2022 NFL Draft: A make or break year for Tyler Shough

Player Comp: Marcus Mariota

I considered Mitchell Trubisky for this player comp as they had similar backgrounds and ran similar types of offenses in college. I saw someone else make the comp between Tyler Shough and Jared Goff, but I think Shough has more toughness than Goff, is a better runner than Goff, and isn’t as good of a passer as the former 2016 number one overall draft pick.

I ultimately went with Marcus Mariota as Shough’s player comp for a few obvious reasons. First, they both played at the University of Oregon for three years (though Shough redshirted one year and was a backup the next year) and won a Pac-12 title. Second, the two quarterbacks both have prototypical size (Mariota is 6’4” 222 and Shough is 6’5” 219). Third, they are both serious threats to run with the ball.

The main difference is that Mariota consistently ran a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash, whereas Tyler Shough is projected to run a 4.7 or 4.8.

Though they played under different coaching staffs in Eugene, both Mariota and Shough played in similar offenses that incorporated a lot of run-pass-options and zone-read concepts. Their respective offenses also were both excellent at scheming receivers open, offering massive windows to throw into, which made their reads as easy as can be.

While this is great for racking up points in college football, it makes the evaluation process ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft more difficult (as evidenced by Mariota’s mediocrity in the NFL).

In that same vein, I don’t usually like to be negative on my player comps, but Marcus Mariota and Tyler Shough can be immensely frustrating to watch because although they have all the tools, the size, the arm strength, and the athleticism, they frequently leave you wanting more. You sometimes wonder why they aren’t better.