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Mariota delivers in front of huge crowd at Pro Day

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EUGENE, ORE – Marcus Mariota and a potentially record-breaking class of prospects from the University of Oregon drew an estimated 100 scouts representing all 32 NFL teams to their Pro Day workout on Thursday.

No team was better represented than the Tennessee Titans, holders of the No. 2 overall pick, which sent a contingent that included general manager Ruston Webster, head coach Ken Whisenhunt, offensive coordinator Jason Michael, quarterbacks coach John McNulty and Blake Beddingfield, the club’s Director of College Scouting.

Among other big names attending the workout was general managers John Schneider, Scot McCloughan and Mike Maccagnan, the chief decision-makers in Seattle, Washington and with the New York Jets.

After demonstrating his rare athleticism for the position at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last month with a 4.52-second 40-yard dash and 36-inch vertical jump, Mariota elected to only throw Thursday. That wasn’t surprising given his stellar workout in Indianapolis and the fact that he was scheduled to hold a private workout with the Titans on campus following the pro day.

By my count Mariota had eight incompletions among 65 passes in a well-scripted throwing session organized by new Cleveland Browns quarterback coach Kevin O’Connell. Eight incompletions may sound like a lot considering that there were no defenders but of these throws, only two were truly poor tosses, with most of the misses being deep balls. A couple of well-thrown passes just tipped off the fingertips of intended receivers and one pass was simply dropped.

Knocking Mariota for vertical passes that sailed slightly over the out-stretched arms of the receivers he had running routes for him Thursday doesn’t reflect the accuracy he showed. Among his primary receivers Thursday was former Oregon standout Lavasier Tuinei, a 6-foot-4, 220-pounder with good build-up speed but lacking the true explosiveness that Mariota will be throwing to in the NFL.

Considering that he took virtually every snap out of the shotgun at Oregon, scouts wanted to see how Mariota would perform while dropping back from center. Every pass he threw Thursday came after Mariota took the snap from center Hroniss Grasu. As he showed in an impressive workout at the Combine, Mariota demonstrated quickness, balance and rhythm to accurately deliver the football, including after play-action. Perhaps most impressive, Mariota showed marked improvement in the post-corners – the route he struggled the most with in Indianapolis.

“I thought (Mariota) did a really nice job, especially considering that he did it from under center,” Schneider told me as the workout concluded.

Mariota was harder on himself.

“I thought it was OK,” Mariota said after the workout. “There were some missed throws here or there. It’s a little different than in a game.”

The general buzz following the Pro Day was that Mariota wasn’t as impressive Thursday as he was at the Combine. That may be more of a reflection of the heightened expectations following his stellar showing in Indianapolis than a poor effort Thursday. Having attended Pro Days since 2001, I would grade Mariota’s effort Thursday as a solid B, not much different than performances future top five picks Andrew Luck and Mark Sanchez had during their respective Pro Days. Mariota’s workout was clearly a step behind the aerial assault that Sam Bradford put on at Oklahoma prior to the earning the No. 1 overall selection in 2010. Bradford’s workout remains the best Pro Day from a quarterback I have seen in person.

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner is, of course, the big name, but he was far from the only NFL prospect on hand. Six former Oregon Ducks were invited to the Combine and NFLDraftScout.com currently has draftable grades on nine players from the program, including defensive lineman Arik Armstead, offensive tackle Jake Fisher, Grasu, and cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, each of whom could join Mariota as possible top 100 picks.

The most Ducks ever drafted into the NFL in one year is six, which interestingly enough has occurred six times, most recently in 2009.

These Ducks look destined to break that mark.

After not competing at the Combine while recovering from the knee injury which sidelined him for several games in 2014, Grasu did virtually all of the drills Thursday. The 6-3, 302-pounder was clocked by scouts at 5.02 seconds in the 40 and showed good quickness in positional drills.

The most impressive positional workout, however, may have come from Fisher, whose athleticism, power and intensity were on full display during the offensive line drills orchestrated by Cincinnati offensive line coach Paul Alexander.

Armstead showed impressive power during his workout, audibly pounding the dummies to the turf during club and rip drills led by San Diego defensive line coach Don Johnson. He is light on his feet for a man of his size (6-7, 292 pounds) but didn’t show the fire going through drills that some scouts would prefer for a defensive lineman.

Ekpre-Olomu remains sidelined with a bulky knee brace after suffering a torn ACL prior in practice prior to Oregon’s Rose Bowl victory over Florida State.

–Rob Rang is a Senior Analyst for NFLDraftScout.com, a property of The Sports Xchange distributed in partnership with CBSSports.com.

Since 1987, the Sports Xchange has been the best source of information and analysis for the top professionals in the sports publishing & information business

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Source: Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk

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