The NFL combine has come and gone. A lot of prospects ‘wowed’ coaches and scouts, while others weren’t so impressive.

With the NFL Draft being nearly two months away, executives must figure out what prospects fit their respective franchise. Most general managers believe in going with the safe pick, which could cause some of the big name guys to drop.

When you look at the recent history of players at a certain position from a school, you would like to see a pattern of success, which hasn’t been the case for Oregon, Clemson and Wisconsin. Fair or not, the lack of success from guys before Marcus Mariota, Vic Beasley and Melvin Gordon could make executives gun-shy on draft weekend.

Let’s take a look at the predetermined thoughts these prospects must overcome.

Marcus Mariota: When you think about Oregon Ducks football, you’re likely to think about their speed and ability to put up tons of points in a hurry. Oregon averaged 45.4 points per game in 2014, led by Heisman award winner Marcus Mariota.

Mariota threw for 4,454 yards, while tossing 42 touchdowns to only 4 interceptions. And if that wasn’t enough to please you, how about Mariota completing 68 percent of his passes.

As impressive as those numbers are, Mariota still has his detractors. Although Oregon has dealt with three different coaches within the past seven years, the concept of their spread offense has generally been the same, which makes people believe anyone could put up huge numbers in their system.

Mariota could become the highest Oregon quarterback drafted since Joey Harrington in 2002, when he was selected as the third overall pick to the Detroit Lions. Harrington only lasted six years in the NFL where he threw 79 touchdowns and 85 interceptions, while only completing 56.1 percent of his passes.

Harrington is just one of many Oregon quarterbacks to flame out at the next level. Kellen Clemens (2nd round), Dennis Dixon (5th round) and A.J. Feely (5th round) all are career backups.

However, one NFC executive believes in Mariota’s ability to perform at the next level.

“He’s not as good as Andrew Luck. Luck was the best I’ve scouted in years. But over the past five, six years, he’s the second best,” the executive said.

The anonymous executive went on to praise Mariota.

“People are saying that system quarterback stuff. That cracks me up. This kid is extremely talented. He’s exactly what you want. If you take him and you don’t play that system, you should. I mean, the system works.”

That system could be in Philly with his former coach Chip Kelly, but if they’re unable to reunite, Mariota will be grateful regardless.

“For me, whatever team wants me, I’d love to play for them,” Mariota said. “My relationship with Coach Kelly, it would be a lot of fun to be a part of that offense and be a part of that team. But for me any team that wants me to be a part their club, I’m all for it. Whatever happens, happens.”

Vic Beasley: The 6-foot-3, 246 pound linebacker out of Clemson is an absolute monster. At the NFL combine in Indy, Beasley pumped out 35 reps on the bench press, while impressing in athletic drills. He ran a 4.53 40-yard dash and yielded a 41-inch vertical.

Beasley added on nearly 15 pounds since the end of the season, but he was still being able to maintain his speed and quickness.

All signs point to Beasley being an elite pass rusher off the edge, but it makes you think about the ones that came before him. Over the past decade, Clemson has had seven pass rushers selected no later than the third round. Gaines Adams was selected with the fourth overall pick in 2007, but he unexpectedly passed away due to a heart condition in 2010.

With that being said, none of Clemson’s pass rushers have produced at the value in which they were selected. Beasley is projected to be a Top 10 pick in some mock drafts and he plans on changing the perception of Clemson pass rushers.

“A lot of teams see me as a 3-4 outside linebacker. I am willing to play defensive end in a 4-3 at the next level, but the majority of teams want me to play outside linebacker and I’m fine with that,” Beasley said.

Beasley may be gone by the time Miami picks at 14, but they’ve expressed a lot of interest in the Clemson product.

“I’ve gotten a lot of looks from the Dolphins, Beasley said. “A lot of different teams, but mainly the Dolphins right now. I like guys like Cameron Wake, who is really able to get to the passer. They do a lot of different things, a lot of different (stunts), different things to get to the quarterback.”

Melvin Gordon: The Wisconsin Badgers haven’t produced a quality NFL running back since Ron Dayne, who was selected as the 11th overall pick in the 2000 draft.

While Dayne was solid, even he wasn’t a superstar by any means. He rushed for 3,722 yards and totaled 28 touchdowns throughout his eight-year career.

During the past decade, Wisconsin has featured at least one 1,000 yard rusher in the lineup, but none of them have panned out in the NFL. The most recognizable name, Montee Ball, had a promising rookie campaign as he rushed for 559 yards, averaging of 4.7 yards per carry. This past season Ball was slowed by a groin injury, which only allowed him to play in five games.

Ball still has time to prove himself, but Gordon has a chance to be a star in the league. Gordon shattered the single-game rushing record with 408 yards against Nebraska and he challenged Barry Sanders single-season rushing record of 2,628 yards, after compiling 2,587 rushing yards of his own.

There hasn’t been a running back taken in the first round the past two seasons.

“There’s a lot of running backs out here including myself that’s trying to break that trend,” Gordon said. “We’ve been trying to show people all year that we’re capable of being drafted in the first round. That’s been a lot of our goals, and hopefully we can change that.”

While these three prospects face predetermined evaluations held against them, they will have the opportunity to prove everyone wrong.