2015 NFL Draft: Increased Interest in Mariota Shown From Unlikely Teams

Increased interest in Mariota seems to be the vast majority of the speculation surrounding the upcoming NFL draft. Mariota has been viewed as a “project” by most analysts. Their argument is that he played in a system that left him making very few reads and constantly he’s dinged for not making “anticipation” throws. At least a few NFL teams seem to disagree or they’re just putting up a very loud smoke screen.

Bucs, Titans, Jets, Bears, Chiefs, Chargers, Browns, Eagles In Mix

More from Autzen Zoo

• Oregon football: Ducks and Coach Prime playing it cordial leading up to Saturday
• Oregon Basketball: Non-conference slate features Michigan coming to Eugene
• Oregon football: Ducks find complete game effort in win vs Hawaii
• Oregon Ducks must get run game going against Hawaii
• 8 Pac-12 teams represented in Associated Press Top 25 after Week 2

In the weeks leading up to the draft 8 teams have been linked to Mariota in one way or another. The Bucs, Titans, Jets, Bears, Chiefs, Chargers, Browns and oh yeah Eagles have all been rumored to be angling to take the QB. For a number of obvious reasons the Eagles have been the front runner in these rumors with Chip Kelly’s wild offseason seemingly only fanning those flames. Kansas City was briefly mentioned as a destination and then dismissed. They seem unlikely, not because Alex Smith is in KC because Reid loves drafting QBs. But the Chiefs doing what they’d have to do to move up this far seems unlikely with Dorsey and Reid and their philosophy.

The Bucs are interesting. It is a universal assumption that the Bucs will take Winston, but what if they didn’t. If they took Mariota would there be the bidding war for Winston that exists for Mariota, or would he start to slide? For the sake of argument lets say that doesn’t happen and they select Winston as expected. Though the Bucs were very excited covering their private workout with Marcus in Eugene.

If the Titans select Mariota and decide to move on from Zach Mettenberger then that will be the end of the discussion. If the Titans decide to keep their wagon hitched to Mettenberger it seems the Browns and Eagles would make a lot of sense. Both could maneuver to get up to that spot giving away a lot in the process. The Browns seem to be very high on Eagles recently acquired QB Sam Bradford. So the two of those teams could swap pieces before a trade to the Titans.

Another scenario is if the Titans want to move on from Mettenberger but don’t want Mariota. Both the Bears and Chargers could offer their current starter in an exchange that would land them the number 2 selection. My opinion is if either of these teams could pull that off they should. If I could get out from under either of these two very overrated QBs I would in a heartbeat. The Jets would likely draft Mariota if he slid to number 6, but more and more that seems very unlikely.

What Makes The Most Sense For Marcus

May 28, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Former Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter now with the Bucs Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports

Obviously Marcus doesn’t have a whole lot of say in the process but if he did where would he be best suited for success. If the Bucs draft Mariota Dirk Koetter will likely be the reason and should give Mariota’s fans some excitement. Koetter and Helfrich have worked together starting in ’97 at Oregon. It’s likely the two would have spoken enough to give Koetter an idea of what Mariota is capable of and what he needs improvement in, and that would give Koetter a template on how to use the young QB.

Chip Kelly and the Eagles would be a dream destination for Mariota and his fans. Reuniting him with not only Kelly but an additional 8 Oregon players including Josh Huff. The familiarity of both scheme and faces would likely accelerate the learning curve for Mariota. To me this would be the best case scenario for Marcus.

The next best place for Mariota out of the 8 teams discussed in my opinion is the Chiefs. Mariota draws a lot of comparisons to Alex Smith. In KC he would sit behind Smith and learn from Andy Reid, who has done a wonderful job coaching QBs over his years in the NFL. I shutter to think of Mariota ending up in New York, Chicago or Cleveland all three teams seem aimless right now and it seems Mariota would be asked to do too much too early.

I think regardless of who drafts or ends up with Mariota he’ll be selected number 2 overall at the latest. Shortly I’ll be writing a piece to illustrate why I believe he should be selected over Winston in the upcoming draft, and I’m not alone. Mike Mayock updated his QB board on Thursday moving Mariota ahead of Winston.