Marcus Mariota to enter NFL Draft, damns himself to career in football hell
By Josh Hill
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota will be entering the NFL Draft this year, and by doing so is damning himself to a career in football hell — otherwise known as Tampa Bay.
The Rose Bowl made us all fall further in love with Marcus Mariota, as this hazy dream like state of seeing him play mesmerized the country. Then the National Championship happened and all of a sudden Mariota was no better than any of the other quarterbacks in the draft class.
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The thorough dismantling of everything Mariota stood for by Ohio State was a sledgehammer to the side of Mariota’s draft stock, but it wasn’t so jarring a game that it scared him off the idea of turning pro. After a stellar career and a few bad game at Oregon, Marcus Mariota will be turning pro in 2015.
Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota will announce today that he is indeed turning pro, eligible for 2015 NFL draft, per sources.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 14, 2015
This may seem like an atrocious idea given the damning circumstances at the moment, but it’s the best move possible for Mariota. He could return to Oregon for another year, but he’d be spinning his wheels in every sense.
Not only has be peaked and reached the pinnacle of the Oregon system, but he risks injury or, worse yet, more games like the one he had against Ohio State.
Marcus Mariota cannot better himself at the college level anymore than he already has, which means his best possible option is to be a backup and/or learn the NFL on someone else’s dime. There’s no reason for Mariota to mortgage his future in the NFL over one more year at Oregon.
It’s not an easy move to make, as Mariota isn’t a money driven sort of guy but this is the best move for his career. Even if he gets drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers No. 1 overall, he’ll be making more money trying to figure out the NFL then he would spinning his wheels at Oregon while defenses continue to figure him out.
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