Does Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt have Chip Kelly fever?
Not quite, it seems, but by the looks of it, he's trying to make Marcus Mariota more comfortable in his offense by adding elements of the Kelly scheme Mariota was so familiar with at Oregon.
"We've experimented with a few different things," Whisenhunt said, via the Tennessean. "If we can continue with that and not overload it, we're good. ... Marcus has done a good job of doing some of the core things that are important to us. It's been a good blend."
As an example, the Tennessean noted that Mariota was running some "zone-read" plays. And while it seems like Kelly invented the concept, zone-read dates back a long way and, if the speed element is present in your offense, it makes perfect sense to incorporate.
Mariota noticed it as well, but noted that the Oregon playbook almost revolved around the zone-read, giving the quarterback many more options to dump the current play and hand off the football.
"There are a couple of concepts here and there, but obviously back at Oregon that system was heavily based on the zone-read," Mariota said. "This is just a touch of certain things."
It will be interesting to see what Whisenhunt will do moving forward. Mariota has yet to throw an interception in practice, potentially a sign that he's picking up the regular scheme just fine.
But can a team only incorporate a portion of Chip Kelly's offense?
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