EBF
Footballguy
As I was looking over the Pro Bowl teams a few days ago, I noticed that Titans rookie WR Marc Mariani made the roster as the AFC's return specialist. He currently ranks 3rd in the NFL in kickoff return yards and 8th in punt return yards. His punt return average of 12.9 is well behind Devin Hester's otherworldly 17.1 average, but places him in pretty good company alongside receivers like Danny Amendola (11.4), Mike Thomas (10.8), Eddie Royal (11.9), Ted Ginn (14.0), and Davone Bess (11.4).
Not bad for a 7th round rookie from Montana. His early success in the return game has me wondering if he might have a productive future at WR. Unfortunately, it's hard to get a great read on his potential at this position because he seemingly hasn't played there at all for Tennessee. He doesn't have a single catch to his name. That's not very encouraging, but there have been plenty of great WRs who didn't do much in their rookie seasons. Wes Welker is a notable example.
Like a lot of recent WRs who happen to be white, Mariani has been slapped with the "Wes Welker" label. There are some similarities beyond skin color. Like Mariani, Welker was an ultra productive college WR whose first NFL contributions came on special teams. Welker didn't have a catch in his first NFL season. He played heavily on special teams though, bringing back 61 kickoffs and 43 punts. As we all know, he eventually emerged as a solid player at WR and became a steady contributor in FF leagues.
Miles Austin had a similar career trajectory. After going undrafted as a small school prospect out of Monmouth, he earned a roster spot with the Cowboys and spent his first season almost exclusively on special teams. He caught zero passes as a rookie and five as a second year player, but returned 53 kicks over the course of those two years.
Maybe Mariani is the next in a long tradition of overlooked small school WR prospects. In his last two seasons at Montana he caught 149 passes for 2787 yards and 28 TDs. He hasn't played much at WR in the NFL, but his results on returns suggest some playmaking skills. I searched YouTube and found some pretty encouraging highlights of his days as a Montana receiver. If he gets more opportunities catching the ball over the next few seasons then maybe he can rise up the depth chart and become a contributor at WR.
I just went out and grabbed him in a handful of leagues where I had some open roster spots. In general I think it would be best to wait until he shows some promise at WR before using a roster spot on him, but I had the luxury of space and I play in some deep leagues where anyone with a pulse gets snatched up immediately. I wouldn't necessarily advocate rushing out and picking him up. For every Welker or Austin there are lots of guys who amount to nothing. However, Mariani's prolific college WR career and early NFL contributions on returns have me intrigued. At the very least he's a player that owners in deep dynasty leagues should monitor. If he shows any promise at WR then grab him and see what happens.
One thing this FF season has shown us is that you never know where the next impact player is going to come from (Blount, Hillis, Foster, Lloyd, etc).
Not bad for a 7th round rookie from Montana. His early success in the return game has me wondering if he might have a productive future at WR. Unfortunately, it's hard to get a great read on his potential at this position because he seemingly hasn't played there at all for Tennessee. He doesn't have a single catch to his name. That's not very encouraging, but there have been plenty of great WRs who didn't do much in their rookie seasons. Wes Welker is a notable example.
Like a lot of recent WRs who happen to be white, Mariani has been slapped with the "Wes Welker" label. There are some similarities beyond skin color. Like Mariani, Welker was an ultra productive college WR whose first NFL contributions came on special teams. Welker didn't have a catch in his first NFL season. He played heavily on special teams though, bringing back 61 kickoffs and 43 punts. As we all know, he eventually emerged as a solid player at WR and became a steady contributor in FF leagues.
Miles Austin had a similar career trajectory. After going undrafted as a small school prospect out of Monmouth, he earned a roster spot with the Cowboys and spent his first season almost exclusively on special teams. He caught zero passes as a rookie and five as a second year player, but returned 53 kicks over the course of those two years.
Maybe Mariani is the next in a long tradition of overlooked small school WR prospects. In his last two seasons at Montana he caught 149 passes for 2787 yards and 28 TDs. He hasn't played much at WR in the NFL, but his results on returns suggest some playmaking skills. I searched YouTube and found some pretty encouraging highlights of his days as a Montana receiver. If he gets more opportunities catching the ball over the next few seasons then maybe he can rise up the depth chart and become a contributor at WR.
I just went out and grabbed him in a handful of leagues where I had some open roster spots. In general I think it would be best to wait until he shows some promise at WR before using a roster spot on him, but I had the luxury of space and I play in some deep leagues where anyone with a pulse gets snatched up immediately. I wouldn't necessarily advocate rushing out and picking him up. For every Welker or Austin there are lots of guys who amount to nothing. However, Mariani's prolific college WR career and early NFL contributions on returns have me intrigued. At the very least he's a player that owners in deep dynasty leagues should monitor. If he shows any promise at WR then grab him and see what happens.
One thing this FF season has shown us is that you never know where the next impact player is going to come from (Blount, Hillis, Foster, Lloyd, etc).
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