Since Marcus Mariota won the Heisman Trophy by an overwhelming margin, discourse on his potentially imminent NFL future has predictably spiked.

According to NFL.com, Tony Dungy went on "the Dan Patrick Show" and called the young Oregon Ducks quarterback "Aaron Rodgers in the waiting." Rodgers is in the midst of another outstanding season for the Packers and is arguably the best all around quarterback in the NFL.

Jay Glazer opined for Fox Sports that one trait that could hurt Mariota's stock is that he is "not a pocket passer," which is quite contrary to the kind of player Rodgers is. While Mariota and Rodgers are comparable in size and athleticism, the latter is lethal in the pocket. Glazer said that right now, coming out of college, that is "just not what Mariota is."

A lot of NFL teams wanted mobile quarterbacks to run the read-option not long ago, but there now seems to be several reasons to shy away from that kind of quarterback. Durability and ball security have plagued Robert Griffin III and Colin Kaepernick this season, but teams can look at Russell Wilson and Cam Newton as reasons to think highly of Mariota.

Like Wilson, Mariota seems to have a consistent, focused and calm demeanor on the field, in the locker room and in front of the media. Like Newton, Mariota is an ideal size for the quarterback position, but with a leaner build and more agile as a runner.

Also like Newton, Mariota should ride the Heisman hype into the draft, should he declare, especially since he is precisely the kind of athlete who would impress during pre-season showcases.

Mariota's athleticism, build, personality and spectacular college career may earn him a high draft pick, but he too will have to prove that he can consistently make plays with his arm more often than he does with his legs.

Steve Sarkisian is a coach who has seen a lot of Mariota, as the leader of two different Pac-12 teams that have had the unfortunate task of trying to stop him. Formerly the coach at Washington and now at USC, Sarkisian told the Los Angeles Times that Mariota is a strong decision maker and excels at executing plays.

"He throws it on time, to the right people, accurately," Sarkisian said. "When there are designed runs for him, it's hard to stop. And then when you do everything right, he pulls it down and runs it."

But NFL teams are more disciplined and more experienced than college teams and, like Glazer said, Mariota will need to have the wherewithal to not force plays as a pro passer.

According to CBS Philadelphia, Chip Kelly, head coach of the Eagles and Mariota's former coach at Oregon, told a local radio station that his former QB could beat just about any challenge laid in front of him.

"I think Marcus will be successful whether he's an NFL player, a banker, a teacher, a fireman, a policeman," Kelly said. "I've said it before about some other players, but if you can buy stock in a human being, you buy stock in that kid because he'll always be successful in anything he does."