Is the #2 pick in play? … We’ve been making the case for the past several weeks that with Tampa Bay seemingly committed to Florida State Jameis Winston with the first pick overall at this month’s draft, the 2015 draft really starts with 2nd pick which is currently held by Tennessee. What makes the 2nd pick so intriguing is that the Titans could potentially go in one of several quite divergent directions with the selection. On the one hand, Tennessee could take Oregon QB Marcus Mariota, the second best QB in this year’s draft, or they could take USC DE Leonard Williams, the top-rated non-QB prospect in the draft as has been widely speculated in recent weeks. The third option, of course, is that the Titans trade the pick, ostensibly to a team that wanted Mariota more than Tennessee. And at least for now, there’s a growing buzz around the league that they may be the direction in which Tennessee is currently leaning. The NFL Network speculated earlier this evening that the word around the league is that Titans are in fact open to dealing the pick, although according to the report “it would take a lot.” Translated: ‘you want the pick, make us an offer! It may also be that if indeed that’s the word that the Titans have put out there, the team they would most likely be sending the smoke signal to are the Jets, who pick 6th and need help big-time at QB, and who sounded a lot like a team that wanted to move up last week. Its very possible though that neither team wants to be the first to call the other and look too eager about making a deal. It is also interesting to note that in recent days Tennessee has reportedly hosted visits from guys like West Virginia WR Kevin White and edge rushers Dante Fowler of Florida and Missouri’s Shane Ray, none of whom figures to be in play with the 2nd pick, but would make sense 3-4 spots lower in the draft. Meanwhile, the story that keeps hanging around regarding Tennessee, Mariota and the 2nd pick is that San Diego could be prepared to offer QB Philip Rivers in exchange for the opportunity to select Mariota with Rivers threatening to test out free agency next spring. And Rivers to Tennessee makes some sense as he has a history with Titans’ head coach Ken Whisenhunt, plus Tennessee has plenty of cap space to absorb his big salary cap hit. In fact, it could turn out to be a sellers’ market if the Titans did put the pick on the market as Chicago, which is remodeling under new head coach John Fox, who hasn’t made any secret of the fact that he’d be more than happy to move on from Jay Cutler, who by the way played his college football in Nashville, while Cleveland is still out there with those two #1 picks and Johnny Manziel still in substance-abuse rehab. Then, of course, Philadelphia is still out there with veteran QB Sam Bradford to dangle if Eagles’ head coach Chip Kelly really does want to reunited with his former college QB in Mariota. In fact, we have always wondered if Cleveland traded the 12th and 19th picks Tennessee and chose Mariota with the second pick, but then dealt him to Philadelphia for Bradford and the 20th pick. There would likely have to be other considerations added at the various stages, but is that a scenario that just might work for just about everybody involved. Stay tuned!
