The NFL draft is coming up in April and with the combine now finished, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota remain at the top of most mock drafts and teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, NY Jets and Philadelphia Eagles are the teams that could be in the mix for the quarterbacks.
The Buccaneers have the top pick in the draft and all signs point to the team taking Winston with the number one pick overall, even with the shoulder issues that popped up at the combine. Winston is considered by most scouts to be the better prospect over Mariota, as he played in a more NFL-style offense. According to ESPN.com, Winston impressed teams in meetings during the combine and one scout said his football IQ was higher than most quarterbacks his age. Mariota and Winston both performed well at the combine and both Todd McShay and Mel Kiper at ESPN predict they will be the first QBs off the board.
The Titans have the number two pick and while many have suggested that Tennessee could take a quarterback, Pro Football Talk writes that the team could look at a defensive player second overall. The team has Zach Mettenberger and if the Titans feel that he can develop into a solid quarterback they may stick with him over adding Mariota if he is available at number two. The Jaguars and Raiders are next and they are not expected to take quarterbacks after drafting Blake Bortles and Derek Carr last year.
The Raiders have the number four pick and many mock drafts experts have predicted that Amari Cooper will be the pick if he is available. Cooper is one of the top receivers in the draft along with Kevin White and the Raiders desperately need offensive playmakers for Derek Carr. Cooper put up huge numbers at Alabama and if he stays on the board past number four, he could be a pick for the Jets at six, or the Giants at number nine.
The Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles and the NY Jets have been mentioned as teams that could be interested in making a trade to move up to take a quarterback, but that likely depends on if the Buccaneers take Winston at number one. The Browns have the most draft picks of any team for 2015 and they also have two first round picks, which could be enough ammo to move up to the top five if they want Mariota. The Eagles pick at 20th, but some reports have Chip Kelly so enamored with his former Oregon quarterback that he could try and move up to get him.
The scouting combine is not always the best judgments of how a quarterback will be in the NFL, but both players distinguished themselves in Indianapolis over the weekend. According to ESPN.com, Winston and Mariota were accurate on deep balls and they also were able to work well with wide receivers that they had not been working with before. Winston had a slight scare when his shoulder came up with a medical issue, but he continued his workouts and still threw on Saturday. Winston said that the shoulder was not a long term issue.
