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Maurice Jones-Drew Compares Marcus Mariota to Blaine Gabbert

By Luke Sims

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Turn back now Macrus Mariota fans, because what you are about to read is bad news for the young quarterback coming out of Oregon and even worse news for whichever team you are a fan of.

Trust me, I was a fan of the Jaguars during the Blaine Gabbert era.

Maurice Jones-Drew, the recently retired running back, played most of his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars and was with the team when the train wreck that is Blaine Gabbert came to town. That fateful 2011 draft day saw the Jaguars take five steps backward, trading up for a quarterback who they thought had the tools to be an NFL-caliber starter.

Instead, Blaine Gabbert turned out to be a major bust, failing to transition from a spread offense at Mizzou to a pro-style offense.

Maurice Jones-Drew is cautioning the world against someone he sees as similar: Marcus Mariota.

Mariota is expected to be the second quarterback taken off the board in the 2015 NFL Draft. Whether he falls past the Tennessee Titans at second overall or not, he’s expected to come in and be an immediate starter (and playmaker) in the NFL.

MJD told Bleacher Report that “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.”

He also compared bringing in Mark Zuckerberg to run a construction company rather than a social network.

The comparison is apt and Mariota’s lack of familiarity with a pro-style offense has been highlighted frequently and is a primary reason why he isn’t really considered as a possible first overall selection. Hopefully he doesn’t suffer from phantom sacks as well.

In my opinion, Marcus Mariota has a ton of upside and if he does find that right fit in the NFL, then he could be something special. If he is brought in and expected to be an immediate savior of a franchise in an unfamiliar role, then we likely won’t see him fulfill his potential.

The NFL has already had one Blaine Gabbert. It doesn’t need another.

Next: Predicting Every 2015 Jaguars Game

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