The Tennessee Titans have to hope that the third time is the charm in looking for a franchise quarterback.

By drafting Marcus Mariota with the second overall pick the Titans are putting the team's fortunes – and those of Coach Ken Whisenhunt and general manager Ruston Webster – in his hands.

Twice before in the past nine years, the Titans have swung and missed in trying to find their first true franchise quarterback since trading Steve McNair in 2005. Both Vince Young and Jake Locker showed some, but in the end, not enough of the necessary qualities it takes to make a franchise QB.

In 2006, at the insistence of owner Bud Adams, the Titans spent the third pick in the draft on Young. Young's initial burst was dazzling, as he helped the Titans rebound from an 0-5 start to finish 8-8 and was named the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year, largely on his intangibles and instincts, rather than his throwing of the football.

And though Young posted a very respectable 30-18 record as a starting quarterback, his issues with immaturity and a lukewarm (at best) relationship with his coaches helped in his undoing. But more than that, it was Young's lack of dedication to his craft and the fact that he never grew knowledge-wise beyond anything but an instinct player that played a bigger role in his downfall. The Titans released him, and after a year as a backup in Philadelphia, he never stuck on an NFL roster again after age 28.

After jettisoning Young after 2010, the Titans decided on Locker with the eighth pick of the 2011 draft.

In many ways, Locker was the anti-VY - studious, hard-working and humble to a fault. Locker's main bugaboo, of course, were the many injuries he suffered during a four-year run that eventually played a role in his retiring rather than going through free agency.

For all of his athletic ability (a trait he did share with Young), Locker was also plagued by accuracy issues in his throws at times. And though his football IQ was far superior to Young's, there were still many who questioned his ability to successfully read a defense and make the proper check at the line. It didn't help that he went through three offensive coordinators in three-and-a-half years before finally being benched in 2014.

So what gives the Titans assurances that Mariota will succeed where Young and Locker did not?

It may sound crazy, but Mariota, in the Titans' assessment of him, actually possesses some of positive qualities that both Young and Locker had.

He is on par athletically with both of them, and has that winning type of attitude that helped VY to his early success.

Like both Young and Locker, teammates in college gravitated to him as a leader, though his personality appears to be much more like the low-key Locker than Young.

"At Oregon, we talked about winning the day. That culture for me is kind of instilled," Mariota said. "I’ll kind of bring that with me, and it won’t change who I am, and will hopefully provide some of that here. For the most part, just be who I am and get to know my teammates and earn their respect and move forward from there."

And unlike Locker, Mariota has no serious injury issues to speak of.

But where the Titans believe Mariota can far surpass what both accomplished is in his intelligence. The one thing that convinced Tennessee that a spread-option quarterback who had rarely taken a snap under center at Oregon can eventually excel in a pro-style offense is Mariota's football IQ.

“We feel good about the time that we spent with Marcus,” Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt said of the evaluation process. “I think just from the standpoint of spending time with him there in Oregon and going through his tape, one of the things I really liked in the process was we sent him a book with some information before he came in for the visit with us and we were able to talk about that in our terminology.”

Mariota's recall ability to process information quickly and thoroughly can be a huge asset in the development of his learning curve.

“For me, I think having the ability to recall information, especially at the quarterback position, is really helpful. It’s a benefit to be able to recall certain things, certain coverages during a game, during a series,” Mariota said. “For me, in a transition process like right now, it’s helpful to recall information that’s kind of similar to what’s being run here in terms of an offensive system. Being able to relate the two and being able to learn that way will help me in this transition.”

It was that off-the-charts quality in the Heisman Trophy winner that has the Titans banking that their new franchise quarterback has finally arrived.

