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MARCUS MARIOTA: WORTH WHAT?

April 8, 2015 by

Freddie Coleman Asks His ESPN Radio Listeners: What’s Marcus Mariota Worth?

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Marcus Mariota is golden. Even the ground turns gold where he walks.

A man from New Jersey came on 1080 The Fan Tuesday night.

Between 9 and 9:30 Pacific Time, which is 12:00-12:30 his time, the Jersey Boy said Marcus Mariota is worth mortgaging your team the next five years for.

Keep in mind his team is the Philadelphia Eagles, run by Oregon’s Chip Kelly. You hope he’d be on board with Kelly.

Is Marcus Mariota worth the next five years of doom for any NFL franchise if he fails? That’s a question the Oakland Raiders seem to ask every year.

You keep hearing the Jets want him. Well, they’re used to quarterback failures, so where’s the real test in New York?

Loser calls explain how Marcus Mariota is the next Ryan Leaf.

Ryan Leaf? Really? From Heisman to Ryan Leaf comparisons? That’s what the rest of the country hears? Marcus Mariota is worth Ryan Leaf.

Let’s check it out.

Marcus Mariota will spend the NFL draft with his family in Hawaii.

No grandstanding for him. No waiting in the green room. No clutching his girlfriend while he waits and waits and waits for his name to come out of the speakers.

You saw his family and friends with him for the Heisman ceremony where Mariota looked like a boss.

Leaf just got out of prison in Montana where you’d hope an ex-NFL guy would also be the boss in his own cell.

Where will he spend NFL draft day? Probably still counting money from his rookie contract.

A search for Ryan Leaf’s rookie contract showed up on Bleacher Report.

Featured Columnist Bryn Swartz listed the Leafer as the ninth worst NFL bust with this:

“The second overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft, Ryan Leaf was signed to a four-year, $31.25 million contract, including an $11.25 million signing bonus, the largest ever given to an NFL rookie at the time.

The day he was drafted, he stated that he was looking forward to a 15-year NFL career, a couple of trips to the Super Bowl and a parade through downtown San Diego.

Nope. Instead, he played four seasons, threw 14 touchdowns against 36 interceptions, posted a passer rating of 50.0 and established himself as the largest draft bust in the history of the National Football League.”

This is the great bleacerreport.com?

On the same page is a link to a story with an image of Mariota and the title “Worst-Case Draft Scenario Every Team Must Avoid.”

Here’s Marcus Mariota graduating in three years.

He wins the Heisman along with a Rose Bowl win and a trip to the first college playoff final. And he’s compared to Ryan Leaf? Draft expert, please.

Better to compare him to Oregon Duck great Joey Harrington. What are the chances of Mariota going to a team as bad as the Detroit Lions Harrington was drafted to save? Pretty good.

The chances of Mariota getting a team as bad as the Lions with a temp coach like Steve Mariucci and a bust like team president and CEO Matt Millen?

From wiki:

“Harrington’s career in Detroit was largely unsuccessful. Front office mismanagement, woeful offensive line protection, lack of talent at other skill positions, and an erratic philosophical change in the team’s identity to a conservative West Coast Offense (WCO) oriented attack under Head Coach Steve Mariucci may have played a factor in Harrington not realizing his potential professionally.”

May have played a factor?

Wiki says, “Over seven seasons under Millen’s leadership as team president, the Detroit Lions owned the NFL’s worst winning percentage (31–81, .277), never had a winning season, never finished higher than third place in the NFC North, and did not play in any post-season games. Millen received a five-year contract extension at the start of the 2005 season.”

Some Oregon fans still believe Harrington would have had a career like Aaron Rodgers if he’d had time to grow into the game behind a Hall of Fame quarterback like Rodgers did with Brett Favre. With a few breaks he could have been the next Troy Aikman.

Marcus Mariota is not Ryan Leaf or Joey Harrington.

He’s not Akili Smith or Alex Smith or Matt Leinart either.

Instead he’s the guy who will make your team better on the field, in the locker room, and in the community.

Given circumstances better than a team run by a rich man’s errand boy like the Lions and Matt Millen, you’re looking at the future face of the NFL.

To any team that drafts Mariota: Make room in the front office.

This is the leader you’ve been waiting for.

 

 

 

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