The NFL draft is kind of like birthday presents. You'll get some really awesome gifts (Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Teddy Bridgewater), pretty terrible gifts (Ryan Leaf, Jamarcus Russel) and really great surprises (Tom Brady, Russel Wilson). And every year, the hype for the "gifts" always seems to increase infinitely. The two biggest gifts in this years draft are (obviously) Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston. Many people will use the "Ready, FIRE!, Aim" tactic when debating the two QB's. They will say that Mariota is far more mature and the overall better QB without thinking twice. But not so fast, I believe we all need to slow down and break them down before making rushed conclusions.
Size: Mariota: 6-3 209 lbs Winston: 6-4 230 lbs I've never been a huge believer in QB size. Many "smaller, poorly built" signal-callers have gone on to have great NFL career. I do believe, however, that Winston is the better built QB. Mariota could thicken up as he matures, though. Stats: Mariota: Year TD INT YDS RAT QBR 2012 32 6 2,677 163.2 86.2 2013 31 4 3,665 167.7 88.0 2014 42 4 4,454 181.7 90.8 Winston: Year TD INT YDS RAT QBR 2013 40 10 4,057 184.8 89.4 2014 25 18 3,907 145.5 74.5 Everyone forgets about just how good Winston was in 2013. He was one of, if not the most dominant freshman college football has ever seen. Sure, he might have stunk it up this year, but I believe a lot of that had to do with the huge loss of talent at Florida State. Mariota's stats, on the other hand, are inflated because of the fast-paced system at Oregon and should not be trusted. His stats will not look nearly as good in the NFL. Playing Style One of the biggest trends in the NFL right now is the running QB. That is going to die. Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III, Russel Wilson and Johnny Manziel are all examples of a phase in the NFL that sees QB's accumulate +700 yards and +8 rushing TD's per season. Unfortunately, these QB's risk getting hammered every time they run in the open field. This is Mariota's style, and it will be the factor that dooms his career. Winston, on the other hand, is a pocket QB with the ability to scramble when a play breaks down. Bingo. It's how QB should be played. It has been proven time and time again. His style of play will add at least 5 years to his Hall of Fame... I mean future NFL career. Personality This is the point I've been wanting to get to. You can make fun of Winston's crab legs and off-field issues all you want, but he has the drive to be successful. He is willing to do whatever it takes to get his team the W. If I could create the perfect QB, I would want him to have a very fiery charisma that can take over in a "pressure" situation and become "Mr. Clutch". He showed us this in the 2013 BCS National Title game against Auburn. And as for Mariota... The jury is still out on him. Yes, he did beat Winston head-to-head. But he could have performed better in the 2014 CFP Championship. Plus, he had some very poor games against Stanford and UCLA earlier in his career. Conclusion Both of these fine QB's are very talented. But in the end, Winston is the better prospect when you compare size, statistics, playing style and personality. I am willing to guess that (barring injury and off-field issues) Winston also has the better NFL career. It will be very exciting to see both QB's progress throughout their careers, and I wish them both the very best of luck. Hopefully they will be affluent in their arise with the rest of the young QB's in the NFL.
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