Sal Paolantonio says Tampa Bay Buccaneers will draft Marcus Mariota, then find a coach who can coach him ... Chip Kelly perhaps? By Matt Lombardo | (nj) January 06, 2015 at 11:01 AM It is no secret that Eagles head coach Chip Kelly admires just about everything about his former quarterback at Oregon Marcus Mariota. Many believe that Mariota is the prototypical quarterback to run Kellys offense. However, drafting him will be nearly impossible for the Eagles who hold the 20th pick in the NFL Draft. The price to move up to the top spot to land Mariota makes a trade just about impossible -- regardless of the fact that Kelly now has final say on all personnel matters and there will not be any voice to dissuade him from trading whatever it takes to move up. In my opinion, it is virtually impossible to draft Marcus Mariota where the Eagles draft, ESPNs Sal Paolantonio said in an interview with 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. How much the Eagles would have to give up to move up to where they can get Mariota is just Draconian. I cant see a solution to this problem other than making your team so weak that you mortgage the future. Could it happen? It could. Is Kelly absolutely infatuated with this player? He is. If Oregon wins the national championship, its going to be even much more difficult to get this guy. To try to move up to get this guy. But, the quarterback position has to be solved. Look around the league. The teams that survive and thrive have franchise quarterbacks. At that position, successful teams have guys that lead your team into the end zone and protect the football. Right now, they have Nick Foles. Hes coming off of a subpar season and cant stay on the field. Paolantonio believes that for the Eagles to have a chance at Mariota, Kelly would have to pull the trigger on a trade that somehow moves the Eagles all the way to the No. 1 pick. That would include somehow persuading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to slide down 19 spots. The Glazers have made bold moves in the past. Theyve traded two first round picks for Jon Gruden, Paolantonio said of the Buccaneers front office. Theyre going to draft Marcus Mariota. You can book it right now. They will draft him. Then they will go out and find a coach who can do that. Lovie Smith cant do that. Their offensive coordinator cant do that. They will find a coach who can run that offense. Paolantonio went on to intimate that perhaps in the near future, Kelly and Mariota might have a reunion ... In Tampa Bay. Maybe not this year, he said. Howie Roseman this past week, it occurred to him that Chip Kelly has two more years on his deal, they wont leave him hanging on a lame duck year in the third year. Chip probably said to himself I can wait it out here for two years ... then go coach Mariota. Regardless of whether or not the latter scenario ever plays out, Paolantonios assertion that the Buccaneers will in fact draft Mariota is bad news for not only the Eagles, but for the Jets who are quarterback starved and currently hold the sixth pick. The Jets are in much better position to slide into the top spot and pick Mariota, if the Buccaneers are willing to listen to offers. For the Eagles, though, regardless of how this draft plays out in terms of a possible Mariota trade, Kelly from now on will shoulder all of the praise and blame on personnel decisions after Fridays front office shakeup. Chip Kelly now has total ownership over personnel matters, Paolantonio said. Everything that he does with this team, he needs to be held accountable for. He has nobody else to be blamed.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 20:30:01 +0000
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