What Does Oregon QB Marcus Mariota Have in Common With Chad Pennington?

One of the many things that we love to do with college football players is try to compare them to current or past NFL guys in order to create an image of what we think/hope they are going to be like at the next level. When it comes to Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota the comparisons often include guys like Johnny Manziel, Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III--you know, pretty much every dual threat quarterback in the game today.

Those comparisons make sense, but there is one that may be a little bit shocking--yep, Chad Pennington.

via Twitter

As far as styles of play go the two could not be more different, but the end result was pretty darn similar. After throwing two touchdown passes against Arizona in the PAC-12 Championship Mariota has 101 for his career.

Assuming he gets drafted in the first round like expected he and Pennington will have something in common:

Of the 20 FBS QBs who have thrown for 100+ career TDs, only one was a 1st round pick (Chad Pennington). Mariota would be the 2nd
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) December 6, 2014

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