Mora Calls Mariota A "Sure Thing"

[RaidaDave]

Mora made clear he isn't buying the concern.
"I don't agree with that," Mora said, per NFL.com's transcription of his appearance with Eisen. "And I would venture to say I've seen more of Marcus Mariota than Mike Mayock. And I respect Mike. If there is one voice out there that I'd listen to, it would be Mike because he does the work, he doesn't poach off of other people's information. ... But I don't think that (Mariota's) a project. I think the guy is special, that's just based upon playing him and evaluating and studying him for two years now.
"In my opinion he's the best quarterback and the best player," Mora said. "That's my opinion based upon what I've seen, which is a lot of film of him. Anytime you start to go in depth in evaluating these players, you're going to find holes. There is nobody that doesn't have a weakness, a deficiency. But Marcus Mariota has such great character, he's big, he's fast, he's strong, he can throw it."

UCLA's Jim Mora counters Marcus Mariota criticism: 'He's a sure thing' | OregonLive.com

 

[HammerDown]

Never heard that before!

 

[RaidaDave]

Never heard that before!

LOL. Should go back and forth up until the draft.

 

[GNG]

UCLA's Jim Mora counters Marcus Mariota criticism: 'He's a sure thing' | OregonLive.com

Maybe this is why Mora isn't a head coach anymore.

 

[OregonDucks]

Finally a call Mora called right

 

[cdumler7]

Don't they say that about a lot of prospects these days of them being a "sure thing." Pretty sure RGIII had that title when he was drafted. Heck JaMarcus Russell by a few analyst were called the best quarterback they had ever seen at his pro day. That worked out well. Every year those words are thrown out and almost every year it seems guys have to eat those words.

 

[RaidaDave]

Finally a call Mora called right

 

[Wamu]

I hope MM does succeed in the NFL. Although I have seen way too many great CFB QB's over the years/decades struggle @ the NFL level.

 

[HammerDown]

Jim Mora endorsing Mariota pretty much seals his fate as a future bust.

 

[Wamu]

Don't they say that about a lot of prospects these days of them being a "sure thing." Pretty sure RGIII had that title when he was drafted. Heck JaMarcus Russell by a few analyst were called the best quarterback they had ever seen at his pro day. That worked out well. Every year those words are thrown out and almost every year it seems guys have to eat those words.

And there's always the '98 Draft. Who to take...Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf. Man did his short lived NFL career go bust in a bad way.

Speaking of the '98 Draft pretty sure had the Browns returned then & not in '99 they would have taken Ryan Leaf instead if they had that opportunity.

 

[HammerDown]

Don't they say that about a lot of prospects these days of them being a "sure thing." Pretty sure RGIII had that title when he was drafted. Heck JaMarcus Russell by a few analyst were called the best quarterback they had ever seen at his pro day. That worked out well. Every year those words are thrown out and almost every year it seems guys have to eat those words.

"But... But... But... Mariota is different!"

 

[RaidaDave]

I hope MM does succeed in the NFL. Although I have seen way too many great CFB QB's over the years/decades struggle @ the NFL level.

The QB position seems to have the biggest BUST potential for sure.

 

[OregonDucks]

The guy is extremely intelligent and makes the smart choices on the feel. We've seen Russell Wilsom have tremendous success. Mariota is 6'3.

 

[RaidaDave]

And there's always the '98 Draft. Who to take...Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf. Man did his short lived NFL career go bust in a bad way.

LOL. So true. To tell you the truth, without any hindsight, I thought it was pretty much a toss up between those two.

 

[Wamu]

The QB position seems to have the biggest BUST potential for sure.

There's no doubt about that.

 

[RaidaDave]

"But... But... But... Mariota is different!"

Didn't the Titans have the "Suck For The Duck" campaign?

 

[Clayton]

It doesn't matter what Mora thinks. Oregon plays in Spanish and the NFL plays in Chinese.

 

[Wamu]

LOL. So true. To tell you the truth, without any hindsight, I thought it was pretty much a toss up between those two.

I think alotta GM's saw it that way leading up to the draft that year.

 

[cdumler7]

And there's always the '98 Draft. Who to take...Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf. Man did his short lived NFL career go bust in a bad way.

Speaking of the '98 Draft pretty sure had the Browns returned then & not in '99 they would have taken Ryan Leaf instead if they had that opportunity.

Which again is just another example of how stupid it is to throw those words out. There are just so many things that can go wrong in the switch from college to the pros. Some guys can hack it and some just can't. Throw in injuries have sidelined a few very good prospects as well before their careers could take off.

Now believe me I actually make Mariota but the issue for him is he needs a year or two to just sit on the bench and spend the entire time with a quarterbacks coach learning the pro game. Most of these college guys could use that big time but with it being a win now league teams just can't seem to wait like they used to.

 

[OregonDucks]

I sure hope sportshoopla v2.0 is prepared for Mariota to the Titans.