In the story that keeps on growing, Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota has now gone six straight days without an interception. Mariota was already named the Titans' starting quarterback, as head coach Ken Whisenhunt told the media as training camp opened. He has been getting every rep with the first-team and the streak has now become a national story in the football world.
It certainly sounds like an impressive streak for the rookie, especially when you consider that Aaron Rodgers, the best quarterback in football, has thrown five interceptions in training camp thus far. Not throwing interceptions is obviously a good thing and for this year's second overall pick to be doing it, naturally it's something that should give confidence to those around him and is a reason for optimism.
But there are two big problems with the hype surrounding this streak and it's why people shouldn't give it much thought. First, it's training camp when many of these passes are made with little pressure in the quarterback's face. After all, parts of the practice is set up so the quarterback and wide receivers can get repetition after repetition and start to develop a flow. Defensive players are not allowed to hit quarterbacks and defensive backs aren't playing as hard as they would in games.
Secondly, footage of every throw Mariota has made in training camp is not available to the public, so you either have to be their for every practice to witness it or you are reading tweets from reporters who are there. There is no context, we don't know if Mariota is dropping a perfect pass to a wide receiver 35 yards down field in between a cornerback or safety or if it's a quick slant, screen or dump off pass with pillow soft coverage.
Rodgers does have five interceptions, but three of them come on contested passes, including a jump ball to Davante Adams and Jeff Janis. Rodgers threw five interceptions all of last season, not just because of his pinpoint accuracy, but because he makes the smart throws and doesn't often ask his receivers to go up for contested catches. In training camp, he is just letting loose and seeing which wide receivers can make the plays. This is context, something that isn't provided when you just hear about Mariota's six days without an interception.
Maybe Mariota has been brilliant in training camp, showing precision on throws at every level of the field, whether his receiver was covered or wide open. But it's important to also think about the context of everything we are hearing during training camp. Many players have been "August stars" and were cut when it came down to the final 53.
Fantasy Spin:
If Mariota's success continues into the preseason, where we can all sit down and watch each play on NFL Game Pass, then we are provided context and it's far easier to evaluate how he has done. Of course, it's still the preseason and things must be taken with a grain of salt, but it's a puzzle piece for the entire picture. If the success carries over and is sustainable, then maybe we could be talking about Mariota as a top-15 fantasy quarterback, while right now he is the 21st quarterback by ADP.