5 potential landing spots for Marcus Mariota in 2020

4. Oakland Raiders

Despite surprisingly being 3-2 coming off their Week 6 bye, the Raiders don’t have a real commitment to quarterback Derek Carr beyond this season. If he is cut before June 1, 2020, Oakland clears $16.5 million in cap space with only a $5 million dead money hit next year (according to Over The Cap). So the winds of change are blowing, until further notice.

Drafting a quarterback next April feels like a foregone conclusion for Oakland, as they look for some star power with their move to Las Vegas. But adding a cheaper veteran signal caller seems likely too, assuming Carr is not retained.

During the 2015 pre-draft process, as could be expected rooted in the “QB Camp” series he did with quarterback prospects while working for ESPN, Gruden had praise for Mariota.

"I don’t understand why he isn’t the No. 1 player in this draft on Mel Kiper’s Big Board,” Gruden said, via ESPN. “I don’t know anybody in this draft that can do for a football team what Mariota can do.” “Mariota is the same size as Jameis Winston. He runs 4.52 40, he is incredibly elusive, and man, is he a playmaker and a great competitor,” Gruden said. “I see him functioning in the pocket, out of the pocket, and if you want to run a zone-read, he’ll rip the defense apart. He is like Russell Wilson, only he is 6-4."

Now that Mariota has an NFL resume, lackluster as it is, it’s at best unclear if Gruden still thinks highly of him. But the Raiders are in line to have a spot on the depth chart available, and that’s enough to tie Mariota to them right now.