System guy? Are you kidding me? Marcus Mariota will be a very good NFL quarterback: Issues & Answers By Ken Goe | The Oregonian/OregonLive January 08, 2015 at 10:27 AM There is a pretty good discussion in this video between Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith and Joey Galloway about the relative merits of Oregons Marcus Mariota and Florida States Jameis Winston as future NFL quarterbacks. I think Galloways comments are particularly insightful when he criticizes Mariotas throwing mechanics and his ability to operate an NFL passing game from within the pocket. Galloway, a former NFL receiver, believes Winston is the better pro prospect, at least to start with. And, far be it from me to argue mechanics with a NFL player. But here are some reasons I think Mariota will make it at the next level assuming he stays healthy: -- He works at it. As talented as Mariota is, he puts time and effort into everything he does, from the classroom to video study to the practice field to football games. Whatever his deficiencies, I think he will work hard to correct them. -- When plays break down, Mariota still can make things happen. He is really fast. In that way he reminds me of former Washington quarterback Jake Locker. When he was playing for the Huskies, it always took defenses about a half to adjust to how fast Locker was. Mariota is the same way. That said, Mariota is a far better college player than Locker was. And Locker is a four-year NFL veteran who still is in the league. Mariota is derided in some circles for being a system guy. That means he is adept at operating Oregons offensive system, which is dissimilar to what he probably will be asked to do as a professional. Think Tim Tebow, another Heisman winner who never reached that level in the NFL and was gone after three seasons. Mariota throws the ball better than Tebow ever did. And whatever Mariotas mechanical problems, I think he will address them with diligence. I think Mariota compares better to Alex Smith. Smith was an Urban Meyer quarterback in college who made the transition from Meyers spread system to the NFL. He just completed his 10th year in the league, and was Kansas Citys starter this past season. I agree with Bayless, Smith and Galloway that Winston has all the tools to be a successful NFL quarterback, But Mariota will be just fine at the next level too.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 04:30:00 +0000
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