We've known for several weeks that the New York Jets would be one of the clubs that will privately work out Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, but only now are we learning how big a contingent of key personnel executives and coaches the team is sending to watch the Oregon quarterback.
The New York Daily News reported Friday that Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan, head coach Todd Bowles, offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, quarterbacks coach Kevin Patullo, director of college scouting Rex Hogan and director of player personnel Brian Heimerdinger will all be in Eugene, Oregon this weekend to put Mariota through the paces at the Ducks facilities.
Given the team's need at the position, such firepower heading to work out a quarterback could surely be taken as a sign that the franchise is doing its due diligence on the Heisman Trophy winner with an eye toward taking him with the No. 6 overall pick.
Mariota is widely considered to be the consensus No. 2 quarterback in the 2015 NFL Draft, and many scouts, coaches and personnel folks have started to regard the Ducks star as not that far behind likely No. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston.
The Jets aren't the only team to show enough interest to schedule a private workout with Mariota. NFL Media's Albert Breer reported Saturday that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will work out Mariota on April 7, the San Diego Chargers are set to work out Mariota on April 15, and the Washington Redskins are also setting up a visit for Mariota in Ashburn, Va.
Breer also added that the Redskins don't feel they need to work out Mariota after going over his tape and workouts, which is why they are bringing him to the facility for an interview/physical.
Several NFL.com mock drafts have Mariota going as high as the No. 6 selection to the Jets, with others saying he could possibly drop out of the top 10. Opinions about the signal-caller vary quite a bit due to concerns over his ability to translate from a spread offense in college to a more pro-style game at the next level. Despite speculation over how long it will take before Mariota can become a franchise player, his talent and potential are making teams like the Jets do their homework.
In many ways, the Jets could represent a potentially good landing spot for Mariota, given that he could be given time to develop behind incumbent starter Geno Smith and trade addition Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Of course, the Jets could just be flying much of their front office out to Oregon in order to boost interest for teams to trade into their spot in order to draft Mariota. Teams ahead of them such as the Tennessee Titans, Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins surely won't mind other teams believing the Jets are going to seriously consider taking Mariota, either, given rumors that they could be open for business for quarterback-needy clubs.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
