The speculation surrounding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft will continue to rage until someone walks across that stage and shakes Roger Goodell's hand. Will it be Florida State's Jameis Winston? Oregon's Marcus Mariota? Someone else entirely?
ESPN NFL reporter Chris Mortensen believes the Bucs will ultimately go with Mariota, this past season's Heisman Trophy winner. If you follow the bread crumbs, Mariota to Tampa Bay does make a certain amount of sense. Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter gave Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich his start in offensive coaching, so there is a level of familiarity there. Tampa Bay's quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian also has a history of running spread offenses with. He and Koetter would be able to craft a system that plays to Mariota's strengths and puts him in comfortable situations to succeed.
ESPN NFL Draft Insider Mel Kiper Jr. noted last week that whichever team drafted Mariota would need a "bridge" quarterback. "You have that in Tampa," Kiper said. The Bucs have veteran Josh McCown and third-year player Mike Glennon under center.
Although Kiper has the Bucs selecting Winston with the No. 1 overall pick, he has not ruled out the possibility that Mariota could leapfrog into the selection.
"I don't think it would preclude you from taking him if you're one of those teams, but you have to develop him," Kiper said. "If you want him to play right away and be an impactful rookie and second-year guy, that would probably be asking too much.
"He's a runner. You've got to take that running aspect out and just call it mobility. He's got the arm, the size, the work ethic, the intelligence - all the things you need to fit into pretty much any offense down the road. But if you want to force feed him, he's not going to be ready."
