INDIANAPOLIS — Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota had the stage to himself Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine, given a day’s head start on rival prospect Jameis Winston, who will meet with the media Friday.

Most evaluators rank Winston as the No. 1 quarterback in the 2015 NFL Draft.

“Doesn’t really affect me at all,” Mariota said at his 15-minute interview that began at 2:21 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium. “Any player would stand in front of you and tell you they’re confident in their abilities. I’m no different.”

Mariota had 5,224 total yards and 58 touchdowns as a junior. But as with Florida State’s 2013 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, there are still doubts about Mariota’s ability to transition from a wide-open spread offense to a pro-style system that demands the quarterback serve as a coach, coordinator and passer all in one tidy package.

“While working with Kevin O’Connell, he gives me a play sheet and has me call the play calls out loud,” Mariota said. “I haven’t done it (call plays) since high school.”

Mariota said all rookie quarterbacks will be making a big adjustment in the NFL. But he might be at a disadvantage having not mastered the minutae of the position, saying he has not been in a huddle in years.

If Mariota is to separate himself from Winston, it could begin here. Mariota will participate in passing drills on the field Saturday afternoon. Winston has not determined whether he will participate, but some recent top quarterbacks have passed on the workouts. UCLA’s Brett Hundley, the third-ranked quarterback according to NFLDraftScout.com, said he ran a system under former NFL coach Jim Mora Jr. that is very similar to the Philadelphia Eagles’ scheme under coach Chip Kelly.

“I love him to death,” Hundley said.

The Eagles, who have the 20th overall pick, could be in the market for a quarterback if they decide to move away from Nick Foles. Kelly recruited Mariota to Oregon and is said to covet his former prized pupil. If Mariota or Hundley landed with the Eagles, their learning curve – and transition to a true pro-style offense – would be curbed.

Mariota projects a hyper-calm, quiet demeanor and wouldn’t engage in verbal jousting about the pecking order of quarterback prospects. Confident but well short of cocky or brash, Mariota doesn’t have the “aw shucks” nature of Eli Manning or the cool, confident grin of Cam Newton, but his unique skill set will attract many suitors.

“I’ll do my best to run under a 4.5, but we’ll see,” Mariota said.

The Cleveland Browns, who own the No. 12 and No. 19 overall picks, will have unique insight in their evaluation. Their new offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell spent the past month training Mariota at San Diego-based Prolific Athletes. Winston and Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty are at the same facility under the watch of George Whitfield.

“The coolest thing about Jameis that people don’t realize is his ability to compartmentalize,” Petty said. “Not to say he’s a bad person. He’s a great person.”

The character questions and red flags surrounding Winston will be broached in interviews this week with NFL teams. Coaches and general managers often tweak players intentionally, and are overly harsh, all designed to surprise prospects and gauge their reaction to the tension.

Petty has been working out with Whitfield for more than three years. His pre-draft workouts have been held mostly at San Diego and earlier this week in Michigan.

“Jameis, he comes to work. We push each other,” Petty said.

Petty is a product of a “signal system” much like Mariota. The process of looking to the sideline to get the play from coaches meant Petty was almost never went into the huddle and never called a play. Petty said the Senior Bowl in January was the first time he called a play.

“It’s so unique seeing those guys go into the Senior Bowl and see those guys under center. You got guys moving around, how they move in the pocket, how they adjust,” said Seahawks general manager John Schneider. “It’s harder now. When you watch college football you see those guys looking to the sideline, and I know me, personally, I’ve made several mistakes in that regard. You may question the guy’s decision-making. You may value it higher, his intellectual level or what a good football guy he is, but you don’t truly know because they are looking at the sidelines at cards.”

Petty had only 10 interceptions in four seasons at Baylor – by comparison Winston had 28 in two seasons – but neither is tested against NFL style defenses or even the most rudimentary skills for players at the position.

Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians has known Winston since the FSU quarterback was in ninth grade. He said there are no character concerns for the Cardinals with Winston because of it. But evaluating college quarterbacks is growing in degree of difficulty because of the extreme simplicity.

“You’re evaluating a quarterback who has never called a play in the huddle, never used a snap count. They hold up a card on the sideline, he kicks his foot and throws the ball,” Arians said. “That ain’t playing quarterback. There’s no leadership involved there. There might be leadership on the bench, but when you get them and they have to use verbiage and they have to spit the verbiage out and change the snap count, they are light years behind.”