Fran Tarkenton on Marcus Mariota: It’s the character

Fran Tarkenton laughed about Marcus Mariota tying his longstanding record of four touchdown passes in an NFL debut, recalling the expansion Minnesota Vikings’ inaugural game, a 37-13 victory over the Chicago Bears in 1961.

“I also ran for a score,” the Hall of Famer said.

Conversely, Mariota, the second overall pick in the draft, needed only the first half of the Titans’ 42-14 rout of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and fellow Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston on Sunday to tie Tarkenton atop the record book. The game was historic from the outset, the first time players drafted first and second overall faced each other in their pro debuts.

Mariota completed 13 of 16 passes for 209 yards, the four touchdowns and a perfect passer rating. By the time Mariota was pulled from the game, with the Titans leading 42-7 after three quarters, Winston had completed just eight of 16 passes for 87 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

All kidding aside, Tarkenton was impressed — and dismayed. He shared his thoughts in an exclusive interview with The Tennessean, while blasting NFL scouting departments for an inability to identify top quarterbacks coming out of college.

An open letter from Fran Tarkenton to Marcus Mariota

“You look on the other side, the No. 1 pick, Jameis Winston, he was a deer in headlights,” Tarkenton said. “He was uncomfortable. He didn’t know where to go with the football. He threw his first pass for a pick-six. I mean, he may figure it out tomorrow or next year or later on, but your guy (Mariota) has figured it out. Your guy has a great chance of being a really good quarterback and maybe even better than that.

“The other one, if I’m in Tampa Bay, you know what I do today? I’d be scared s---less,” Tarkenton said. “I put my No. 1 pick, passed over Mariota for this guy, and (Mariota) proved he can play at this level, and this guy we’ve got hasn’t proved it.”

Of course, one game does not make a career. After Tarkenton’s record-setting debut, he didn’t throw another touchdown in his next five games, three of them starts.

As a rookie, Tarkenton completed 56 percent of his passes for 1,997 yards, 18 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, splitting time with veteran quarterback George Shaw. He also rushed for 308 yards and five scores. The Vikings finished with a 3-11 record.

Tarkenton, 75, who is now in private business, played 18 seasons with the Vikings and New York Giants. He was elected to nine Pro Bowls and reached three Super Bowls, losing each.

Blame it on the front office

Tarkenton said that when it comes to rating quarterbacks, NFL front offices rely too heavily on measuring physical attributes rather than the more nebulous characteristics that define a winner.

“The people don’t really understand what makes a quarterback tick,” Tarkenton said, “and they go to the Combine and they do the same things they do on the (other position) players. … You cannot coach a quarterback to be great. The great quarterbacks have one thing in common — they have great character, they’re smart and they’ve figured out how to play. If you could coach it, then we’d have 32 elite quarterbacks in the league and 32 elite backups in the league, and as you know, we don’t have that.

“So it’s a misunderstood position. The hardest position to play in all of sports,” he said, “and the scouting of it is ridiculous. And all I’ve got to do is go back — Johnny Unitas was a free agent, cut by three different teams, never drafted. I was a third-round draft choice. Joe Montana was a third-round draft choice. Tom Brady was a sixth-round draft choice. Bart Starr was a 17th. On and on and on and on.

What if Marcus Mariota had been drafted by Bucs?

“And as you know, JaMarcus Russell was the first pick in the draft, wasn’t he?”

In 2007, by the Oakland Raiders.

“And you know what they said about (6-foot-6, 300-pound) JaMarcus Russell? He had the greatest throwing exhibition in the history of the Combine.

“How long did he last?”

Three seasons.

An inexact science

Titans general manager Ruston Webster was amused by Tarkenton’s claim — “this is coming from a short guy,” he said, laughing — but acknowledged the importance of delving into a player’s psychological makeup.

“We do as much work on those type of things as we do the evaluation of (physical) skill,” Webster said. “And really that’s the hardest part, is figuring out the guys that actually have those intangible qualities at any position that allow them to succeed and reach their ceiling. Because really the intangibles — hard work and instincts for a game, ability to make decisions quickly under stress and all those things — those are the things that separate talented players.”

The Titans interviewed as many people as possible with insight about Mariota and Winston, as is standard practice, Webster said. How is he in the locker room? In the weight room? In the offseason? On the field? They also rely on psychological testing and simply spending time with prospective players.

And they’re not alone. This type of scouting is widespread across pro sports.

