Quarterback Spotlight: Marcus Mariota (Oregon)

vs SOUTH DAKOTA

Athletic. Has an above average arm for a draftable prospect, but he's not Kaepernick in that area. Sometimes he doesn't follow his feet to his target, but depending on how the fast-release offense is coached, that could simply be a "get the ball out" type mentality the program instills. Another example is not using the laces, which Oregon does to get the ball out quicker. Throwing to open targets in broken coverage, but the timing is there. [1st 5:04] Mariota has a man down the sideline, but throws it late and short. He hit his target right on his shoulder deep, but an NFL defensive back likely makes a play on that ball. If he didn't take the extra gather to step into the ball, the result of the play could have been much more in his favor. [1st 3:26] One of Mariota's best balls. Tight coverage is tight coverage. Period. Mariota's feet follow his progressions, looking from the left to the MOF finding a target. He hit his third read before releasing. There, he put it right on his target, resulting in a gain of over 30 yards.

[2nd 13:36] A poor play from Mariota, he thought he had his target open with a second defender broke on the play and deflected the pass. Staring at the player from the moment the ball was snapped until it was out of his hand, the man in coverage was reading Mariota's eyes and not occupied by the running back releasing from the backfield. [2nd 13:33] Bobbing the ball and leaning back, as opposed to standing tall, Mariota's accuracy is off on his deep man streaking. [2nd 8:12] This play is interesting to me.

On a second and two, this play is pretty much given to Oregon. The linebacker can't reach the flats quick enough to cover the tight end, if the route is shallow. The safety is far enough off the ball not to make a play before the first down, either. There's one issue...there's a play action.

There's a couple things going on here. After the action, that safety closes on the ball. The linebacker got deep, but after seeing Mariota's eyes, he starting to close in on the target. Remembering he had the Pin concept on the left side, Mariota recognizes that he has a 2-on-2 to the left. That delay of the action exposed the coverage if it got to the second read. Looking at the in route, the linebacker closest to the potential target is out of position to follow him, as he's already past. The next closest defender is running in the opposite direction. When that second safety, who is sitting on the 20, makes a decision, the play is up for grabs.

The safety makes a decision, working onto the in route. This meant the third option should have opened up, the boundary receiver's post. Unfortunately for Oregon, though, the cornerback does a very good job at sitting on top of the route, putting an end to that. The fourth option is the running back swinging out of the backfield.

By the time he was able to get into position for the throw, there were two objects, a blocker and a defender, in the passing lane. Instead, Mariota rolled to the right, the opposite side of where his eyes were, and gained the first down and more with his feet. This was a good example of what kind of "play making" Mariota can do. The first and second reads dictated the ball should have went to the third read. The third read had a play made on him. When he went to the fourth, the play broke down completely, and he still got a gain of about eight untouched.

[2nd 5:19] Mariota is slow on the post-corner here. Also throws it too wide. It's early in the season in this game, but you'd want to see more confidence in Mariota to let that one rip. Big play ended up being an interception. [2nd 4:09] Mariota puts up a clinic on broken plays here in the red zone. Mariota has a post-curl from his two receivers to the left. By the time that his post is open, he needs to adjust in the pocket from pressure to his left. He dodges another defender on the way, rolls parallel to the LOS while keeping his shoulders squared and hits his man finding space for a touchdown. In this set of games, you can already tell that Mariota's emphasis on keeping his eyes down-field has been stressed more than previous season. [2nd 0:26] This is really when Marcus starts to rip it. Looking at the second receiver in, he's able to hit his most inward receiver on an intermediate route with some zip as soon as he gets open.

