New Falcons QB Marcus Mariota has to 'carve my own path' after Matt Ryan's run in Atlanta

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The Atlanta Falcons need a full-time starting quarterback other than Matt Ryan for the first time since the 2007 season, and Marcus Mariota understands the significance of potentially being that replacement.

Those are big shoes to fill, no doubt, and I have learned over the course of my career that you cannot compare yourself to other people. What Matt did here is truly greatness and for me, I just have to carve my own path.

I appreciate what he has done and I want to be the best player I can be.

Although he hasn't been guaranteed the job, Marcus Mariota is walking into a potential starting role for the first time in a while.

After Ryan Tannehill was benched in favor of Mariota, he moved on to the Las Vegas Raiders, where he backed up Carr for two years. He played in 11 games over the past two seasons, completing 60% of his passes for 230 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

The second pick in the 2015 draft, Marcus Mariota spent five years with theTitans, playing in 63 games with 61 starts and completing 62.9% of his passes for 13,207 yards and 76 touchdown with 44 picks.

He completed 59.4% of his passes for 1,203 yards and seven touchdown in seven games, but it was not a great season. By the end of his time with theTitans, Mariota said he was mentally and physically beat up, and he said he has learned a lot over the past three seasons.

We went through a lot of different things during my time in Tennessee. I went through coaching changes, broke my ankle, and people would call it adversity. I was tired of all the turnover, and I wasn't playing well, and at the end of the day, this is a performance-based business, and when you're not playing well, things happen.

The last couple of years were a great reset for me. I got a chance to take a step back, learn, and I feel like I have and these experiences have created a lot of value for me.

Smith, who he believes will always be honest with him, is a part of what attracted him to the Falcons. With theTitans, he said he was trying to please the coach and he wasn't communicating enough with Smith.

The communication is expected to be better because of the things he learned with the Raiders. Smith said that the trust they had with each other was the reason why he wanted to bring him in.

There has been a lot of growth from him and me. Ryan Tannehill was in this situation when we got Ryan, and Marcus is a high-end talent. He was picked in the first round. I trust Marcus and he will give us everything he has, because he is in a different spot in his career.

He has a high-end talent and understands what happened in the past. He and I have learned from each other, and we feel excited about the opportunity.

The Falcons will have a different starting quarterback for the first time in over a year if he wins the job. He would be the first full-time starter other than Ryan since Joey Harrington had the role for most of the season in 2007.

The team reached out to him once there were conversations about Ryan being traded, because his traditional No. 8 is being used by the top receiving target. Smith asked if he wanted to come in if Ryan decided to leave, and Mariota was interested in that.

Soon after, he was a Falcons player.

At the end of the day, it was just more excited to be here.