Fans of the Cleveland Browns haven't had much to smile about thus far this offseason, but that could change come late April and the 2015 NFL Draft.
While it would amount to an absurd three quarterbacks taken in the first-round in the last four years, the Browns may be preparing to make another highly touted college quarterback with their initial selection this spring.
Browns GM Ray Farmer, per Albert Breer of NFL.com, has "shown a liking" for Marcus Mariota, the Heisman-winning quarterback from Oregon.
This isn't the first time the Browns have been linked to the athletically gifted signal-caller - Jason Cole of Bleacher Report revealed earlier this month that the team was giving serious consideration to packing their two first-round draft picks and moving up for a quarterback, despite the recent selection of Johnny Manziel.
"In talking to sources within the Browns organization - they have both the No. 12 and No. 19 overall picks in the first round of this year's draft - there's going to be very strong consideration for moving up for a quarterback," Cole said. "They were already thinking about that because they like Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston to a lesser degree. But they really think they need to have that franchise quarterback and there were already doubts about Johnny Manziel and his ability to become that guy."
Adding another layer to the Browns potential interest in Mariota, is their pending addition of Kevin O'Connell to the staff as their new quarterbacks coach.
O'Connell has, per Breer, spent the last couple of months doing drills with Mariota in preparation for the jump to the NFL.
Assuming O'Connell is a fan of the skillset and abilities Mariota brings to the table, there may be no person more qualified to convince Farmer and the Browns brass to move up and select him next April - assuming, of course, that team owner Jimmy Haslam hasn't already made that decision for them.
