By Scott Anderson
For one hour, Oregon’s pro day took center stage over the craziness of NFL free agency as Marcus Mariota, Arik Armstead, Jake Fisher, and other took the field in Eugene for their pro day.
Mariota completed 41 of 46 passes, with three of the misses being on vertical routes, and had a solid performance in front of about 100 personnel from all 32 teams. Mariota also took snaps from under the center and had no issues handling the football. His footwork was solid, and he showcased his underrated arm strength with a beautiful 30 yard dart on an out-route.
The reigning Heisman Trophy winner also impressed on his drops from under center, especially in the short time that he has been prepping from a non-shotgun or pistol formation. Mariota’s play action fakes were very crisp, but it’s tough to tell how good they are without a defense to bite. You can tell that his camp reviewed the combine film and really put him to work on throwing the post corner routes. A ton of improvement on the accuracy there.
Before his on the field performance, Mariota spoke to New York Jets QB coach Kevin Patullo for a good amount of time. Following the Jets free agency purchases of Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, and James Carpenter, New York may only be a quarterback away from contending in the AFC East.
Offensive tackle Jake Fisher, once again, dominated the offensive linemen position drills. Fisher is a natural at the change of direction drills, and the film shows a much better offensive line when Fisher is protecting Mariota’s blind side. I can’t see Fisher falling out of the first round with his performance on the draft circuit.
Defensive tackle Arik Armstead stood on his combine performance and at 6’7 289 pounds will be an intriguing option for a team in the first round looking for a 3-4 defensive end.
After missing the combine due to injury, center Hroniss Grasu was able to perform all the drills and ran 40 times of 5.03 and 5.01. Grasu is a surprisingly good athlete for a 300 pounder and will hear his name get called on Day 3.
Mariota’s competition for the top pick, Florida State’s Jameis Winston, takes the field for his pro day on March 31st.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
