Jeremiah: Winston, Mariota only starting QBs in draft … + Rams & Mariota

Smoke screens around Mariota make him NFL draft’s biggest domino

By Charles Robinson

Yahoo Sports

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/smoke-screens-around-marcus-mariota-make-him-nfl-draft-s-biggest-domino-005301737.html

A highly respected NFL personnel man was mentally thumbing through Marcus Mariota comparisons this week when he found what seemed to be an appropriate box for the Oregon star.

Aaron Rodgers.

It sounded like a glowing comparison. But in what may be the only negative Rodgers analogy that still exits, this is what the personnel man said: “If [Mariota] doesn’t go in the top six picks, he could do an Aaron Rodgers,” he said.

This was a dark nod toward draft torture. Specifically, the 2005 first round, when Rodgers did a slow bake on national television as his draft position Plinko-ed from a potential No. 1 pick to the 24th selection.

Few believe this could happen to Mariota. Falling that hard?

“If he gets past the top six, it could be out of the top 10 to whatever point the Eagles trade up for him,” the personnel man said.

In the grand sense of anything-can-happen, this could be a realistic scenario. But in most quarters, it doesn’t fit with what many NFL sources have been saying about Mariota in recent days. Then again, the one absolute about Mariota right now is that there is no absolute about his destination later this month. While all signs point to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers having zeroed in on Florida State’s Jameis Winston with the No. 1 overall pick, far fewer have certainty about Mariota.

Indeed, various media reports have connected the Ducks’ star quarterback to five of the top seven teams in the draft, including Tampa Bay, the Tennessee Titans, the Washington Redskins, the New York Jets and the Chicago Bears. Two other franchises – the San Diego Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles – have been forwarded as potential trade suitors for Mariota as well.

The public picture is so muddled over Mariota he could be connected with half the teams in the draft by the time the selection process kicks off. He’s this year’s biggest draft domino – one of the players whose uncertain position could change boards, either with a high selection or a slide.

But he’s also not alone. Along with Mariota, a handful of players still have evaluations that are all over the place. Here are a handful, along with some of the most recent pieces of information:

1. Jameis Winston: Admittedly, there is an overwhelming amount of hesitation having Winston on this list. Virtually every single NFL evaluator has said Winston is the most NFL-ready quarterback in the draft. But as time has gone on, there has been a little grumbling about Winston’s raw workout numbers. As an overall athlete, he’s not as good as past No. 1 QBs such as Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Sam Bradford and Matthew Stafford.

But aside from the obvious, one league source familiar with the inner workings of the Buccaneers offered two interesting observations this week.

First, general manager Jason Licht and coach Lovie Smith won’t have the final say on drafting Winston. The source said the selection won’t happen without the approval of ownership. Second, the source said Darcie Glazer Kassewitz (the daughter of late owner Malcolm Glazer) is one of the voices in the Bucs’ front office whose opinion could influence the pick.

The source did not say Kassewitz was against drafting Winston. Nor did the source say Mariota or any other player was preferred at No. 1. But the source said that Kassewitz – who is the co-president of the Glazer Family Foundation – has raised some internal questions about the community relations impact of the pick.

That could mean little. But at the very least, an important person in the Glazer’s inner circle will be looking as much off the field as on it when it comes to the Winston selection.

2. Marcus Mariota: The scenarios linked to Mariota seem endless. In a way, he’s a perfect illustration of the misinformation and leverage that is such a huge part of the draft process. The Redskins, for example, have been leaking for weeks that they will seriously consider taking him at No. 5 overall, and also let it be known that there are plans to host him in the run-up to the draft. But that has also drawn a collective eye-roll from multiple league sources.

“They’re trying to create leverage to get someone to [trade] up” one AFC personnel source said.

What has been more interesting over the last month is the amount of resources the Tennessee Titans have devoted to Mariota. While most believed prior to the NFL scouting combine that Mariota didn’t fit head coach Ken Whisenhunt’s offensive system, several league sources said the Titans have done significant off-field vetting despite this belief. This has gone beyond the basics, which has included watching his workouts at the combine and pro day, scheduling a private workout and then flying Mariota to Nashville this week.

Whisenhunt also seemed candid at the owners’ meetings last month, suggesting with certainty that Mariota could make the transition to a pro-style system, and that Tennessee was genuinely intrigued by his talent. And at least one thing has continued to make the marriage between Whisenhunt and Mariota sensible: drafting him would very likely give the current coaching staff and front office a three-year lease on their jobs to develop a franchise quarterback. Drafting an edge rusher like Leonard Williams and going 4-12 would likely do the opposite.

