Updated Feb. 11, 2015By Charlie Campbell - @draftcampbellIt's not a rare occurrence that a once highly touted quarterback prospect falls past where he's projected to be selected. Last year, Johnny Manziel and Teddy Bridgewater suffered that fate. The year before, it was Geno Smith and Matt Barkley sliding out of the first day. This trend dates back to other quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers or Brady Quinn, and many are inclined to think it will happen again.This year, the rumors have started up that a slide could happen to Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota. However, we have reached out to sources from numerous teams, and they've told us that they don't believe that Mariota will slide. They feel he is very safe in the top 10. All of the teams said that Mariota has graded ahead of Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles, who was the third-overall pick last year, so Mariota should hear his name called quickly on draft day.The 6-foot-4, 219-pound Mariota has an excellent athletic skill set with a strong arm, rare mobility, athleticism, and speed. Teams love him off the field. They value his work ethic, humility, desire to get better and locker room leadership. Mariota will need some grooming with his pocket passing, ability to work through progressions, presence under center, and accuracy. However, teams feel that he is at a similar level to Carolina's Cam Newton coming out of Auburn. With Mariota's work ethic, they feel he can be taught how to fix those issues like Newton or San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick.Every team said that Mariota has graded ahead of Bortles. One team picking in the top 10 even said that it wasn't even close. Another team skilled at evaluating quarterbacks echoed those thoughts.With that being the case, it is hard to see Mariota sliding out of the top 10, considering the number of quarterback needy teams. We reported a month ago that Tampa Bay is inclined to go with Jameis Winston, but Mariota shouldn't last long with Tennessee and the New York Jets needing franchise quarterbacks.
