What's the opposite of being between a rock and a hard place; paper and a soft spot? Well, whatever it is, that's where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers find themselves.
The Bucs hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft. ESPN's NFL draft insider Todd McShay has Tampa Bay selecting Oregon's Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota in his Mock Draft 1.0. But the team's recent hire of Dirk Koetter as their new offensive coordinator could tip the scales in favor of last year's Heisman winning QB and National Champion, Florida State's Jameis Winston. Either way, getting a crack at one of the top two quarterback prospects is never a bad thing.
"If the Bucs had hired Greg Roman, I might've leaned Marcus Mariota," Albert Breer of NFL Network tweeted. "With Koetter there, Jameis Winston makes more sense. For now, anyway."
It's true that Koetter's offensive philosophy fits more with Winston's skill set than Mariota's. Winston is more of a pocket passer who comes from a pro-style offense at FSU, whereas Mariota operates in a spread system at Oregon and relies much more on his mobility. Koetter was the Atlanta Falcons OC from 2012-2014 where Matt Ryan worked almost exclusively from the pocket. Atlanta ranked eighth, 14th and eighth again in overall offense in Koetter's three seasons there.
The big knock against Winston is his repeated off-field issues. The 21-year-old has had run ins with the law and has had his maturity and decision making questioned by school officials. Any team considering drafting Winston must feel confident that his behavioral problems are in the past.
On the field, Winston and Mariota are two of the most productive college quarterbacks in recent memory. Although Winston had a down year statistically this season, some of that can be attributed to the 11 players FSU lost to the NFL. Overall, both QBs have a solid case for being the top selection in the 2015 draft.
