Commanders QB paid a visit to one of college football's top freshmen

Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota knows a good thing when he sees it, which is why he's back with the team he spent 2024 with instead of out searching for greener pastures.

"The grass isn't always greener, and being around this league for a long time, you understand that when you have a good thing and you have a great culture and you have a great room, that's not everywhere," Mariota said in his press conference following his decision to return to the Commanders for 2025. "At the end of the day, something was going to have to really knock my socks off to leave this place, and I'm very happy and very blessed to be back, and I'm excited to make another run with this team."

While nobody outside of Washington impressed Mariota, it was the Oregon Ducks' program that impressed him enough to get him to sign there out of high school.

Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota. / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Eventually, Mariota became the first Hawaiian-born player to win the Heisman Trophy as well as the first Ducks player in school history.

Now, he's hoping another highly recruited player will be the next to reprersent his school well, and took time out to visit with running back and Oregon commit, Tradarian Ball.

According to a story on a CommanderGameday sister-site, "Ball is the No. 6 player in the state and the No. 3 overall running back in the 2026 class, per 247Sports' rankings. He joins 2026 five-star tight end Kendre Harrison as another Duck that's shut down their recruiting process. Oregon's 2026 recruiting class ranks as the No. 2 in the country, only behind the USC Trojans."

The Ducks won the Big Ten Conference Championship in 2024 and earned a trip to the first-ever College Football expanded championship tournament, ultimately losing to the eventual National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes.