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Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota Will Force Trades in 2015 NFL Draft

By Luke Sims

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Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota are the only two starting caliber quarterbacks in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Well, at least if you believe Daniel Jeremiah.

It’s a bold statement from Jeremiah, especially considering that there tends to be a Kurt Warner or Tony Romo type guy in many draft classes (though not all of them) who suddenly come in to do at least one or two seasons of quality work for an NFL squad.

Still, by stating that there are only two starting caliber quarterbacks in the 2015 NFL Draft, those top draft spots start to become far more valuable. Sure, we’ve all practically inked Jameis Winston to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and there aren’t a lot of QB-needy teams who are going to mortgage an entire draft for Marcus Mariota, but there are definitely some teams that are interested in taking one of the two.

So slots two-five just got a whole lot more valuable.

The two teams who seem to have the most leverage are the Tennessee Titans and the Jacksonville Jaguars. At two and three overall, respectively, both teams could trad eback if they decide they don’t want Mariota or aren’t sold on any of the other top-flight players available at the top of the draft. The Jaguars in particular have stated they are more than willing to move back, opening up opportunities to get more picks on a team that needs to fill many holes.

So long as guys like Jeremiah continue to pump up how much better Mariota and Winston are (Jeremiah’s next best quarterback could be a fourth rounder) the value is going to inch upward. Draft scouts and personnel professionals are paid to get this stuff right and not get swept up in hype, but if the statement that no other quarterbacks in this draft are starting-caliber is even close to accurate then NFL teams may get itchy trade fingers and make a deal to land one of them (honestly, we’re mostly talking about Mariota here).

This may be the best news for the Titans and Jaguars in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Next: 3-Round Jaguars Mock Draft

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