Marcus Mariota made the decision to return to Oregon before learning the results of his NFL draft grade

Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota announced in a statement on December 3 that he intended to return to school for his junior year, but a report from NFLDraftScout.com came out Wednesday stating that Mariota went ahead and requested his draft grade from the NFL Advisory Committee.

That could suggest that Mariota might still be weighing his options and has not completely made his mind up about staying at Oregon or going to the NFL.

Former NFL scout and Senior Bowl contributor John Middlekauf reported on December 7 that Mariota did not request his grade before he announced his intentions to return. Soon after, Rob Moseley, the editor of Oregon’s athletics website, refuted Middlekauf’s report.

After NFLDraftScout.com confirmed that Mariota did indeed request his draft grade, Moseley and Craig Pintens, Oregon’s Senior Associate Athletic Director, both confirmed that Mariota requested his draft evaluation before the decision was made that he will return.

Mariota simply wanted to see where he stood in the eyes of NFL evaluators. He made the decision to come back regardless of the results.

To end all the confusion, Mariota addressed his status to The Oregonian's John Canzano.

So I guess we can squash that and look forward to another year of Mariota commanding the Oregon offense.

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