Should Marcus Mariota throw at the NFL Combine?

Reigning Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota’s status for the NFL Combine in Indianapolis later this month remains in question. The former Oregon Duck standout passer sprained his throwing shoulder in the BCS national championship contest against Ohio State and may opt to wait until his pro day to showcase his arm talent. Regardless of his final decision, it appears that Mariota is a lock to be a top ten pick in this coming NFL draft. The question becomes whether or not Mariota should play it safe and sit out, or go for the gusto and compete at the combine.

If history is any indication, sitting out the combine doesn’t seem to be a huge strike against top prospects. Last year’s number one overall pick Jadeveon Clowney elected not to do his positional drills at the NFL combine, opting to wait for his school’s pro day. It obviously didn’t hurt his draft status whatsoever as Clowney was still selected by the Houston Texans at the top of the draft.

On the flip side, there wasn’t much competition for the number one spot in last year’s draft as Clowney looked to be a no brainer for Houston before the draft. With no clear cut front runner in this year’s draft class, a top notch performance at the combine just may be what swings the pendulum in a prospect’s favor to become the number one pick.

Overall, I think that combine and pro day workouts should be taken with a grain of salt. I personally attended West Virginia University’s 2013 pro day which featured an up-and-coming young quarterback named Geno Smith. According to the official numbers, Smith completed 60-64 passes with two drops in an absolutely flawless performance. However, Smith has been arguably the worst starting quarterback in all of football as he has compiled 34 interceptions and completed only 57.5% of his passes in two years with the New York Jets.

That being said, I do think Mariota is a unique case study for the combine because he is known as a “system” passer. Therefore, each pass thrown by Mariota will be under heavy scrutiny as talent evaluators will look for any chink in his football armor. Scouts want to know what type of quarterback Mariota can be once he is separated from the fast break offense that he was so successful with during his collegiate career, and that is what will make Mariota’s combine and pro day workouts so interesting to follow.

Taking the pro and cons into consideration, I would urge Mariota to throw at the combine. With the race for number one too close to call at this point, Mariota has little to lose and everything to gain by competing at the combine in my opinion. At worst, I feel that Mariota will be drafted no later than sixth overall to the New York Jets. At best, he has a chance to become the top player chosen which means a heftier signing bonus.

Even if Mariota is 100% healthy, it would be a difficult task to outperform his nemesis Jameis Winston in combine passing drills. If you ask me, Winston is the more gifted thrower between the two and that means Winston will likely test better during the throwing portion of the combine. However, I think it would make a great impression to NFL personnel officials if Mariota throws caution to the wind, displays a little moxie, and decides to settle matters on the field by throwing at the combine.

Next: Mock Draft: Where's Mariota?

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