The NFL draft is a month away and with Jameis Winston the likely number one pick, Marcus Mariota has become a hot target for teams in need of a quarterback and teams like the San Diego Chargers, NY Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns all have had reported interest in making a trade up to get the quarterback.
Mariota won the Heisman trophy while playing at Oregon last season and he is looked at by scouts as the number two rated quarterback behind Winston. According to ESPN.com, the Buccaneers are expected to take Winston number one overall and that leaves the Tennessee Titans with a number of options with the second overall pick. The Titans have a need at quarterback and they could look at trading the pick with all the interest that teams have in Mariota.
The Philadelphia Eagles have been connected to Mariota quite a bit in rumors because of his past with head coach Chip Kelly, but they have already added Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez. According to ESPN.com, some coaches around the league still think that Kelly will look at trading up for Mariota even after trading for Bradford, but Kelly himself said the team is not making the move. Mariota appears to be a good fit for Kelly's offensive system, but the team gave up fairly significant draft compensation for Bradford and may not make another move.
The San Diego Chargers have been coming up as a wild card in the Mariota talk, as Chargers beat writer Kevin Acee from the UT San Diego reports that the team is interested in Mariota. CBS Sports reports that the Chargers have "heavily" scouted the quarterback class in the draft this year and it comes as Philip Rivers is heading into the final year of his contract. The Chargers have come out to say that they are not shopping Rivers in a trade this offseason, but there is speculation they could trade him in a bid to get Mariota.
The Tennessee Titans are in need of a quarterback and CBS Sports reports that they could consider Rivers in a trade if the Chargers are willing to deal him. The Chargers had a similar situation when Rivers was ready to take over for Drew Brees, although this time around there is no heir apparent in San Diego. The team may want to plan for the future and Mariota also appears to be a fit for Mike McCoy's offense, which has led to a resurgence for Rivers over the past two seasons after some struggles. The Chargers have the number 17 pick in the draft and they could look at trading that with Rivers to move up to the number two selection.
John Clayton at ESPN.com reported that the Redskins also have interest in Mariota at the number five spot, but others predict that is just to drum up interest for a trade. The Jets and Browns have been mentioned numerous times as fits for Mariota and both teams have the capability to trade up. The Browns have two first round picks and could look at moving one of those to trade up and they also have the most selections of any team in the 2015 draft.
