Mariota or Winston? It's not complicated
The one Jon Robinson used to prefer was on his left, about 100 yards away, wrapping up some extra passing and heading toward a throng of reporters.
The one he has to prefer now was behind him, interacting with fans before his own press conference.
Jameis Winston on one practice field. Marcus Mariota on the other. Forever linked. Both of them still trying to justify their respective draft positions of 2015 — Winston No. 1 overall, Mariota No. 2 — as they enter their fourth seasons.
And only one of them still looks like he has a reasonable chance.
File that away for @OldTakesExposed if Winston actually stops making serious mistakes off the field, becomes a great player and takes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl. And/or if Mariota can’t get out of neutral and can’t reach a ceiling that sits slightly higher than Winston’s.
But at this point, only one of these quarterbacks even will be on the field for the season opener: Winston is suspended by the NFL for the first three games because of a 2016 incident in which an Uber driver accused him of groping her. Only one of the two general managers at the Titans’ practice facility this week, Robinson and his good friend and former boss in Tampa, Jason Licht, can go to sleep at night knowing he won’t be jolted awake because of something his star quarterback did.
The only thing you can say on Winston’s behalf is the difference Licht cited often after the Bucs chose Winston out of Florida State over Mariota out of Oregon. Winston is louder. More exuberant. More “natural” as a leader. His personality fills a room. Mariota’s finds a quiet corner.
There is no question who’s running things when the Bucs are within earshot; with Mariota there are times in camp you need to scan for a gray hoodie to keep track of where he is on the field.
Titans listen when Marcus Mariota speaks
The thing Robinson has learned since January 2016 – when he moved up from Bucs director of player personnel to Titans GM – is that Mariota is respected across the Titans locker room without using his voice much. And that when he does use it, it is amplified by its infrequency. Just as voices that never cease can desensitize.
“It’s just different,” Robinson said after Wednesday’s practice, addressing the inevitable Mariota-Winston questions carefully in advance of a preseason game between the teams Saturday at Nissan Stadium (7 p.m., WKRN-2). “Everyone’s personality is different. Marcus sets an example. I’ve seen him be vocal. I’ve seen him step up and command on the sidelines. He’s not going to do it 60 minutes straight. But there are going to be times he feels he has to put his foot on the gas, and he’ll do it.”
For example, stiff-arming Jacksonville’s Barry Church last season in the play that got the Titans to the playoffs – a place Winston has yet to see – and then telling Church about it. The Titans sideline lost it.
“That was huge,” Robinson said. “He stepped up. He was vocal. He commanded it.”
After the Bucs took Winston over Mariota in 2015, Licht told PewterReport.com of the Mariota evaluation: “His leadership style is definitely different. It’s unique. I can’t pinpoint any quarterback that is like him. I think there is a fire within him, a competitor within him. It’s just different. We just really liked Jameis.”
Mike Vrabel is in the Mariota acclimation stages. Vrabel’s voice boomed as a player, and it does the same in his first camp as Titans head coach. Tom Brady was the quarterback for most of his playing career. He likes loud.
In some of the most revealing comments Vrabel has made in camp, he said of this process: “Marcus has to lead the team in a way that he sees fit. I think that him and I are going to try to help each other in that regard. I think that he can help me bring it back a little bit, and I can probably get him to be a little more assertive.”
“I think everybody has to do what they believe in in their heart and how they were raised and what their personality is,” Vrabel said later. “We’re not going to make anybody what they're not.”
Jameis Winston vs. Marcus Mariota by the numbers, real and hypothetical
And delivering the football on time and on target is what matters most. Winston was seen by many as superior to Mariota in 2015, in part because Winston was coming from Florida State’s pro-style offense. Doubts about spread, look-to-thesideline quarterbacks loomed larger three years ago. So far, both quarterbacks have been good but not consistently great.
Winston has been more durable. Winston has thrown for more yards (11,636 to 9,476) and touchdowns (69 to 58) in three more games of action. He’s also had better talent on the outside. Mariota’s career rating is slightly higher, 88.6 to 87.2. Mariota has a postseason win. And his ceiling for an off-the-field issue is something in the neighborhood of recycling with too much vigor.
I did a little media poll on the practice field, asking 20 colleagues this question: If all 32 teams had to choose between these two in 2015, how would it break down? The guesses averaged out to 20 teams picking Winston, 12 picking Mariota.
And if all 32 teams had to make the choice now, given what we know to this point? The guesses averaged out to 24 teams picking Mariota, eight picking Winston.
Winston had been accused of, but not charged with, sexual assault when the Bucs chose him. I asked Robinson if he’d think differently now and he said: “You evaluate every prospect and try to get as much information as you can. You spend time with them. And once you feel comfortable with the situation, you either move on or you don’t.”
Character has been an oft-stated priority for Robinson in his current job, and I wonder if the 2015 draft made it a bigger priority. He’d never say. But he’ll talk up Mariota, and I don’t think that’s purely out of obligation.
Reach Joe Rexrode at jrexrode@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @joerexrode.