Former University of Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota would love to play for the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns have a lot of quarterbacks and if former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota has anything to say about it, he’d like to make it one more, according to a story by Cleveland.com. Mariota made reference to his quarterback coach, Kevin O’Connell, during his NFL Combine podium interview earlier in the week. The problem is, O’Connell was hired by the Browns on Tuesday as a quarterbacks coach and is thus, no longer helping prepare Mariota for the draft.
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Apparently, Mariota would like to make that separation short-lived. He told reporters in the interview that he’d love to play for the Browns, but he’s trying not to worry about things that are out of his control. He called the possibility of the Browns drafting him an “awesome opportunity.”
The Browns have also admitted that they’re considering trading up for Mariota and are exploring ways that they could make that happen. Browns GM Ray Farmer has said that he’s had an eye on Mariota since last year when the quarterback decided not to leave Oregon. He said every opportunity to add yet another quarterback to the roster will be explored. That is, he hopes to upgrade the position, if possible.
“All options are on the table for the Browns,” Farmer said. “There’s nothing that we don’t look at. There’s no circumstances that we haven’t tried to put together a framework for what’s the right thing to do and what those costs are. We’ve done a cost-benefit analysis as to what it’s going to take to make any sort of move in free agency or the draft.”
So even though the Browns took Johnny Manziel at number 22 overall last year, it won’t stop the Browns from trying to move up the board and try to snag Mariota, who is likely to be one of the top two quarterbacks in the draft, along with Florida State’s Jameis Winston.
Nope, Farmer said. Anything is possible for the Browns and they’ll do anything they can to add the right pieces in hopes of improving their roster. Especially their quarterback roster, apparently.
For Mariota’s part, he’s obviously not over O’Connell and he raved about his former quarterback coach and everything he’s done to help him towards the pros. He revealed the O’Connell has even worked with him in huddle situations, something not often done by the fast-paced Ducks.
The Browns definitely won’t be alone in trying to get Mariota, however. The Eagles’ Chip Kelly is expected to have interest as well, among others.
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