Tennessee Titans

Collinsworth: Titans should take Mariota

Published Apr. 27, 2015 11:38 p.m. ET

foxsports

Count former NFL receiver and TV analyst Cris Collinsworth among the pundits who think the Tennessee Titans should select Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota with the second overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

According to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean, Collinsworth believes the Titans' quarterback situation dictates picking the Heisman Trophy winner.

"I just think the importance of the position and where they are at this point, would I do it? Yeah, I would probably do it,'' Collinsworth said. "At the very least I think someone is going to jump to No. 2 in the trade and get him."

If no trade materializes, Collinsworth said the Titans should be content they're picking someone with franchise-quarterback potential.

"Mariota for me is a guy that just keeps moving up,'' Collinsworth said. "I don't think I understood what Oregon was all about, and what Mariota was all about, until I really started watching the tape of him. You tend to think of him as being sort of this borderline wishbone offense, with a lot of action stuff.

"But you watch Mariota drop back in the pocket and he has movement skills and left-to-right vision going through his reads in a way I just didn't expect to see. And then when you point-blank compare release times and the ability to get the football out of his hands between (Mariota and Jameis Winston), Mariota is actually better and quicker with the release. You add that to a clean history, you add that to obviously a smart guy, and somebody that you want to be the face of your franchise."

The Titans will make their decision when the NFL draft begins, April 30th.

(h/t The Tennessean)
Photo credit: Scott Olmos/USA Today Sports