NFL Draft rumors roundup: Blake Bortles in for a slide; Lions, Bills looking for top 5 pick
Blake Bortles might be waiting in the green room until Friday for his name to be called, according to some draft rumors.
With just two days remaining until the 2014 NFL Draft, the quarterback talk has centered around Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel, while Central Florida's Blake Bortles has been cast out of the spotlight. That might be the case on draft day as well, as Bortles might not hear his name called until Friday.
In a mock draft released on Tuesday morning, Sports Illustrated's Peter King projected a slide for Bortles, although it wasn't out of the first round. Instead he has the UCF passer slated to go to the Cleveland Browns with the No. 26 selection:
Can this happen? I am dubious, but I do think a very good player or two will fall precipitously, and as I made my calls in the past few days, I couldn’t find a Bortles lover. One may be in hiding. We’ll see.
“I have [the] same dilemma,” Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweeted of King’s mock. “Can’t find a team that has [Bortles] in 1st.”
Bortles, 22, has been projected as a first round pick for much of the pre-draft process, which would make him the second player taken that early in school history. The only other first round pick from UCF was former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who was the No. 11 selection in the 1999 NFL Draft.
The Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills are in the market for a top receiver, but sitting at the bottom of the top 10 might not leave either team in a good spot to upgrade the position. With the two teams “sniffing around” prospects like Clemson’s Sammy Watkins and Texas A&M’s Mike Evans, according to Kevin Patra of NFL.com, a top five pick might be necessary to secure a top wideout.
NFL Mock Draft
According to Rapoport, that's a discussion that both the Lions and Bills have already had. And the Jacksonville Jaguars could be the team making the deal, as he highlighted the No. 3 spot as the potential landing spot for a WR-needy team.
Trading up in the top 10 is typically an expensive move to make, but Rapoport reports that one of the executives of either the Lions or the Bills is looking for “a bargain” in the event that a move happens.
The Miami Dolphins were the recipients of a bargain during the 2013 NFL Draft when they moved up from the No. 12 pick to No. 3 in an exchange with the Oakland Raiders that only cost a second round pick.
That's far from the price tag of a swap between the Washington Redskins and St. Louis Rams that occurred in 2012 that sent a second round pick and two future first round picks to St. Louis so that the Redskins could acquire the No. 2 selection to pick Robert Griffin III.
In a deep draft that has a few teams in the top five that are reportedly interested in moving back some, an affordable deal is certainly feasible for the Lions and Bills, who may be especially prone to moving up if Watkins slides at all.
Jets eyeing Marqise Lee
Geno Smith didn't have the strongest rookie season and much of that centered around a lack of receiving targets on the New York Jets. The team added Eric Decker in free agency to address that issue, but the addition of another receiver in the 2014 NFL Draft might be a top priority for the Jets, and USC's Marqise Lee might be the perfect fit.
On Monday, Brian Costello of the New York Post said that Lee could be the player that fits the Jets best with the No. 18 pick on Thursday.
The Jets have shown a ton of interest in Lee. Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg attended Lee’s pro day in March and met with him privately both before and after the workout. The Jets then had Lee visit their Florham Park training center to get more information on the 6-foot receiver.
“They’re a great organization,” Lee said. “They made me feel at home and made it feel like a place you want to play.”
Smith finished his rookie season with the Jets with 12 touchdowns and 21 interceptions, with tight ends Jeff Cumberland and Kellen Winslow accounting for half of the rookie's touchdowns.
NFL Draft Odds
Lee accounted for 25 receiving touchdowns in his first two seasons with the USC Trojans, as well as two return touchdowns, but managed just four touchdowns in his junior season in 2013 before foregoing his senior season to enter the 2014 NFL Draft. A mid-season knee injury caused the receiver to miss three games, and he struggled to perform at his full potential when he returned to the field.
Now at 100 percent, Lee hopes to return to the explosive form of 2012 that made him one of the top young prospects in college football.
