2015 NFL Draft: Top 5 Quarterbacks

Dec 13, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota poses with the Heisman Trophy during a press conference at the New York Marriott Marquis after winning the Heisman Trophy. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

2. Marcus Mariota, Oregon

The former Heisman trophy winner is about as talented as a prospect as you will ever come across. Further more at the combine, Mariota ran an impressive 4.52 forty yard dash. Simply put, Mariota has elite straight line running ability. Sporting great accuracy and impressive decision making abilities, Mariota rarely ever turned the ball over at Oregon.

You will be hard pressed to find a seemingly better person than Marcus Mariota. Extremely coachable, a great leader and toughness that would impress Ray Lewis, Mariota has all the intangible skills needed to be great.

The greatest know on Marcus Mariota is in essence the college system he played in. At Oregon, Mariota did not have to make multiple reads. Essentially what Mariota would do was look to see if his first read was open, if not he would take off and run.

Mariota’s pocket presence needs to improve as he took a few totally unneeded sacks in 2014. Another very significant weakness of Mariota’s game is his seemingly inability to hold onto the football when running. Mariota fumbled the ball 27 times during his college career. Indeed something Mariota will have to improve on in order to succeed in the NFL.

In truth, Mariota could easily be ranked as my number one overall quarterback prospect. The difference between Mariota and Jameis Winston is very marginal. That being said, the number one separating factor between the two is without question Mariota’s lack of playing time in an NFL style system. This fact is what I believe will inevitably prevent Mariota from going number one overall.

Due to how high in the draft Mariota is expected to go, any team that drafts Mariota will likely end up starting him in his rookie season. For Mariota’s sake, I just hope such team tempers their expectations as this could be a kid who needs a little more time to grow than your average top five pick. Expect Mariota one way or the other to not slip past the New York Jets at sixth overall.

Next: 1. Jameis Winston, Florida State