Tampa Bay Buccaneers Heavily Scouting Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are heavily scouting the 2015 NFL Draft’s top two quarterbacks, Jameis Winston of the FLorida State Seminoles and Marcus Mariota of the Oregon Ducks
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It has been a rough season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Other than a last second win over the
earlier in the year, the Bucs have gone 0-7.
They signed Josh McCown to start at quarterback in the offseason but he played poorly and then was injured. He was replaced by second-year pro Mike Glennon, who played in 13 games in 2013. This week, the Bucs announced that they would be going back to McCown. Considering McCown didn’t outplay Glennon, it shows the Bucs’ lack of faith in him.
That has led to speculation that the Bucs will select a quarterback in the early portion of the first round. The two best draft eligible quarterbacks are Oregon Ducks’ signal-caller Marcus Mariota and the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner, Jameis Winston of the Florida State Seminoles.
Neither player has to leave – Mariota is a redshirt junior and Winston is a redshirt sophomore but it would be a surprise to see either return. Mariota likely won’t pass on a shot at the pros for the second straight while Winston wanted to come back and enjoy another season of baseball and football but likely won’t because of all of the off-of-the-field controversy.
According to Stephen Nelson and Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, the Bucs are heavily scouting both Mariota and Winston.
Mariota is considered by most to be the Heisman front-runner. He has completed 169-of-248 passes with 2,541 yards, 26 touchdowns and two interceptions. He has rushed for 410 yards and seven touchdowns on 71 carries. Winston missed one game because of a suspension but has completed 174-of-259 passes for 2,279 yards with 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Mariota is currently viewed as a top five pick and Winston can probably get back there if he continues to play well and stays out of trouble.
In our latest mock draft, we have both players going in the top five.
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