Is Marcus Mariota too nice? That's a question at least one anonymous NFL scout is asking about the Oregon quarterback who's bound to be a top draft pick next April.
Marcus Mariota is ‘too nice?’ Anonymous NFL Draft Scout season is underway!
Being too nice hasn’t seemed to hurt the Heisman favorite so far.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Take heed of the “anonymous” qualifier: This is the sort of character scrutinizing NFL draft prospects endure every year. It’s coming even earlier this season, however, with SI.com reporting an NFL scout’s “too nice” comments about the Oregon quarterback. The Ducks are fifth in the first College Football Playoff committee rankings, Mariota has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes, thrown 24 touchdowns to one interception, and also scored five rushing touchdowns:
“Like if you punched him in the stomach, he might apologize to you,” an NFL scout said. “I just don’t know if he’s that alpha male that you’re looking for. This kid’s a kind of fly on the wall kind of guy.”
This is precisely the type of dinosaur rhetoric we've seen rooted in pretty much all of the NFL's ongoing issues (boy, there are quite a few now) these days. Do you need an alpha male at quarterback? What separates Mariota from, say, Andrew Luck? Preposterous questions of racial impacts aside, what about Mariota and Russell Wilson?:
“Physically, he’s really talented, but it’s going to take a little time. If you’re expecting him to come in and be your savior Year 1, I don’t think that’s going to be it.”
Hey, I sure’d like a “physically, really talented” quarterback!:
“He’s got all the physical talent in the world,” the scout said. “He’s a good kid, too. You don’t have to worry about him off the field. All you’ve got to worry about, is he too nice?”
This is the most ridiculous quote -- the scout ran through three major positives that would’ve erased doubts about any other prospect before getting to the “too nice” thing.
As the SI story mentions, Mariota hails from Honolulu, Hawaii, a place many people commonly think of as a fairly pleasant place. So maybe it’s reasonable to expect Mariota to be a nice guy. Maybe someone’s upbringing is relevant to his draft stock. But it’s unfair and irresponsible to assign any more weight to those characteristics ... especially if you’re an NFL personnel person making million-dollar decisions about these athletes.
Again, NFL scout character assassination season happens every year. SB Nation's Dan Kadar put together this handy primer before the most recent draft; it includes the latest hack-job efforts from the likes of reviled draft analyst Nolan Narwocki. Jadeveon Clowney also was "spoiled" and "lazy," every year some quarterback gets labeled a "gimmick" who wasn't "committed," and so many more equally dumb things get said.
With the evolution of NFL draft coverage into a year-round thing, nearly every top prospect will have some ridiculous criticism thrown his way based off non-pertinent factors. Such is life; at least we can hope a “nice guy” like Mariota gets what’s owed to him.
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