Angry that you didn't draft Russell Wilson? Draft this guy:

Kelly might leave, but Qb/OC coach Helfritch has a solid track record with Qb going back to his days with ASU. His qb's have always put up big numbers. He's from Oregon and might just be next in li e to be the HC. Even if he doesn't get it, I don't see him leaving with Chip.

Well Kearly, we're just gonna have to agree to disagree on this one cuz i dont see either of us changing the others mind. Luckily for Oregon fans this argument doesnt even matter until after next season at the very earliest, but hopefully not for 2 or 3 more years. (my bet is he leaves after his junior year which will actually be his 4th year in the program since he redshirted).

My last point to try and persuade you... If Akili Smith can go 3rd, Jake Locker can go 8th, Christian Ponder can go 12th, and Tim Freakin Tebow can go in the first round then there's no reason 2 or 3 years down the line from now, as he continues to improve that Mariota won't be in discussion for the number 1 pick. (especially if a guy like Robert Griffin 3 is still doing really well in the league) He has the arm. He has the intangibles. He has the athletecism. He'll have the winning pedigree and "it" factor. Mentally and emotionally on the field I think he's very much like Russell Wilson. I wasnt kidding when I said his in game demeanor makes Wilson look like a spaz, and you know how much i love Russell Wilson. Somebody will fall in love with him whether he's the product of a system or not.

Btw, i'm not disagreeing with you about Oregon's success being a product of a system. I fully understand that our offensive system is what makes it great, not necessarily our individual players. And if you were going to build a robot to run Chip Kelly's offense it woudl be Mariota. I just tthink he's good enough that he can transcend the system and would be a very good QB in any system. I know (well not first hand, but i've heard) that Sark wanted him pretty bad for their pro style offense.

p.s. sorry for hijacking your jonny football thread.

P.S. No problemo.

I just think you are perhaps over-estimating certain factors while underestimating others, and it's also obvious that you are basing these conclusions after an emotional rise, "buying high" basically. I'm not even truly disagreeing with you, I'm just far more cautious. You treat it like it's a certainty, but I see it as pretty damn unlikely, though still possible. We'll see. To use a political analogy, it's like your calling a contested swing state for a candidate with 5% in, and I'd rather wait until there's 95% in before I make that same call. A lot of the things I rely on for my QB analysis I haven't seen yet from Mariota, and he definitely does need to work on some of his fundamentals. I think if Colin Kaepernick was on this offense right now, he'd be similarly awesome, probably more awesome since he has better tools and had to carry his team on his back every week at Nevada.