How do Marcus Mariota’s turnovers compare to other young quarterbacks?

Marcus Mariota turns the ball over a lot. Yesterday he had 2 turnovers that led to 14 points for the Chargers. For the season he has 8 interceptions and 7 fumbles. That’s 15 potential turnovers (not all of the fumbles ended up as turnovers but that is random so we are going to act like they did). Last year he had 10 interceptions and 10 fumbles in 12 games. Again, that’s a lot.

But how does it stack up against some of the game’s best? Braden Gall gave out these stats on his radio show this morning, and I thought they were worthy of a share here. Peyton Manning had 35 interceptions and 9 fumbles in his first 12 starts. Brett Favre had 31 interceptions and 20 fumbles in his first 12 starts. Bad starts, but I think it is safe to say that both of those guys ended up having pretty solid careers.

Mariota needs to clean up his game. The Titans would probably be in first place in the AFC South if he had just half of the turnovers, but don’t give up on him just yet. Go back and watch how he commanded the offense for most of the game yesterday. Watch this play over and over:

There aren’t many guys on the planet that can make that throw. Mariota can, and he did! The turnovers aren’t good, but they can be fixed. This kid has IT. The Titans have their franchise quarterback. Don’t give up on his through the growing pains.