NFL Draft Predictions: Winston and Mariota Face Crunch Time
By Joe Wedra
We’re closing in on the final few days of NFL Draft preparation, giving us a moment to take one more shot at projecting what will go down once April 30th rolls around.
Where will Jameis Winston land?
Does Marcus Mariota catch the eye of a team poised to trade into the top-5?
The two quarterbacks on everyone’s mind won’t be in Chicago, but they’ll know where they are going to land by the end of next Thursday night.
Jameis Winston surprise? Not quite.
You might want a drawn out explanation regarding where the former Florida State Seminole is going to land on Friday, but how can you dispute everything that we’ve heard throughout the pre-draft process?
Winston is going to be the first quarterback taken, and there really shouldn’t be much of a conversation about it. We’ve all been preparing for months, only while the Buccaneers brass has been sitting back comfortable with who they’ll be taking.
We could write the storylines, but what good would that do?
Jameis to Tampa. Case closed.
SuperMariota becomes a piece in a super Draft Day trade.
While it’s tough to lock in on one particular team that might move up to grab the former Oregon Duck, it’s not difficult to conclude that it’s probably going to happen if the Tennessee Titans decide to ride with Zach Mettenberger.
Don’t be shocked to see the drama of the last several months conclude with a team making a blockbuster deal — potentially involving another QB (looking at you, Chip Kelly) — to grab Mariota and send the NFL media world into a complete frenzy.
Some potential obvious options include…
- Cleveland
- St. Louis
- Philadelphia
While the dark horse teams shouldn’t be off the radar just yet…
- Chicago
- New York Jets
- San Diego
Either way, it’s going to be a fun process once everything is analyzed. There will undoubetdly be a team who makes a move looking towards the future. However, how much is said team willing to cough up?
If I have to predict … I’ll go with Cleveland.
Weigh in below with your predictions. Who might be the sleeper team who swoops in to alter the script in just under two weeks?