Eagles rookie Matt Barkley found himself in a similar situation when he chose to return to USC for his senior season to Marcus Mariota who elected to return to Oregon for the 2014 season this week and the USC product has advice for the redshirt sophomore.
Marcus Mariota made headlines this week when he forewent the NFL draft to return to Oregon for the 2014 season and two prominent Philadelphia Eagles addressed the redshirt sophomore's situation this week.
Chip Kelly coached Mariota at Oregon and many anticipated that had Mariota declared eligible for the draft, the first-year head coach would have targeted him next spring. Then there's the case of Eagles rookie fourth-round draft choice Matt Barkley who found himself in a similar situation as Mariota when he chose to return for his senior season at USC in 2012.
Prior to electing to return to the Trojans for one fine go-round as a senior, Barkley was projected to be taken in the top five of the draft and in some circles was projected to go first overall. After a season that saw Barkley threw for a Pac-12 leading 3,273 yards and 36 touchdowns this season, leading the conference in interceptions with a career-high 15, he slid all the way to the fourth round when the Eagles scooped him up.
After entering 2012 in the conversation alongside Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III as the top quarterbacks of that season's draft, Barkley's senior season likely cost him between $10 and $15 million based on his slide down the draft board.
He can identify with Mariota's situation and through reporters at the Novacare Complex Thursday had some advice for him.
"I don’t know his situation," Barkley admitted. "I don’t know his reasoning behind it. It’s kind of different for everyone.
"OBVIOUSLY purely in terms of money you would come out. It’s not even a question. Unless he feels like he’s going to …Either way you’re making money. If you come out that’s one more year of your career when you can be making money. You’re going to stop playing football at a finite date. No matter what. So it just depends on when you start it."
So the obvious question becomes why did the Newport Beach, CA native is; why exactly did you return to college?
"I wanted to win the national championship." Barkley said.
Meanwhile, Kelly understands the difficulty Mariota must have faced when making his decision to return to a place that Kelly helped put on the collegiate football map.
“Take it from a guy who had a real tough time leaving there – I think it's a good decision” the first-year Eagles coach said. “He’s a really special young man. I think everyone in the league will have to wait a couple of years. I love coaching him. He’s exactly what you want in a football player.”
With Nick Foles' historic stretch of starting the season with 19 touchdowns without an interception, the conversation about the Eagles future at the quarterback position has likely changed.
Regardless, Mariota's decision drew plenty of reaction from both Kelly and Barkley this week.
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
