Mariota — From Saint Louis to New Orleans?

Noah Smith FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

We all know that NFL “experts” don’t like “gimmicky Oregon spread offense players” such as Marcus Mariota right? Well, if you didn’t, then let me be the one to tell you – they don’t. This can be clearly seen in the fact that two of NFL.com’s so-called experts have Mariota going outside of the top 10 picks, with Bucky Brooks having him going as low as 13th overall to the New Orleans Saints.

NFL experts had mixed reviews of Mariota at his pro day

NFL experts had mixed reviews of Mariota at his pro day.

In his Mock Draft, Brooks seems to believe this would be a great pick, giving the Saints a QB for the future who will learn from and fill-in for Drew Brees when needed — like Aaron Rodgers did under Brett Favre — while giving Mariota time to, in Brooks’ words “… refine his skills as a pocket passer.”

But Mariota does make sense for the Saints. He is known for his mobility and ability to extend plays and throw accurately. Those features will allow Mariota, coming into Sean Payton’s re-tooled and more run-focused offense, to be a Russell Wilson-type QB. Moreover, this could be the start of Mariota joining the NFL’s Hall of Fame under a coach the caliber of Payton, a former QB.

Mariota could be a HoFer with the Saints but has earned a chance to start now

Mariota could be a HoFer with the Saints.

Mariota had one of the greatest careers in college football history and had possibly the best season by a college QB just this past year en route to winning Oregon’s first Heisman Trophy.

You can question how long it would take him to adapt to a “pro-style offense” if you want, but after all he has done in his college career while playing at a premier college, the mere thought that he won’t earn a chance to be an NFL starter would be a disappointment.

Top Photo by Craig Strobeck

New 2024 FishDuck Publishing Schedule….

During the off-season the FishDuck.com publishing schedule will consist of articles on Mondays and Tuesdays. Do keep checking as new articles could be published during the week when a writer has something to say.

In mid-August of 2024, we will go back to the seven-days-a-week of articles during the football season as we did in the football season of 2023.

The Our Beloved Ducks Forum (OBD) is where we we discuss the article above and many more topics, as it is so much easier in a message board format over there.  At the free OBD forum we will be posting Oregon Sports article links, the daily Press Releases from the Athletic Department and the news coming out every day.

Our 33 rules at the free OBD Forum can be summarized to this: 1) be polite and respectful, 2) do not tell anyone what to think, feel or write, and 3) no reference of any kind to politics. Easy-peasy!

OBD Forum members….we got your back.  No Trolls Allowed!