Marcus Mariota is still within striking distance.
Go get him, Magic Mike.
The NFL draft is finally here Thursday night in Chicago — and Marcus Mariota is at its epicenter.
The draft would not be a failure if Mike Maccagnan does not find a way to land Mariota. It would be folly if he doesn’t even try.
Try, Magic Mike.
Bring him back from Hawaii.
It is one thing to be given the green light to throw Woody Johnson’s greenbacks at Darrelle Revis to bring him home and another to pick a potential future Pro Bowler and fresh new face of the franchise with the sixth pick.
He’ll be hailed as Miracle Mike if he can figure out a way to trade up with Tennessee at No. 2 and get Mariota without having to pay a prohibitive price, because franchise quarterback remains the Jets’ everlasting, ever-present No. 1 need.
I’ll defer to Maccagnan’s judgment whether Mariota is a franchise quarterback, because a good majority of the best and brightest talent evaluators in the NFL don’t profess to know. You can’t afford to think you know. You’d better be right about the quarterback.
This much I know: If Chip Kelly and Jon Gruden love the kid, the Jets probably ought to love the kid.
Imagine if Kelly, who is saddled with the 20th pick, were in Maccagnan’s shoes and owned the sixth pick. The Liberty Bell would already have been traded to Nashville.
Gruden likens Mariota to a 6-foot-4 Russell Wilson. By now, most Jets fans would sign off on a 5-foot-4 Russell Wilson.
Mike Mayock now rates Mariota over Jameis Winston, who is still expected to be the first overall pick to the Bucs.
The idea Mariota is a system quarterback from Oregon seems to be bothering fewer and fewer people the more they study the player — so athletic — and the person — so bright and dedicated.
If Chan Gailey could make Ryan Fitzpatrick work once, he can make Mariota work. Just coach him up.
If the rumored talks with the Eagles, Browns, Chargers and Redskins go nowhere, and the Titans are willing to ride with Zach Mettenberger and find themselves desperate to make a deal, the asking price could lower, and Maccagnan could ostensibly swoop in with a deal that makes sense without having to fork over a 2016 No. 1 pick.
As the Jets and Jets fans know only too well, franchise quarterbacks don’t grow on trees. If you have a shot at getting one, you’d better take it. An offensive lineman or a pass rusher or even a franchise running back would be nice. A franchise quarterback would be nicer.
Maccagnan has checked off the cornerback box and the No. 1 receiver box (Brandon Marshall) in free agency. Don’t bother asking Eric Decker how leaving Peyton Manning for Geno Smith has worked out for him.
There were those who cried that then-Giants GM Ernie Accorsi surrendered too much to move up from 4 to 1 and make that blockbuster trade for Eli Manning. Marcus Mariota is not Eli Manning coming out of Ole Miss. And Manning didn’t exactly light it up over his first three seasons. And trading up for a franchise quarterback can sometimes prove hazardous to a franchise’s health (RGIII, Tim Tebow, Mark Sanchez after the first two seasons). But if you don’t have one, especially in this quarterback-driven league, you’d better get one.
So here we are 12 years later, and Accorsi’s successor, Jerry Reese, still doesn’t need a franchise quarterback. With the ninth pick, Reese can grab himself an offensive lineman to better protect his franchise quarterback, or a pass rusher, or a cornerback, or whoever is the highest-ranked player on the Big Blue Board.
One day, perhaps, Maccagnan can be in the same position.