Marcus Mariota To Enter NFL Draft Despite Growing Concerns About His Abilities

Quarterback Marcus Mariota has announced that he will skip his final year of eligibility at Oregon and will enter the NFL Draft.

For most of the 2014 season, the Heisman Trophy winner was considered the lock to be the top pick of the draft if he came out. In Todd McShay's most recent mock draft for ESPN.com, he had Mariota going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the top pick.

However, that was before Mariota's disappointing performance during Oregon's championship game loss to Ohio State. After that game, many started to wonder if he would be able to handle a pro-style offense where he has to be able to adjust on the fly, something he was rarely asked to do in college.

Still, former Indianapolis Colts general manager and current ESPN analyst Bill Polian called Mariota "as good a bet as anybody you will find [in the draft]."

Polian noted that Mariota gets an "A" grade in almost every important category including arm strength, mobility, and intelligence. The only thing Mariota is lacking is accuracy, which Polian saying it "leaves a little bit to be desired" and blaming it on the spread offense Mariota ran in college.