Quote:Why do they need to blow smoke? If they want a QB there will be one there. If they trade down they obviously don't rate him as a franchise QB. They are in total control of their destiny, no smoke required.

 

I think they would talk up Mariota in order to maximize the value of their pick.   The more teams think Mariota is worth the 2nd pick in the draft, the more they will be induced to trade up to get him.   Right now, the thing for teams to do is to talk up the players they don't want.  You want the players that are picked prior to your pick to be the ones you don't want, so the ones you do want will be pushed down to your pick.   And this would be the Titans' strategy if they want to trade down.   You want the other teams to want the players you don't want, so there will be more players available to you that you do want. 

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