Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

Marcus Mariota needed just 11 games to leave his stamp on the Tennessee Titans record books. The first-year star set the franchise record for most passing yards by a rookie quarterback, surpassing Vince Young's old mark of 2,199 yards in 2006.

Mariota entered Sunday with 2,026 yards, leaving him 173 yards shy of breaking the record. The former Heisman Trophy winner did just that on a 14-yard completion to Antonio Andrews in the fourth quarter.



John Glennon of the Tennessean noted the achievement.

Mariota will have to play out of his mind in Tennessee's final five games if he's to catch Warren Moon for most passing yards in a season by a Titans QB. Moon threw for 4,690 yards in 1991, when the Titans were still the Houston Oilers.

All things considered, Mariota has had a very good rookie campaign.

The Titans have a number of key offensive contributors who are either in their first or second seasons, which is bound to affect how Tennessee handles its first-round draft pick. Quarterbacks coach John McNulty discussed how having so many young players has altered the team's plans regarding audibles at the line of scrimmage.

"[Mariota] can handle just about anything anybody else can handle, but everybody else has got to be ready handle that, too," he said, per ESPN's Paul Kuharsky. "You don’t want to run bad plays into bad looks. But you also don’t want to switch a play and then snap the ball and then have a lot of young guys out there who have to process stuff."

Surrounding a rookie QB with inexperienced teammates can be a recipe for failure, but Mariota has made it work.

Most expected Jameis Winston to have the better season since he was arguably more NFL-ready coming out of college. Winston also has Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson at his disposal.

Some would further contend former head coach Ken Whisenhunt was holding Mariota back. Matt Leinart, who played under Whisenhunt with the Arizona Cardinals, didn't mince words in his reaction to Whisenhunt's firing earlier in the month:

You could make a strong case Mariota is looking like a stronger QB than Winston is in 2015:

Marcus Mariota vs. Jameis Winston—Through Week 11 Comp. % Yards YPA TD INT Rush Yards Rush TD Mariota 65.3 2,026 7.8 13 6 130 1 Winston 58.3 2,405 7.7 15 9 115 4 Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

The fact that he surpassed Young is bound to dredge up some bad memories for Titans fans after Young's bright start to his NFL career quickly turned sour.

A major facet of Mariota's development will be the team hiring the right coach to succeed Mike Mularkey. Tennessee's game plan should accommodate its quarterback rather than force a square peg into a round hole and radically change the way he plays.

Titans fans have endured a lot of disappointment since the franchise's last trip to the playoffs in 2008. At least Mariota offers some hope Tennessee can turn a corner in the coming years.