NFL Analyst ranks Marcus Mariota 297th best player in the league

Andy Benoit is no stranger to making bold statements. To his credit, he puts in the film work. But he released his MMQB 400 today and it is absolutely bizarre.

Marcus Mariota checks in at 297th. There isn’t any way that there are 296 players in the NFL better than Marcus Mariota. Benoit referenced consistency as the reason for his low ranking.

I love his quick release and have been encouraged by the way he reads the field. Though I would have liked to see a little more consistency in his second season, particularly late in the year. This could be a breakout year for him.

Sylvester Williams, Kurt Coleman, Duke Johnson, Tashaun Gipson, David Amerson, Dwight Freeney (!!!!), Sam Bradford and Jared Cook (lol) all are ranked higher than Marcus Mariota.

JARED COOK!

I could go on and on here.

Perhaps just as bad, DeMarco Murray is ranked 392nd by Benoit. Interestingly enough, Derrick Henry checks in just ahead of Murray. Benoit thinks Vince Wilfork, Adam Jones, Austin Johnson and Alex Smith are better football players than DeMarco Murray — who finished 3rd in the league in rushing last year.

Benoit thinks Shane Vereen is a better player than DeMarco Murray. I’d love to hear his rationale behind that.

This has to be a Skip Bayless job, right? Forming and sticking to awful controversial opinions that are so wrong everyone has to click on it? Sure seems like it. I’m all for doing the work and forming your own opinions, but I’m not sure how you come to these conclusions.

Nobody is ever going to release a list ranking the best players in the NFL that everyone is going to agree on, but for some reference let’s look at the NFL Top 100 by the NFL Network. I’ll follow it with Benoit’s ranking.

Murray: 33 (Benoit: 392)

Mariota: 50 (Benoit: 297)

Lewan: 72 (Benoit: 251)

Walker: 75 (Benoit: 181)

Orakpo: 78 (Benoit: 312)

Casey: 86 (Benoit: 41)

Safe to say Andy won’t be making any bets on the Titans this year. Again, he’s totally entitled to his own opinion here, but he’s way out in left field here. Hopefully we get some explanation on these.