Ron Jaworski thinks the Bucs are taking Marcus Mariota first

by Darin Gantt

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/13/ron-jaworski-thinks-the-bucs-are-taking-marcus-mariota-first/

ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski was already on the record saying he wouldn’t pick Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston first overall.

Now, he’s saying he doesn’t think the Buccaneers will, either.

During an interview with CSN Philly Sports Talk, Jaworski said he thinks the Bucs are going to surprise everyone and take Oregon’s Marcus Mariota.

“The latest I’m hearing now from my sources around the league, who are pretty wired in, is that he’s going to go number one now to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” Jaworski said, via PhillyMag.com. “Mariota’s stock, remember it was quiet for a while? And there’s a reason for that. There’s a lull every year until about 30 days before the draft. Now the coaches get involved. Prior to that, it’s the scouts, it’s the roadies that are filling out the paper work. Now the coaches get involved. Now team owners get involved. Now General Managers get involved. So you’re starting to see, in my opinion, Winston’s stock starting to slide a little bit and Mariota’s stock starting to go up a little bit.”

Perhaps that rise is on the recommendation of Eagles coach Chip Kelly, who is apparently talking up his former quarterback to others in the league.

“I’ll give you a little bit of information on how much Chip Kelly loves Marcus Mariota,” Jaworski said. “This is the time of year when everyone talks, and I talk to General Managers, I’ve talked to player personnel directors, and I’ve heard it from a couple or three people that have had conversations with Chip Kelly, and Chip Kelly said, ‘Marcus Mariota will win multiple Super Bowls in the National Football League.’

“Now, he didn’t say it was going to be in Philadelphia, but that’s how much he loves this guy, and a lot of people feel the same way, that Marcus Mariota is that good that you can win multiple Super Bowls with him as your quarterback.”

Of course, Jaworski is no stranger to taking a contrarian position, and he’s also not paid to be a reporter. But coupled with Mike Mayock’s about-face last week — and the fact the Bucs put it on their own website — it might be smoke that indicates a fire is about to be made with a bunch of mock drafts.

Rams QB workout tour begins with Oregon’s Mariota

By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-report/rams-qb-workout-tour-begins-with-oregon-s-mariota/article_583bfa08-cf6f-51fa-8d91-d7359e0e6eff.html

Instead of bringing quarterback prospects to Rams Park for pre-draft visits, the Rams once again are going out to them.

As was the case last year, coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead are leading a group of Rams officials and coaches on a jet-setting tour over a long weekend. The group was in Eugene, Ore., on Thursday to work out Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota.

The Rams will also have private workouts with Baylor’s Bryce Petty, Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson, UCLA’s Brett Hundley, and according to the NFL Network _ Florida State’s Jameis Winston.

It’s not known if Oregon State’s Sean Mannion is also on the list.

Working out Winston and Mariota, who are projected to go first and second overall respectively in draft April 30, could be viewed as merely a matter of due diligence. But the Rams could be considering a possible trade-up for Mariota.

Besides Winston and Mariota, none of the other QB prospects are expected to go in the first round, although Petty, Hundley, and perhaps Grayson could go in Round 2.

By league rule, these private workouts can only be conducted in the metropolitan area of the player’s college campus or his hometown. Hence the tour by the Rams contingent.

Players who make visits to the facilities of an NFL club, the so-called top 30 visits, are not allowed to have workouts there.

Even with the Sam Bradford trade that brought Nick Foles to the Rams from Philadelphia, Fisher has said that the team plans to draft a quarterback.

So far the Rams have had 15 confirmed pre-draft visits at Rams Park, but none of the 15 has been a quarterback. Teams are allowed to have up to 30 pre-draft visits:

OFFENSIVE LINE

Tackle/guard Jamon Brown, Louisville; guard/tackle La’el Collins, Louisiana State; guard Jamil Douglas, Arizona State; center Cameron Erving, Florida State; tackle D.J. Humphries, Florida; guard Tre Jackson, Florida State; guard Ali Marpet, Hobart; tackle Andrus Peat, Stanford; guard Laken Tomlinson, Duke.

WIDE RECEIVER

Amari Cooper, Alabama; Dorial Green-Beckham, Missouri/Oklahoma; DeVante Parker, Louisville.

DEFENSIVE END/LINEBACKER

Vic Beasley, Clemson; Bernardrick McKinney, Mississippi State; Shane Ray, Missouri.

from off the net

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Rampage2K-

Just heard on Sirius that jaws is pretty convinced that TB is set on MM…. Is JW gonna free fall into us???