On Monday, the Atlanta Falcons moved into a new era by trading away their franchise quarterback, Matt Ryan, and signing Marcus Mariota to a two-year contract to be his successor.
Ryan had spent 14 seasons in Georgia and had accumulated nearly 60,000 passing yards, not to mention four Pro Bowl nods, an All-Pro First-Team selection and a trip to Super Bowl LI.
But with the Falcons struggling to return to the playoffs, they decided that a change under center was necessary.
That change will reunite Mariota with Falcons head coach Arthur Smith, who was once his assistant coach.
Now, Mariota has a chance to resurrect what was once a promising NFL career.
Mariota Was Thought To Have Lots Of Potential
The Hawaii native was once a beast throughout his college career with the University of Oregon.
He won numerous Pac-12 honors while setting several conference and school records.
In his final season with the Ducks, he led his team to a win in the Rose Bowl and was named the contest’s offensive MVP.
He also won college football’s most esteemed award.
BREAKING: Oregon QB Marcus Mariota wins Heisman Trophy. Mariota threw 38 TD passes and ONLY 2 Int this season. pic.twitter.com/dAmij4B5VP
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 14, 2014
He was a super-hot commodity in the 2015 NFL Draft, where the Tennessee Titans took him with the second overall pick.
Mariota played brilliantly in his NFL debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Titans must’ve thought they had the league’s next franchise QB in their hands, as his jersey became the NFL’s best-seller in May 2015.
Marcus Mariota’s rookie season. (2015)
Who will sign him in free agency? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/7OBtb8zB6y
— NFL Throwback (@nflthrowback) March 12, 2022
But due in part to injuries, he never quite lived up to the hype.
His best season thus far was 2016, his second, during which he threw for 3,426 yards and 26 touchdowns while recording a 95.6 passer rating.
During the 2019 season, the Titans benched him and went with Ryan Tannehill instead.
Mariota then spent the last two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders as a backup to Derek Carr.
Now, Mariota will be the Falcons’ starting QB.
The fact that the team has no real expectations for the 2022 season can help him by virtue of allowing him to play without a lot of pressure to perform well and win games in bunches.
The Falcons Have Hit The Reset Button
With Ryan gone, the Falcons can move forward with an eye on the future.
Mariota is just 28 years of age, so if he pans out, he could potentially be the team’s QB for years to come.
In that case, the Falcons can build around him.
If general manager Terry Fontenot manages the salary cap situation well enough, Atlanta could possibly attract key free agents in the years to come while dangling the carrot of playing in an arena with a retractable roof and the city’s relatively mild winters.
But with Mariota on a two-year deal, if he continues to disappoint and the Falcons have a horrible season, they could look to start over again by taking advantage of a draft class in 2023 that is thought to have a number of good QB prospects.
It appears, more than anything else, Atlanta is taking a flyer on him, rather than expecting him to set the world on fire.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, especially when the team is now rebuilding, and sometimes when a team takes a flyer on a man like Mariota, that man will fly high like a falcon.
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