Browns ‘poised’ to trade up for Marcus Mariota

By Evan Massey | Mar 22, 2015

Jan 1, 2015; Pasadena, CA, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) warms up prior to the 2015 Rose Bowl college football game at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /

According to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora, the Cleveland Browns are “poised” to trade up and draft Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota.

Marcus Mariota has been one of the most popular names in the 2015 NFL Draft process, and there are plenty of teams that are looking to trade up in the draft to select him. There is a chance that no pick opens up and that the Tennessee Titans end up selecting Mariota with the second overall pick for themselves.

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According to a report from Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, the Cleveland Browns are one of the teams poised to trade up and draft Mariota.

Needless to say, this is a knee-jerk reaction to the poor play of last years first-round draft pick Johnny Manziel. They were hoping that Manziel would turn out to be a rookie stud, but after losing the starting quarterback competition to Brian Hoyer things never looked good. He got two starts late in the season, but looked absolutely awful.

Cleveland would have to pull off a trade with the Titans for the second overall pick, which would cost them a pretty penny.

This situation is reminding quite a few people of the deal that the St. Louis Rams and Washington Redskins made when Robert Griffin III went with the second overall pick a few years back. Mariota definitely has the talent to be a very successful quarterback in the NFL, and many view him as the best quarterback in the draft. That being said, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers appear ready to draft Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston with the number one overall pick.

Mariota finished his college career at Oregon with 10,796 yards in his three seasons, and also threw 105 touchdowns and just 14 interceptions.

At 6’3″ and 222 pounds he is the perfect physical build for an NFL quarterback, and possesses quite a bit of athleticism to make plays with his legs. If the Browns were able to snag him in the draft, he would be an immediate upgrade over either Manziel or newly signed quarterback Josh McCown. Mariota is without question a franchise quarterback in the making, and the Browns would be wise to do what they can to get him.

Don’t be surprised to hear more rumors about the Browns trying to make a trade up to draft Mariota. They are serious about making big moves to turn their franchise back around, and Mariota is that type of difference maker.

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