3 Darkhorse backup options for Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz

You don’t often see a situation where both the backup and starting quarterback are free agents at the same time, but there’s a very interesting story brewing with the Tennessee Titans. Ryan Tannehill, who was once signed to back up Marcus Mariota, has seemingly taken the job from Tennessee’s former face of the franchise.

Wait, does that now mean Mariota is the understudy or will he have the opportunity to go elsewhere and compete for the starting role? Surely, no one’s going to see him as the starter or will they?

Truthfully, Mariota, the second-overall selection of 2015’s draft, hasn’t had a ton of stability. He’s had multiple coordinators and head coaches, and get this. He wasn’t awful in 2019. He just wasn’t great either. He set a career-low in completion percentage (59.4). He went 2-4 as a starter, and he racked up a seven touchdown to two interception ratio over that time. Then, he had to stand by as the team exploded with Tannehill at the helm.

Now, Tennessee needs to pay both Tannehill and 2019’s leading rusher, Derrick Henry. Mariota is probably out in Nashville, but where would he land as a starter if he is? Would he even get a second chance? It seems like he’d need to rebuild his brand a little. Maybe he winds up in Philly?

If he does, and Carson Wentz goes down at least you know that the backup has some wheels, has won a playoff game on the road (something Wentz hasn’t done), and can probably take off and make that final play that Josh McCown couldn’t make in that NFC Wild Card Game.