Dec. 28--Paging Marcus Mariota. . . .
With their 23-20 loss to New Orleans on Sunday, the 2-14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers secured the No. 1 pick in this spring's NFL draft.
A top candidate for that spot is Mariota, the Oregon quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner. Tampa Bay has all sorts of needs, but a quarterback and a pass rusher are most pressing.
The Buccaneers last had the top pick in 1987 and took Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde.
Tennessee, which lost to Indianapolis to finish 2-14, will draft second.
The New York Jets, Jacksonville and Oakland came into Sunday's games at 3-12, but could not have vaulted into one of the top two spots -- even if Tampa Bay and Tennessee had won -- because of superior strength of schedule.