Marcus Mariota: The quiet quarterback

There’s just no guarantee that all the research pays off.

Ultimately, drafting a player becomes an educated leap of faith.

“Once a player makes the transition from college to professional football,” Webster said, “and he goes from a very structured environment and no money to having a lot of money and a lot of time on his hands, there’s no slam-dunk way to predict that. But we do our best to try to figure out the guys who are going to handle pro football the right way and then be successful on the field because of it.”

1998 all over again?

Tarkenton said teams continue to misidentify quality pro quarterbacks by placing greater importance on physical attributes than intangibles. He cited the 1998 draft as a rare exception, but also used the uncertainty as a prime example to illustrate his point.

“Ryan Leaf almost was the No. 1 pick in the draft,” Tarkenton said. “He was bigger, stronger, faster than Peyton Manning. But Peyton Manning had a little more character than he did. And (former Colts general manager Bill Polian) pulled the right trigger. He went for the character. And Ryan Leaf never made it. He was out of football after a couple of years and Peyton Manning is iconic, breaking all the records. …

“Watch Peyton (this past Thursday) night. Peyton can’t throw a lick anymore,” Tarkenton said. “All of us, we lose our arm strength at 37, 38, 39. He doesn’t have anywhere near the arm strength he had five years ago. But he’s 2-0. And he brings them back from defeat and he finds a way to make plays and make passes, because he’s got stuff, right? And that’s what a quarterback has to have.”

Titans vs. Browns: Key matchups

Was the latest draft 1998 redux?

Tarkenton said it’s clear Mariota should have been drafted No. 1.

“All the pundits, 100 percent of the pundits I listened to, I read about, the scouts of all the teams put Jameis Winston above Marcus Mariota in the draft,” Tarkenton said. “And you know what they all said? Because he was more ‘pro ready,’ right? And the reason he was more ‘pro ready’ is because Marcus Mariota did not play out of a huddle. So he didn’t know how to control the huddle. And number two, he operates solely out of the shotgun. He didn’t take the snap from center. And that’s the difference-maker.

“That is the craziest, nuttiest thing in the history of the world. That’s the easiest thing a quarterback does. But to figure out what calls to make, what reads to make, what other chaos is going on and then to make the right throws, that is what’s difficult, and you cannot teach that.”

‘Chance to be really special’

Mariota and the Titans might be in great shape for years to come.

But again, one game does not make a career.

“The things that Marcus did, he did an outstanding job of,” Webster said, “as far as his poise and how he handled the situation, but I don’t think the one game is a reflection of, say, Jameis, what he’s going to be. You’ve got to keep working and you’ve got to stay ahead of the curve. It’s not easy. Because once these guys start making adjustments to you and all that, you’ve got to be able to adjust to them. But he certainly showed the things that our scouts saw in him on the field on Sunday.”

Bucs coach Lovie Smith wasn’t second-guessing his team’s decision to draft Winston first overall.

“This is one game. Let’s not overreact to a bad performance,” he said. “We’re going to feel bad about this one and give them all their due credit. But it’s no more than that. We have the guy that’s perfect for us going forward.”

And that may be so.

Titans vs. Browns: Who has the edge?

Tarkenton knows Mariota will struggle, too, just like he did.

“He’s going to have bad games like every quarterback has bad games. He’s going to have growing pains,” Tarkenton said. “And when he has the bad days, they shouldn’t lambaste him. This kid’s got a chance to be really special, really great, because you don’t do that unless you have the right stuff.”

The Titans play at Cleveland on Sunday in a second consecutive matchup of Heisman-winning quarterbacks.

The Browns plan to start Johnny Manziel, as Josh McCown is sidelined by a concussion.

Manziel, playing in relief of McCown last Sunday, completed 13 of 24 passes for 182 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also fumbled twice.

Last season, as a rookie, Manziel went winless in five games, including two starts. He completed just 51.4 percent of his passes for 175 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

“You’ve got a break there, because Cleveland is terrible,” Tarkenton said. “And look at Manziel. He hasn’t figured out nothing, has he? He looks like a deer in headlights. But maybe he will down the road. Maybe Jameis Winston will. But so far, we haven’t seen it, and the longer you don’t see it, you’re not going to ever see it.”

Reach Jason Wolf atjwolf@tennessean.comand follow him on Twitter at @JasonWolf and Instagram at TitansBeat.

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