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Report: Marcus Mariota To Visit Redskins

Marcus Mariota, who threw for 4,454 yards and 42 touchdowns — running for another 15 scores — in 2014 with Oregon, will reportedly visit the Redskins' Loudoun County headquarters prior to the draft.

Marcus Mariota — the Heisman-winning quarterback from Oregon — will make a pre-draft visit with the Washington Redskins, the NFL Network's Albert Breer reports.

The Redskins hold the No. 5-overall pick in the draft, and although they currently have three veteran quarterbacks on their roster, top team officials have said they will take the best-available player when they are officially on the clock April 30 in Chicago.

"It's a definite consideration, no doubt about it," McCloughan told CSNWashington.com’s Tarik El-Bashir when asked if the Redskins would draft Mariota. "It's the most important position on the field."

Mariota showed his athleticism and versatility in his three seasons as Oregon's starting quarterback, accumulating more than 13,000 yards of offense, including 10,796 passing yards and 2,237 rushing yards.

His 105 passing touchdowns to just 14 interceptions and 66.8 percent career pass completion rate also indicate sound decision making.

The 6-foot-4, 222-pound Mariota shined the most in 2014, when he won the Heisman Trophy after throwing for 4,454 yards and 42 touchdowns and running for another 15 scores, as his Ducks squad advanced to the National Championship game, losing 42-20 to Ohio State.

Matched with Jameis Winston — the other top quarterback prospect in this year's draft — Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said last week "they're two very interesting guys."

"Yeah, that's two very talented guys up there, obviously," Gruden said at the annual NFL Owners Meetings in Phoenix. "I was telling somebody earlier, teams are going to get two good players and they're going to be happy with both those guys, I think."

One knock on Mariota, experts say, is his lack of experience taking snaps from under center.

So after impressing at the NFL Scouting Combine, Mariota took advantage of his recent Pro Day to show personnel from all 32 teams that he can, in fact, be a pro-style quarterback.

"You see what type of guy he is, you see how smart he is, and what type of leader he is and what type of competitor he is, and the vision that he has when he gets out of the pocket and the plays that he's already made and what he's accomplished as a quarterback," Gruden said of Mariota. "And you take all the positives and I think they outweigh the negative of not taking a snap under center. I think he'll be able to do that without problem."

Check out these photos of Marcus Mariota, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback out of the University of Oregon.

Gruden also echoed McCloughan's claim that when the Redskins are on the clock with the No. 5-overall pick, they will go with the best-available player — no matter what position he plays.

"We still have some time to determine whether or not we want to go in that direction, but [Mariota] is a heck of an athlete, I'll tell you that, and Jameis is a heck of a passer, so two very good options to have if you are in need of a quarterback," he said. "And if you think you want to go that direction, then they're both worth going in that direction for, probably. But we haven't come up with that determination as a whole group, as an organization yet, and it's something that we're working towards. Based on what I've seen so far, both of them are very talented people."

Mariota is also scheduled to visit with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 1-overall pick), the Tennessee Titans (No. 2-overall pick) and the New York Jets (No. 6-overall pick), Pro Football Talk reports.

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