Former Jacksonville Jaguars star running back Maurice Jones-Drew is among those who are skeptical of Marcus Mariota succeeding in the NFL.
Jones-Drew was a member of the Jags the last time a hot quarterback — Blaine Gabbert — shot up NFL Draft boards.
“Some first-rounders will end up in horrible situations,” Jones-Drew told Mike Freeman of bleacherreport.com. “Some scouts will say that a player fits a system when he clearly doesn’t. Mariota is a good example of that.”
Gabbert ran a spread offense at Missouri — not the same as Oregon’s spread, but Jones-Drew’s point is that system “fits” are vital to a player’s success.
“It wasn’t that Blaine was bad. It was that he was uncomfortable,” Jones-Drew said. “You don’t take Mark Zuckerberg and have him run a construction company. Blaine never adapted to the complicated pro offenses.
“The thing with Mariota is that it will take a long time for him to adjust to the NFL. It will take years. He will have to go to the absolute perfect place. It won’t take (Jameis) Winston as long.”
