Jaworski: Buccaneers Will Take Mariota, Not Winston, With No. 1 Pick
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Jameis Winston to the Buccaneers, first overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Sure thing, right?
Not so fast.
For months now, we've seen mock drafts predicting that the Florida State quarterback will go No. 1 overall to Tampa Bay. But ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski has reported that Bucs GM Jason Licht is strongly considering going in a different direction.
According to Jaworski, the Buccaneers have eyes for that other highly coveted college quarterback -- reigning Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota.
"The latest I'm hearing now from my sources around the league, who are pretty wired in, is that he's going to go No. 1 now to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," Jaworski said on CSN's Philly Sports Talk.
The pick would certainly come as a shock, though there have been some questions as to whether Winston is mature enough for the NFL spotlight.
Many draft experts had Mariota falling to the Jets at No. 6.
"Mariota's stock, remember it was quiet for a while?" Jaworski said on Philly Sports Talk. "And there's a reason for that. There's a lull every year until about 30 days before the draft. Now the coaches get involved. Prior to that, it's the scouts, it's the roadies that are filling out the paperwork. Now the coaches get involved.
"Now team owners get involved. Now general managers get involved. So you're starting to see, in my opinion, Winston's stock starting to slide a little bit and Mariota's stock starting to go up a little bit."
