Marcus Mariota to enter NFL draft
— -- Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota will forgo his senior season with the Ducks to enter the 2015 NFL draft.
Mariota announced his decision in a release Wednesday, saying that he "will always remember the great times" at Oregon.
"After meeting with my family I have decided to forego my final year of eligibility and apply for the 2015 NFL Draft," Mariota said. "My four years at the University of Oregon have been an awesome experience. I cannot thank Coach Kelly, Coach Helfrich, Coach Frost, the rest of the Oregon coaches and the support staff enough for molding me as a person, player and student-athlete.
"The support I received from the University, the city of Eugene and Duck fans has been tremendous. I will always remember the great times and support I received. Once a Duck always a Duck. I will miss being with my teammates. Being a part of this team was something special that I will always treasure."
Even though Mariota's decision is not a surprise, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner had not publicly committed that he would turn pro this year.
Mariota made the announcement two days after the Ducks were trounced, 42-20, by Ohio State in the national title game, marking a disappointing end to his otherwise stellar career at Oregon.
The versatile Mariota, who set a Pac-12 Conference record with 58 total touchdowns this season, is widely regarded as one of the top overall prospects in this year's draft class.
Mariota was projected as the No. 1 overall pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in ESPN Insider Todd McShay's latest mock draft. He also recently was tabbed as the top-ranked overall prospect by ESPN Insider Mel Kiper Jr.
In addition to the Heisman, Mariota also was named The Associated Press Player of the Year and the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, among a slew of other awards.
"It's been an honor to watch Marcus develop over the last four years, and I'm excited to see what his future holds," Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said in the release. "He's given this program everything we could have asked, and he'll be the standard by which others are judged. Mahalo."
Mariota had 42 passing touchdowns this season, 15 on the run and one touchdown catch. He also set the conference mark for career touchdowns with 136. He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in all 41 games he has started in his career, the second-longest streak in NCAA history behind Marshall's Rakeem Cato (46).
Mariota also is one of four quarterbacks in FBS history to pass for more than 10,000 yards and run for more than 2,000 in his career.
ESPN NFL Insider Chris Mortensen and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
