The Chiefs should consider signing Marcus Mariota as the backup QB in 2023!!!!

The Kansas City Chiefs are rolling into 2023 as the Defending Champions along with their reigning MVP QB even though the new league year doesn’t start until March 15. Despite all of this, they still have a need at quarterback behind Mahomes. Following the retirement of Chad Henne after the Super Bowl win, it leaves an important role on their roster to be filled. 

As mentioned before, the only other QB that the Chiefs have under contract besides Mahomes is Chris Oladokun, who hasn’t suited up in the NFL yet, but he played quarterback at South Florida, Samford and South Dakota State in college. Shane Buechele is the obvious choice to be the No. 2 QB behind Mahomes next season. However, the 25-year-old hasn’t suited up in an NFL regular season game yet, which makes me believe that the Chiefs will likely bring in a veteran (a young but experienced vet) to compete with Buechele and they could win the job if Buechele isn’t ready for the spotlight when the time comes. 

During Henne’s time as the Chiefs’ backup, who was needed at various times over the last few years when Patrick Mahomes has gone down due to injury. There are so many options to consider from Case Keenum to Drew Lock. I even mentioned Carson Wentz. On Tuesday of this week, the Atlanta Falcons released QB Marcus Mariota. Chiefs fans remember when Mariota caught his own pass for a touchdown in the 2017 Wild Card game against the Chiefs. Mariota is a veteran with playoff and regular season starting experience and a former Heisman Trophy winner.

With that in mind, here’s why I think Marcus Mariota should be the answer to the Chiefs’ backup quarterback situation in 2023?

Mariota started 13 games for the Falcons but didn’t establish himself in the team’s long-term plans, and the Falcons made it clear they will be adding to a quarterbacks room currently led by second-year player Desmond Ridder. I’ve already heard they like Lamar Jackson. Mariota will turn 30 in the 2023 season and will be a priority backup on the market. 

If Mariota were to accept a backup role, he would be in a great position to be with the defending champs and could end up being asked to come through in a big moment similar to Henne.

How He Fits With The Chiefs:

Mariota capped off an incredible college career at Oregon by winning the Heisman Trophy in 2014. His consistent production not only impressed Heisman voters, but Mariota became one of the hottest names in the draft following his three-year run. At the time, Jameis Winston and Mariota were considered elite quarterback prospects entering the 2015 NFL draft, going first and second overall, respectably. Mariota ran a 4.52 40-yard dash and showed good accuracy in college.

Mariota has played in 87 games (74 starts) in his 8-year career between the Titans, Raiders and Falcons. Teams have gone 34-40 when he has started games, and Mariota has completed 62.6% of his passes for 15,656 yards, 92 touchdowns and 54 interceptions. He has also rushed 349 times for 2,012 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Mariota possesses some dynamic ability from under center. He has the arm strength and accuracy to throw receivers open and or in stride to keep them in bounds on Crossing routes, Fades, Outs, and Comebacks. Mariota has very good athletic ability and play speed to out run linebackers and defensive backs in the open field. When the ball is snapped, Mariota shows good athletic ability and mental processing in the run game, play action, and RPO to push back from the pocket and put the ball in the running back’s belly and continue the play to make the LB’s and DB’s suck in and has good play speed, change of direction, extension of plays, and elusiveness to get yards up the field with his feet while keeping his eyes down the field similar to what Alex Smith did for us. 

He shows solid poise in his body language not getting too high or low, keeps his eyes down the field going through his progressions, and keeping both hands on the ball for security. He has good competitive toughness and will stand in the pocket and take a hit and also when on the move spin and scramble with his legs to get extra yards along with diving in piles to get lose balls. 

He’s very successful when a team runs 13/22 personnel offense with a lot of RPO’s and play action passes. According to The Ringer from their Super Bowl 57 preview article, The Chiefs lined up in 13 personnel, with three tight ends, on 9.9 percent of their offensive snaps—the third-highest rate in the NFL. He is solid at sensing pressure and manipulating the pocket. The timing in his head has to speed up at times understanding the pressure, where it’s coming from, and the down and distance. He has the experience to play with more urgency every game rep he gets. His playing with urgency is solid in that he doesn’t always play with the same timing the receivers have on outs, slants, digs, and crossing routes and will be late allowing the corner or safety to break on the ball. 

Conclusion:

If the Chiefs want to look at a potential backup quarterback with the experience in the NFL and has proven to win games, look no further than Marcus Mariota. The former Heisman winning QB has the arm strength to make every throw on the field and the mobility to be a threat in play action and RPO’s. Brett Veach knows how to build a Chiefs roster that is deep enough to handle outcome like last season like in the Jaguars game. If Mariota is thrown into the action, they will say he will look adequate at first, but then plays exceptionally well. If he does, a lot of that will be because of Andy Reid’s QB friendly scheme, but it will also help to have great talent in the pass and run game to take pressure off Mariota. 

Mariota would benefit from our team using the 13 personnel with Travis Kelce, Noah Gray and potentially Jody Fortson returning or a rookie, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy should have three good players at his disposal. If they run 22 personnel, they have to attack the secondary in the vertical passing game. If they think they can clean up some of the things that limit Mariota’s success, the Chiefs could be rewarded with a backup with a great background and athleticism. Mariota would be a more than welcome addition as the backup next to Mahomes.