vs MICHIGAN STATE

[1st 13:55] On a pop, Mariota fires off a ball to his slot receiver. At the mesh-point, he pulls the ball when he sees the linebackers pursuing run. Keanon Lowe (UO WR #7) needed to get inside more, and Mylan Hicks made the play. There really wasn't a man open on the play, but I don't blame him for making that pass. [1st 13:51] Here's another play where pressure gets in the way of the left passing lane, Mariota rolls right, and pegs an open target. [1st 9:38] This is where Mariota staying in the pocket becomes an issue. If he bailed, which he could have several times, he had a first down. Instead, he visibly fought the urge and got sacked as the pocket collapsed. [1st 5:23] Two nasty jukes before running for the first down. [1st 5:03] Unaccounted pressure, turns a sack into a 0-yard gain. [2nd 15:00] Oregon's left tackle loses his man, allows a free defender in the backfield. Mariota plays off of him to get back out of pressure, steps into the pocket, and throws off-balance to an open man. The run-pass discipline he has worked out here. The play was completed for over 60 yards, and some would have just dropped their eyes and turned into a running back, like Brett Hundley. Mariota keeping his eyes up while moving is going to be crucial at the next level. [2nd 10:27] Throwing against seven rushers, the MSU blitz doesn't faze him. Off the action, he quickly gets into position to throw and let's one off in stride, hitting his man for a 70 yard score.

[2nd 6:35] Coverage is good, pressure gets there with four. Mariota kicks back to create space to roll-out and hits his man for a short gain. His feet are quick enough to think he has a fast drop-back, despite playing exclusively in the shotgun in college. [2nd 6:01 & 5:19] Able to throw off-balanced when dictated.

vs WYOMING

[1st 8:06] Here, Mariota shows good anticipation. Before he makes the second break, he begins his motion to pass it to a player on a double-move. The throw had too much air under the ball, though, allowing the defender to make a play at the catch-point.

[2nd 12:35] Feet don't move to adjust for the read, throws the crossing route behind where it needed to be. Ended up as a deflection by the linebacker. [2nd 1:51] Another good example of Mariota wanting to stay in the pocket. He moves between two defenders while stepping up in the pocket and is ready to throw on a dime. Another pressure comes to his face, so he rolled to his left while looking down-field. He took the ball off for a 20+ yard gain. [2nd 1:39] Oregon's running a double-post concept in the redzone here.

In one-on-one coverage, he takes the more aggressive of the two options, the deeper post.

He hits his pass right on the mark. For as much as Oregon gets "gimmick system" tags, that play is very much an NFL throw. A double-post concept is ideal in the NFL for putting stress on safeties.

[3rd 14:55] Again, what seems to be a reoccurring issue is double-clutching on the ball. He could have released the ball sooner, but he stalled before firing off the ball, which ended up in being a completion. This is probably *the* most concerning part of Mariota's game based on this three-game sample size.

@ WASHINGTON STATE

Not sure what happened, but I couldn't get the first five minutes of the game. Marcus Mariota ran for 8, passed for 6, and took a sack on the drive missed, but I highly doubt something happened that won't be revealed anywhere else during his 2014 season. [1st 7:36] Left guard not looking good. This offensive line plays like it allowed multiple, multiple, multiple sacks. It looks as though Mariota wants to throw a short in, but by the time he's ready, his guard is pushed back into his passing lane. [1st 3:50] Throws a nice deep ball in the middle of the field for a 80-yard TD (mostly YAC) off his second read. One thing I notice when Mariota runs is that he doesn't have thin hips like Robert Griffin III does. [2nd 13:08] Mariota finds space in the pocket (moves over a step from the pressure) and throws a nice ball with air under it. [2nd 8:24] Mariota spends too much time reading the corner route deep. Has a free man in the flats, almost gets sacked, and throws the ball away. He also threw down Xavier Cooper on the play, who is a 300-ish DT that'll play on Sundays. One of Mariota's worst plays of recent memory.

[1st 8:06] Alley-oop for the TD to his tight end. Nice play, though. Doesn't need to see it before throwing it. Saw man opening up behind guys and sent it his way.

[2nd 2:20] Dropped eyes when he saw a hole in the OL. Hadn't seen that from him in 2014. Looked almost like as soon as he saw the coverage drop deep, he decided he was going to take over. A near 55 yard game, but called back for holding. Long stride is evident.

[2nd 1:06] Throws in a muddy pocket, though not to any discernible target, hitting the ground. Mechanics weren't great, but had to throw off balance there. Still, should be near a target if it's throw in the middle of the field deep. This game shows some interesting traits for Mariota running. Before he faces either single-side edge pressure or pressure in the middle. When facing double-edge pressure, he looks like a running back. Dropping eyes, etc. That could be due to the early sacks caused by the OL, though.

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