Marcus McCauley attended Cordova High School in Sacramento, California where he played football and basketball. Marcus played running back, receiver, cornerback, safety and returned kicks over the course of his career at Cordova where he was an all-city player. Marcus was considered to be one of the best players in the Sacramento area and was recruited by schools such as: Washington, Oregon, and California. Marcus decided to stay close to home and attend Fresno State University where he sat out the 2002 season as a redshirt. He saw action in all 14 games the following season, receiving one start. He finished the season with 11 tackles. Marcus started 10 of 12 games as a sophomore, totaling 31 tackles, 3 interceptions, 3 pass break-ups, and his first career sack. As a junior, Marcus started all 13 games, recording 45 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 1 interception, and 7 pass break-ups on his way to second team all-WAC honors. Marcus had a bit of a down year as a senior. He finished with 55 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and 7 pass break-ups on the year.

Marcus McCauley has a good deal of experience, having started the past three seasons at cornerback for the Fresno State Bulldogs. Marcus has an outstanding combinaton of size, strength and speed for a cornerback. His size and physical play, along with his leaping ability, allows him to matchup against bigger, stronger receivers, while his speed (ran a 4.31 at the 05 pro day) allows him to stay with faster receivers that line up against him. He has good recovery speed and change of direction ability. Marcus will step up and support the run. He is a hard hitter and a solid tackler who excels at making plays in the open field. Marcus isn't a player who comes up with a bunch of interceptions. This is in part due to the fact that teams at times rarely threw his way. He didn't play against top competition on a consistent basis in the WAC, but he has proven he can matchup against the better receivers in the nation. As a junior he was matched up against Dwayne Jarrett of USC and held him to 37 yards on 5 receptions. Marcus was picked on alot as a senior and had a poor season which could have an adverse effect on his draft stock. However, his combination of size and speed cannot be ignored and I don't expect him to fall too far on draft day.