This time of year you can’t take team visits seriously and you can’t put too much stake into rumors that are out there. ‘Tis the season for smoke screens and misinformation. Teams will put out information trying to throw other teams off their scents, so it’s very hard trying to decipher what information is real and what isn’t. My rule of thumb is basically to assume that it’s all bad information until it actually happens. Nevertheless, here are some of the more prominent rumors as we move closer and closer to the draft.
The first one is that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers now prefer former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota over former Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston. For months now it has seemed to be almost a foregone conclusion that the Bucs were going to take Winston with the first overall pick but now it seems there’s a rumor out there that every single team with a first round pick is going to try trading up for Mariota. So this rumor could simply be letting all the other teams know that if they want to trade up for Mariota their first call better be to the Bucs to make an offer.
The Rams, who are experts in the major draft trades, are set to have both Mariota and Winston visit and workout with them. I don’t pay much attention to visits but this one is significant because I think it’s a way for the Rams to send everyone a message that they’re not convinced with Nick Foles and if either of the top two quarterbacks fall to them at the tenth overall pick, those teams interested in either quarterback are going to have to make a call to the St. Louis war room to offer trades.
Another rumor, also revolving around the quarterbacks in this draft, is that the Jets will be looking to trade up for Winston. The Jets realize if they want Winston they’re most likely going to have to trade up to the number one spot to get him. However, they also realize that if they stay at the sixth pick they might miss out on both top quarterback prospects and be stuck with Geno Smith for at least one more season.
One last significant rumor doesn’t focus on the quarterbacks in this draft. It is about the Cowboys trading up to land former Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon. There’s a lot of talent at the running back position in this draft class but the Cowboys are looking to add a top talent to replace DeMarco Murray, who they lost in free agency. While they were able to add Darren McFadden through free agency, he’s certainly not someone the Cowboys will be able to count on to last the entire season as their work horse running back. Gordon would be a great fit for them but there’s a good chance they’ll have to move up to get him.
As I said before, it’s hard to put much stock in much that is said around this time of year. No team is trying to tip their hand and let everyone else know what their intentions are. This leads to a lot of false information being intentionally leaked. However, sometimes information comes out and it’s just too obvious to ignore. These are the rumors to pay attention to.