All year the talk has surrounded Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. He is the crown jewel of the 2014 quarterback class and is considered by many to be the best quarterback prospect in recent memory behind Andrew Luck. Bridgewater will end up the first overall pick in May but if there is one quarterback who has a chance to be better than him it’s Oregon’s Marcus Mariota.

Mariota is midway through his second season with the Oregon Ducks and is well on his way to a BCS Championship appearance and a trip to New York as a Heisman finalist. He has been sensational this year dominating through the air with 2,051 passing yards 19 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also has shown his mobility with 49 carries for 493 yards, nine touchdowns and he leads the nation with 10.1 yards per carry. He has done all of this while star running back De’Anthony Thomas missed nearly four games with an ankle injury and tight end Colt Lyerla missed action before he left the program. The Ducks’ offense is second in the nation with 57.6 points per game and 17th in passing with 310.7 yards per game. Oregon is sitting at 6-0 with two big conference games coming up this week against N0.12 UCLA and the following week at No.6 Stanford. If Mariota can put up good numbers and win both games especially on the road, it should be enough to push his team up from the third spot in the BCS Rankings and make him the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy. But

While winning the Heisman Trophy and potentially making it to the BCS National Championship are incredible feats, that doesn’t mean certain NFL success. While Robert Griffin III and Sam Bradford have found success there are plenty of winners that didn’t succeed in the NFL like Troy Smith, Tim Tebow and Matt Leinart. Mariota also is starring in an offense that made Dennis Dixon, Jeremiah Masoli and Darron Thomas put up very good numbers. Mariota is not just another star college quarterback turned failure, he has what it takes to be a franchise quarterback in the NFL and a perfect fit for the new style of quarterback teams are looking for.

Mariota is without a doubt behind Bridgewater in terms of readiness for the NFL and lacks the experience, leadership and vision that would be ideal. But Mariota is midway through just his second season at starting quarterback at Oregon and didn’t even play in high school until his senior year. He is only 19 years old and every week you are seeing him mature and develop as a quarterback. After throwing six interceptions last season including four straight games with an interception at one point, Mariota hasn’t thrown a single interception this season. Mariota is also showing this season that he can do more than just complete quick screen passes to move the ball down the field, this offense is opening up to him more and he is executing. Last year Mariota averaged eight yards per completion and that has now jumped up to 10.4 yards per completion in 2013. Mariota is seeing the field better this year as the offense is opening up and making better decisions. He still has a lot of room to grow but is far beyond his 19 or 20-year-old peers besides Florida State’s Jameis Winston.

Accuracy is the other big area where Mariota will need to show improvement if he wants to be a top-five selection and prove himself as a potential franchise quarterback. Mariota’s completion percentage has actually dropped six points from 68.5 in 2012 to 62.4 through seven games in 2013. But if you take a look at his numbers from the first four games of the season when he completed just 56 percent of his 107 pass attempts, he has once again shown improvement in the past three games completing 70 percent of his 90 pass attempts. He looked very good two weeks ago on the road against a very good Washington Huskies secondary. Mariota completed 24 of 31 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns, and added 88 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. While a 77.4 completion rate is solid enough it could have been even higher if not for five dropped passes, including a deep ball early that would have been a touchdown. Accuracy on medium and deep throws will remain a question for Mariota as he prepares for the draft but the numbers are there to show that he is improving and showing scouts he can make every throw.

Mariota clearly is a phenomenal athlete and it’s even more incredible given his size at 6’4 211 pounds. As mentioned earlier, he leads the country with 10.1 yards per carry and really is the ultimate read option threat. You are seeing a bigger need for athletic quarterbacks in the NFL who can execute the read-option with Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Ryan Tannehill, Cam Newton and Andrew Luck all displaying great athleticism. Mariota most closely resembles Kaepernick in terms of athleticism. While Bridgewater has shown the ability to move around the pocket or tuck the ball and run, he isn’t near the level of Mariota. He also holds an advantage over Bridgewater with his velocity and delivering the ball on a line right into his wide receiver’s hands. This is one of the few knocks on Bridgewater’s game but he does miss out on deep balls with overthrows because he doesn’t deliver as much velocity on the ball as Mariota.

Bridgewater has a lot of things going for him right now over Mariota. He has a lot more experience playing quarterback and the biggest area you see that translate in is reading the field both during the play and before the play. He holds the clear edge in terms of intelligence and isn’t as wild in the pocket. He is an elite quarterback prospect and a better prospect than Griffin III. But Mariota still hasn’t come close to tapping through to his potential. He has a big arm, elite athleticism and is already incredibly developed as a quarterback considering he has only started for three years including high school. When you consider the progress he has made already, then think what he can do over time working with NFL coaches who are devoted to capitalizing on his potential you realize how great he has the chance to be.

You can’t go wrong by drafting either Bridgewater or Mariota. If both of them develop they will be franchise quarterbacks and Pro Bowl level players, but Mariota offers the most potential to an NFL team. Bridgewater is no doubt the safer pick, but passing on Mariota could mean passing on a player who will change the game completely. Potential is always risky but with the right coaching staff and with the work ethic Mariota has, there is no question he can be the best player from this entire class. Both players will end up being top-five selections if they choose to enter the 2014 NFL Draft.