Post by Joey on Jan 14, 2015 14:45:44 GMT -5
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota will announce later Wednesday that he is indeed forgoing his senior season with the Ducks to enter the 2015 NFL draft, league and school sources told ESPN.
Even though Mariota's decision is not a surprise, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner had not publicly committed that he would turn pro this year.
Mariota already has acquired his degree in General Science at Oregon, which he is expected to cite as one of the factors favorable to his decision.
Mariota will make the announcement two days after the Ducks were trounced, 42-20, by Ohio State in the national title game, marking a disappointing end to his otherwise stellar career at Oregon.
The versatile Mariota, who set a Pac-12 Conference record with 58 total touchdowns this season, is widely regarded as one of the top overall prospects in this year's draft class.
Mariota was projected as the No. 1 overall pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in ESPN Insider Todd McShay's latest mock draft. He also recently was tabbed as the top-ranked overall prospect by ESPN Insider Mel Kiper Jr.
In addition to the Heisman, Mariota also was named The Associated Press Player of the Year and the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, among a slew of other awards.
Mariota had 42 passing touchdowns this season, 15 on the run and one touchdown catch. He also set the conference mark for career touchdowns with 136. He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in all 41 games he has started in his career, the second-longest streak in NCAA history behind Marshall's Rakeem Cato (46).
Mariota also is one of four quarterbacks in FBS history to pass for more than 10,000 yards and run for more than 2,000 in his career.
Source: espn.go.com/nfl/draft2015/story/_/id/12167622/marcus-mariota-oregon-ducks-declare-nfl-draft?ex_cid=sportscenterFB
Even though Mariota's decision is not a surprise, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner had not publicly committed that he would turn pro this year.
Mariota already has acquired his degree in General Science at Oregon, which he is expected to cite as one of the factors favorable to his decision.
Mariota will make the announcement two days after the Ducks were trounced, 42-20, by Ohio State in the national title game, marking a disappointing end to his otherwise stellar career at Oregon.
The versatile Mariota, who set a Pac-12 Conference record with 58 total touchdowns this season, is widely regarded as one of the top overall prospects in this year's draft class.
Mariota was projected as the No. 1 overall pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in ESPN Insider Todd McShay's latest mock draft. He also recently was tabbed as the top-ranked overall prospect by ESPN Insider Mel Kiper Jr.
In addition to the Heisman, Mariota also was named The Associated Press Player of the Year and the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, among a slew of other awards.
Mariota had 42 passing touchdowns this season, 15 on the run and one touchdown catch. He also set the conference mark for career touchdowns with 136. He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in all 41 games he has started in his career, the second-longest streak in NCAA history behind Marshall's Rakeem Cato (46).
Mariota also is one of four quarterbacks in FBS history to pass for more than 10,000 yards and run for more than 2,000 in his career.
Source: espn.go.com/nfl/draft2015/story/_/id/12167622/marcus-mariota-oregon-ducks-declare-nfl-draft?ex_cid=sportscenterFB
