NFL Draft: Mariota, Rivers, Peterson... we assess the storylines to keep an eye on in Chicago
Friday 24 April 2015 15:34, UK
The 2015 NFL Draft is less than a week away and excitement is building among fans as they prepare for three days that will help shape the future of 32 franchises.
Sky Sports has taken a look at the biggest storylines to watch out for when the draft gets under way...
Where will Marcus Mariota land?
There are two quarterbacks in this draft who are looked at as potential franchise players – Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota.
Winston is the strong consensus favourite to be chosen first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which would leave every other quarterback-needy team vying for Mariota’s services.
Tennessee currently hold the second overall selection and need a franchise quarterback, so surely they will pick Mariota right? Not necessarily.
Titans coach Ken Wisenhunt and the team’s general manager Russell Webster know their jobs are on the line this season after last year’s miserable 2-14 campaign and they cannot afford a repeat.
Mariota put up gaudy numbers in his final season in college, throwing for 42 touchdowns and just four interceptions while also rushing for 15 touchdowns, as he led Oregon to the National Championship game against Ohio State and won the Heisman trophy.
The knock on Mariota is that, although he is highly regarded in NFL circles, he is expected to need time to develop in a pro-style offence after operating in the Ducks’ spread scheme in college.
Time is a luxury Wisenhunt and Webster can ill afford.
The Titans are high on last year’s sixth-round pick Zach Mettenburger, who flashed some promise in his rookie season.
Tennessee may be content to proceed with him as their starter if they get a lucrative deal to move down in the draft and use that capital to strengthen their team elsewhere.
The New York Jets, the Chicago Bears, the St Louis Rams and the Cleveland Browns are all within range to move up and are in desperate need of a franchise quarterback.
Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly recruited and coached Mariota at Oregon and has gone on record saying he feels his former protégé is the best player in the draft.
However, Philadelphia did acquire Sam Bradford earlier in the off-season and, as the team holds the 20th pick in the first round, the cost of getting up to number two is likely to be prohibitive.
The Browns hold two first-round picks and are under huge pressure to make a splash for a franchise that has struggled to stay relevant since returning to the NFL in 1999.
2015 will be the third time in four years the Browns have entered the draft armed with two first-round selections. They emerged with Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden in 2012 and picked Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel last year.
Richardson and Weeden were huge busts while Gilbert and Manziel are without a doubt the two most disappointing picks to date in last year’s class. Cleveland simply cannot afford a repeat and acquiring a franchise quarterback would be the perfect way to way banish memories of past failures.
Will the Chargers trade Philip Rivers?
The Mariota discussion leads us on to the future of San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. The Chargers are by far the most intriguing team being linked with a move for Mariota.
The Chargers and the Raiders are planning a shared, $1.7 billion stadium in the city of Carson, on the edge of Los Angeles, if both teams fail to get new stadiums in their current hometowns (which currently seems unlikely in both San Diego and Oakland.)
A potential move to LA – which could materialise as soon as 2016 or 2017 – is one which does not appeal to Rivers in the slightest and the 33-year-old is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2015 season.
Rivers gave an interview to the San Diego Union Tribune in March in which he explained his reluctance to move to LA and confirmed he has no intention of signing an extension before his contract runs out.
“What we’ve established here (in San Diego) with my growing family is hard to recreate,” Rivers said. “It’s hard to up and recreate that.
“I know that moves are part of life. But that certainly is fair to say that (not being sold on moving to Los Angeles) is part of it.
“The good thing is I’m not under contract in a year where we’d potentially be in Los Angeles.”
If Rivers does want out of San Diego, Tennessee is likely to appeal more to him than it would to most, even though the team has struggled in recent seasons.
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Rivers has strong family ties to the Deep South and was a high school football star in Athens, Alabama, 97 miles south of Nashville. The Titans are the closest NFL franchise to Athens.
Prior to landing the Titans head-coaching job, Wisenhunt was Rivers’ offensive co-ordinator in 2013 and the Chargers quarterback enjoyed a career year as he earned NFL Comeback Player of the Year honours.
A lot will depend on how the Chargers view Mariota because they would want to be absolutely certain he is a franchise quarterback before letting a five-time Pro Bowler walk out the door.
The team had Mariota in for a two-day visit last week and would not be wasting time so close to the draft on a player they were not seriously considering.
Another stumbling block is that the Titans would almost certainly be reluctant to part with the second overall pick in return for a 16-game rental of Rivers so a contract extension would have to be part of the deal.
However, Rivers’ agent Jimmy Sexton also represents Wisenhunt and Webster, so that should help smooth negotiations, which are likely to happen prior to the draft if both teams are seriously considering a deal.
Will Adrian Peterson force his way out of Minnesota?
The best running back in the NFL is back after being reinstated by the league earlier this month. The question now is where will Adrian Peterson play his football next season?
Now that Peterson’s eligibility has been cleared up, some may have thought it would be back to business as usual in Minnesota for the 30-year-old. Not so fast.
There is a large amount of residual bad feeling from Peterson’s camp – whether justified or not – over the perceived lack of support the team offered during the player’s well-documented legal troubles last season.
At the NFL owners’ meetings in March, Ben Dogra, Peterson’s agent, was asked about the prospect of the running back playing for the Vikings next season.
Dogra said: "I don't think it's in Adrian's best interest to play in Minnesota. Why would it be?"
The Vikings for their part have been steadfast in publicly affirming their desire to keep Peterson but stating otherwise would significantly weaken their bargaining position with any prospective trading partners.
Peterson’s father summarised the situation nicely in February when he told the St. Paul Pioneer Press: "If a blockbuster deal opens and a team wants to give them something they can't turn down, they're going to have to take a look at it.”
The Dallas Cowboys are the team most frequently mentioned with a move for Peterson but the Arizona Cardinals, the Oakland Raiders, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have also been credited with an interest in acquiring the future Hall-of-Famer.
A big stumbling block for any team looking to acquire Peterson is his salary. Any team assuming Peterson’s contract would face cap hits of $12.75m, $15m and $17m over the next three seasons.
Oakland, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay all have upwards of $24m in cap space and could easily absorb Peterson’s salary but he may have to restructure if he wants to land with a contender like Dallas or Arizona.
However, the Cowboys recently restructured quarterback Tony Romo’s contract to create $12.8m million in cap room so they are in a position to acquire Peterson on draft day if they can reach a deal with Minnesota.
All in all, there is plenty of intrigue as the NFL Draft approaches and you can watch it all unfold as the first round will be shown live on Sky Sports 1HD and Sky Sports 3HD from midnight on Thursday, April 30.
