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Greg Cosell's NFL draft preview: QB Marcus Mariota's pro transition

The question about Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota is how he’ll transition to the NFL.

Mariota, like all quarterbacks from spread college offenses, is a bit more of a complicated projection. The game he played at Oregon will not be the same game he plays in the NFL. There will be a three-step, five-step, seven-step drop foundation he’ll need to learn. Even if the Philadelphia Eagles and former Oregon coach Chip Kelly end up drafting Mariota, it will be a different game for him than he's used to.

Mariota was very comfortable in Oregon offense. He understood and executed the concepts at high efficiency with great confidence. But does he have to run that offense in the NFL to be successful?

Mariota’s mobility and ability to make plays outside of structure will help him early in his career, but he will face the same issue all scheme-based spread quarterbacks ultimately must deal with: Can he become a refined pocket quarterback with the subtle nuanced traits that are demanded to play consistently over time? We don’t know that yet, and neither do the NFL teams studying him. What we can do is look at Mariota’s skills from his college film and see what he does well and what he needs work on.

Everyone knows Mariota has great running ability; his athletic ability really isn’t in question. But let’s look at three areas that will be important to him in his NFL transition, and the things he does well and things he’ll need to work on (and remember, all NFL draft prospects come in with things to work on, Mariota can improve in every area that needs work):

Mechanics

One thing that stood out is an excellent ball position on his drop. He has a quick compact delivery that at times was reminiscent of Dan Marino’s delivery.

He has light feet on his drop and set. He‘s a real quick-twitch athlete, and as such he can extend plays and create.

Mariota is a little bit of a short-armer on intermediate throws. There was not a lot of arm extension. Some deeper intermediate throws lost energy on the back end.

His interception to Stanford’s Alex Carter is a great example. You can see the play at 35 seconds on this clip:

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Mariota does not consistently bring his hips through his throws, which makes him more of a touch thrower than a power thrower. Which brings us to …

Arm strength

Mariota’s arm strength must be researched. Within the context of the Oregon offense he’s more of a touch thrower than someone who can drive the ball, although he’s good at touch passes. He showed the ability to make firm touch seam throws that are a staple of NFL passing games. He showed the ability to throw with precise ball location on touch throws; that’s the strength of his game. He also is very good at throwing between the numbers.

 

Mariota did consistently throw to open receivers, so you could not see much of the anticipation throws or tight window throws that are necessary in the NFL. He does throw with consistent velocity and accuracy at the intermediate levels, with a snap delivery without exerting much energy. He also has an outstanding ability to throw on the move, both to his right and left; while he showed the vision and spatial awareness to locate receivers and make throws off improvised movement. But he was a hitch thrower, meaning he needed to plant and hitch to drive the ball. He did not drive the ball sitting on his back foot. He’ll need to do that at times in the NFL.

Pocket presence

This is hard to evaluate because progression passing is not a true foundation of the Oregon pass game.

Mariota’s poise in the pocket is a question. He is not a naturally comfortable pocket quarterback. He must develop more comfortable and composed pocket movement, to slow down his feet and keep his eyes focused downfield as opposed to seeing and reading the rush. Mariota had a tendency to come off primary read too quickly if he did not see it as clearly defined, and there was also a tendency at times to leave the pocket early and play to his legs. Again, that might be a function of the Oregon pass game. What Mariota is used to is a precisely timed pass game with the ball out quickly to schemed open receivers. In the NFL, he’ll need to work on his progression reading and be patient in the pocket.

He’s not a late-in-the-down pocket quarterback at this point. Can that be taught at the NFL level or will he leave the pocket and rely on his legs? Does Mariota need throws to be defined to turn it loose? These are questions you need to have an answer for.

Overview

There were three things I didn’t see much of at all from Mariota: Muddied pocket throws (a couple here and there when the pocket was not clean around him), anticipation throws and tight-window throws. How important is that to an evaluator?

These are things that Mariota can work on in the NFL. But you will see designed movement and read option as featured parts of the offense whichever team drafts Mariota. That puts tremendous stress on the defense and plays to Mariota’s strengths. We’ll see through the years if he can progress and become an effective NFL passer.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.