In a way, the Tennessee Titans hold the key to the 2015 NFL Draft.
With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looking more and more likely to select quarterback Jameis Winston first overall, the direction the Titans and head coach Ken Whisenhunt decide to go at No. 2 will simultaneously alter the decision-making of and solidify the thought process for nearly every other NFL decision-maker slated to select behind them.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, via Walterfootball.com, the current thinking around the league is that Winston and former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota will be the first two selections come April, "in some order."
Whether that means Winston to the Bucs and Mariota to the Titans remains to be seen, but there are some in the league who feel that there's simply no way Whisenhunt can pass on Mariota, last year's Heisman Trophy-winner and a player widely viewed as the 2015 NFL Draft's other potential franchise quarterback.
"From guys I talk to around the league they don't understand how the Titans couldn't take Marcus Mariota," said NFL Network's Sam Wyche.
While other NFL executives feeling flabbergasted at the notion of Tennessee potentially passing on Mariota doesn't really mean much, combined with Schefter's report it does paint the picture of a league that views the two young signal-callers as the top players in the draft.
The Titans, reportedly high on the potential of last year's sixth-round draft pick, Zach Mettenberger, may not view Mariota in the same light as the rest of the league but, as Whisenhunt himself indicated on Tuesday at the NFL's owners meetings in Phoenix, a good quarterback is the engine that drives not only a team's offense but the entire makeup of an organization.
"All I know is that if you have that quarterback, it can cover up a lot of areas where you may be more deficient in," Whisenhunt said, per Don Banks of Sports Illustrated. "Coaches get a lot better with a good quarterback, as I well know. That's the question with us, the one we're going through. I'm not diminishing Zach, but I'm also not going to overlook that there's two pretty good players out there in this draft."
There was a report earlier this month that Whisenhunt would take Mariota even though he's an imperfect fit for his offense, simply due to the fear of potentially missing out on a franchise signal-caller. While doing something out of fear of failure is rarely advisable, the line of thinking - that a quarterback can make a lot of other areas of your roster seem better, so passing on a potentially great one is particularly difficut - is sound.
There's the other, non-quarterback, side of the coin to consider as well. As Ross Tucker of FOX Sports notes, Mariota could very well be in play for the Titans, but it's entirely possible when considering the other holes on the Tennessee roster that that's not the smartest allocation of draft resources for the franchise.
"Assuming Winston goes to Tampa Bay as just about every mock draft has penciled down, the best remaining quarterback is the former Heisman Trophy winner," writes Tucker. "While the QB play in Tennessee was subpar last season, the offensive line was ravaged with injuries and at one point was without three of its five starters. Mariota offers big-play ability, but is he the franchise cornerstone Whisenhunt wants to build his offense around?"
That final point is the most important and what all the pre-draft conjecture really boils down to.
Whether the Titans are high on Mettenberger or not, there's no doubting that Mariota is more physically gifted. If Whisenhunt views him as a potential high-level starter for the next decade or so, taking him and moving onto the second-round is a no-brainer.
If there are questions about his ability to lead an NFL franchise or his fit in Whisenhunt's notoriously traditional offensive system, then taking a player like USC's Leonard Williams or West Virginia's Kevin White - or even trading down - may be the best option for the future of the Titans.
