The 30 best college football quarterbacks of the 21st century

• Heisman Trophy winner (2014)
• First-Team All-American (2014)
• Manning Award (2014), Maxwell Award (2014), Walter Camp Award (2014), Davey O’Brien Award (2014)

Marcus Mariota didn’t start for his high school team in Hawaii until his senior year, which led to him being largely unheralded as a recruit — a 3-star prospect. However, the Oregon Ducks took notice under Chip Kelly and they certainly didn’t regret landing the quarterback with the success that he brought to Eugene.

In the 2012 season, Mariota’s redshirt freshman year, he earned the starting job for the Ducks and put himself on the map immediately. The Hawaiian signal-caller played in 13 games as he threw for 2,677 yards, 32 touchdowns and six interceptions while also rushing for 752 yards and five touchdowns (and even catching a touchdown pass). Oregon also went 12-1 that year, finishing as the second-ranked team in the country.

2013 was the first year with Mark Helfrich at the helm and Mariota continued to thrive, even with the coaching change. Though Oregon failed to reach a BCS bowl game, they still went 11-2 on the year on the back of Mariota’s 3,665 passing yards, 31 passing scores (with just four interceptions), 715 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns.

As good as Mariota had been entering his redshirt junior campaign, he certainly saved his best year for last. The Ducks again went 12-1 in the regular season and routed Florida State in the College Football Playoff semifinals, though they lost to Ohio State in the title game. More importantly, Mariota went wild, passing for 4,454 yards, 42 touchdowns and just four picks along with rushing for 770 yards and 15 touchdowns — production that earned him the Heisman.

Though he may get slept on a bit, there’s no escaping just how dynamic, exciting and simply great Mariota was. He’s a top-five quarterback of the 21st century, without question.