http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/11/mayock-gives-early-assessment-of-mariota-winston/ Next Monday, draft expert Mike Mayock will conduct his annual pre-Combine conference call with reporters, which typically consists of Mayock being peppered on a non-stop basis with dozens of questions, pivoting from prospect to prospect and ultimately for talking non-stop for two hours or more.Recently, Mayock provided a preview regarding the two biggest names in the draft pool: quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston.Appearing on 97.5 The Fanatic, via PhillyMag.com, Mayock gave a glowing assessment of Winston on the field, with a predictable caveat regarding the off-field aspects.“Winston, I really like everything I see about him on the field because you can see him throw with anticipation, you can see him in the pocket, you can see all the things you want,” Mayock said. “But off the field, I’m scared to death of him.”With Mariota, Mayock has no off-field concerns but plenty of football-related worries.“Mariota is the opposite. First guy in the building everyday, all those kinds of things. No problems off the field. But for everyone but [Eagles coach] Chip Kelly, he’s a projection because of the type of offense he runs,” Mayock said.“From a physical trait perspective, he has everything you want. He’s big, he’s athletic, he’s got great feet, and he’s got a live arm. So on the surface, the individual components all work. The problem is he’s a projection coming to the next level because of the pocket awareness, the progressions and the reads.”The problem is that, because of the Oregon offense, it’s hard to tell whether he can do the things that a more conventional NFL offense would expect him to do, particularly making multiple reads before tucking the ball and running.“I want to buy into Marcus Mariota,” Mayock said. “He’s clean, there’s no off-the-field issues. I love all the individual components. I’m not sure watching every single snap is going to help me determine whether or not he can progress or project into an NFL team or not. It’s really hard.”That could make it easy for Kelly to land Mariota. If the Bucs opt for Winston and if the Titans pass on Mariota, he could easily slide to No. 6 — which then would put the Jets in position to draft Mariota or to trade him to the Eagles for, say, the 20th overall pick in 2015, a first-round pick in 2016, another pick or two in 2015, and quarterback Nick Foles.
