There’s no question who’s faster
The talk surrounding the NFL the past few weeks has been around the combine and the battle between Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston. Going into today’s drills, reports were saying that Jameis had a hurt shoulder and might not participate but there were red flags about his potential off the field issues and ballooned weight from a picture last month. Mariota was looking like he wouldn’t participate as well, after suffering an injury in the College Playoff National Championship, but he assured everyone a few days ago, he was good to throw. His stock going into the draft was more in terms of how NFL-ready he really was coming from a spread offense in college.
With several teams trying to put packages together to move up in the draft to try to land one of these highly touted prospects, all eyes were on them for a number of drills.
So far, Famous Jameis has been impressing everyone with his interviews, while Mariota has been showing Russell Wilson-esque poise with his answers, blowing everyone away with his demeanor, character and focus. It seemed like he passed the interview portion of the combine with flying colors.
On the field, Mariota showed athleticism and speed, running the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds, to go along with a 36-inch vertical jump. Winston on the other hand, ran two 40-yard dashes in a time of 4.97 and 4.99, respectively, and had a 28 ½-inch vertical jump.
Both quarterbacks looked good throwing the ball, but Winston was getting the slight edge, throwing deep down the field with accuracy despite that injured shoulder.
For now, it’s looking like Jameis Winston will be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ first pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, with Marcus Mariota falling as far down as number seven, if the Tennessee Titans pass up on him with the number two overall pick.
The New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, St. Louis and Chicago Bears all covet these two quarterbacks, having needs at the position entering the draft.
One of the big stories coming out today from the combine besides how these two performed is the No. 3 selection, which looks to be a fight between Brett Hundley and Bryce Petty. The two are looking like low first round and definite second round picks thus far.