Surprising no one, Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota officially declared himself eligible for the 2015 NFL Draft, forgoeing his senior season at the University of Oregon.
Mariota had not publicly given indications of his plans before Wednesday, but has been the consensus top quarterback in this draft class since the preseason. Mariota already has his degree in General Science so his diploma is already in his pocket, regardless of his football eligibility.
Mahalo, Marcus! #GoDucks http://t.co/1SrKXLP9IJ
— Oregon Video (@QuackVideo) enero 14, 2015
Mariota is coming off an outstanding season with the Ducks, leading them to the National Championship game, throwing for 4,454 yards and 42 touchdowns while rushing for 770 yards and 15 TDs, all with just four interceptions. Top ranked Oregon lost the first-ever college playoff national title game 42-20 to No. 4-ranked Ohio State.
Redshirt sophomore Jeff Lockie will presumably take over the Oregon attack for 2015. Lockie saw limited time in Monday’s National Title game when Mariota went to the sideline after a vicious hit from Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa.
Mariota is projected by many draft analysts (including me) as the top pick in the 2015 draft, going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the No. 1 pick.
The NFL Scouting Combine will be held in Indianapolis on Feb. 17-23 and Mariota will certainly get an invite, whether he attends or not. Mariota is the second big-name underclassman QB to declare for the draft. Florida State quarterback and shellfish enthusiast Jameis Winston declared himself on Jan. 7.
Winstion and Mariota could go 1-2 in the draft. That last happened in 2012 when the Indianapolis Colts selected QB Andrew Luck with the top pick and the Washington Redskins traded up for the No. 2 pick in a blockbuster deal with the St. Louis Rams for QB Robert Griffin III.
Before 2012, the last time QBs went 1-2 was 1998, with Peyton Manning going to the Colts and No. 1 and Ryan Leaf completely obliterating the San Diego Chargers’ franchise for half a decade when he was taken with the No. 2 selection.
Leaf recently made some good news for himself getting released from a Montana prison after serving two years on burglary and drug charges.
