota is already one of the faces of the franchise.
Marcus Mariota is an elite athlete. He used his duel threat ability to shred top NCAA talent. The only Hawaiian-born athlete to ever win the Heisman Trophy would start a three-year career after redshirting his first year. He was the first freshman quarterback in 22 years to start the season opener for Oregon in 2012. The decision would not be a mistake, as he led the Ducks to a 12-1 record and a win in the Fiesta Bowl against fifth-ranked Kansas State. In his final year in Oregon, Mariota led his team to another 12-1 season. This time, he finished the year with a loss to Ohio State in what will go down in the history books as the first ever title game decided by a playoff.
While he had a magnificent collegiate career, Mariota has not proved anything at the NFL level. The hype is definitely there, but the question about whether his talent will translate into a great NFL quarterback remains to be seen.
Michael Griffin
Michael Griffin was the 17th overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft by the Titans. Griffin is a great all-around defensive back, as he started at cornerback the year Adam “Pacman” Jones was suspended. He would eventually move back to his position of free safety, where he has dominated for seven seasons.
Griffin has all the talent in the world. Mix that with his instincts to find the football and you get an elite run stopping free safety, as he racked up 108 tackles in the 2010 season. As Titans fans know, it is not any one facet to his game that sets Griffin apart. As previously stated, this is a man who played a season at cornerback. The two-time Pro Bowler can obviously cover elite talent on the outside. The durable, well-rounded Griffin has only missed two games in his professional career, and is definitely a player any team in the NFL would love to have leading their secondary.
Kendall Wright
Kendall Wright is not the biggest player at 5’10”, 190 pounds. He is not the fastest player either, running a 4.6 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. However, this never stops him from being the top wide receiver on this team. The 20th overall pick in 2012 always seems to be the safety valve for whatever quarterback is starting for the Titans. Wright’s ability to run precise routes and his trustworthy hands have helped him become the go-to receiver for five different quarterbacks in the last three seasons.
The fact that Kendall Wright made this list may be less a testament to his talent and much more a testament to his team’s lack of star power. While he is a well-known player in Tennessee, he has never caught more than six touchdowns in a single season. Wright did catch 94 balls for over 1,000 yards in 2013, but neither of his other two seasons have been close to that.
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