NFL Draft Rumors: Exploring Latest Buzz Around the Web for 2015 NFL Draft

It’s NFL draft season, which means you should read everything and trust nothing.

As the draft approaches, teams around the league have a vested interest in misleading their direct competition regarding which players they want and what picks they are willing to trade. Someone in each organization knows their squad’s true strategy, but best of luck figuring out which reports are accurate and which are designed to throw other teams off the scent.

The best thing fans can do is consume all the rumors and decide for themselves which ones hold merit, which is ultimately part of the magic of draft season. With that in mind, here is a look at the latest buzz from around the league as the draft approaches.

Believe at your own peril.

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns were quietly one of the best defensive teams in the league last season, which means adding offense in the draft would make sense. 

That may be what they have in mind, given this report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network and NFL.com:

Cleveland is likely targeting a specific player or two if it is calling so many teams.

Wide receiver Josh Gordon is suspended for the entire season, and prospects Amari Cooper and Kevin White are both out there for the taking if the Browns jump into the top three or four. White and Cooper are dominant playmakers who can beat corners downfield and impact the game as a rookie and would make life much easier for Cleveland’s quarterbacks.

There is also the Marcus Mariota factor to consider as the wild card in this whole process. If the Browns are uncomfortable with their quarterback situation with Josh McCown, Johnny Manziel, Thad Lewis and Connor Shaw, then Mariota could be the answer.

If that’s the case, they better plan on overwhelming the Tennessee Titans with an offer for the No. 2 pick.

None of those quarterback names inspire much confidence for a team that was an impressive ninth in scoring defense last season. Cleveland could theoretically contend for the postseason with a repeat performance from the defense in 2015 if the offense is even competent. 

Adding Cooper, White or even shocking the NFL world with Mariota would help the Browns achieve that level of competence after averaging less than 19 points a game last year.

Jacksonville Jaguars

One team the Browns could trade with is the Jacksonville Jaguars, although Jacksonville apparently has its eyes on a number of elite prospects.

Peter King of Sports Illustrated provided the details: “With Jacksonville picking third, I asked 12 people I talk to fairly often to tell me if they heard anything they trust about the Jaguars at three. Eight answered the question with a name. Amari Cooper, Dante Fowler and Leonard Williams all got mentioned as names they heard reliably.”

Which prospect the Jaguars ultimately pick will largely depend on what side of the ball they want to address with that third selection. Cooper makes sense as an offensive weapon because Blake Bortles could use a go-to receiver to develop with at the NFL level.

Cooper is as polished as receiver prospects come, and he made a living getting open for Alabama. He finished his career with 3,463 receiving yards and 31 touchdowns and has the speed, route-running ability and surefire hands to see the field from his first day at the NFL level.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Elsewhere, Williams and Fowler are interesting options if the Jaguars go defense, as they were sixth in the league in total sacks last year at 45. Adding either one would turn a strength from a season ago into a building block, especially since Jacksonville was still 26th in scoring defense in 2014.

Williams and Fowler would help the secondary because they can apply pressure without a blitz, which allows more defenders to drop into coverage. They would also help against the run in different ways, with Williams as a space-eater who frees up his teammates to make plays, and Fowler as someone with an explosive first step and impressive pursuit abilities.

If the Jaguars do add Cooper, Williams or Fowler, their team will look more formidable next year and beyond.

Denver Broncos

It’s not very often that a team with Peyton Manning needs a quarterback, but the Denver Broncos have a future to plan.

Mike Klis of 9News.com in Colorado suggested as much: “But it's a quarterback who would move the needle on the Broncos' draft. It's a virtual certainty the Broncos will take one with one of their 10 draft picks.”

Manning is 39 years old and thought about retiring this offseason. Backup Brock Osweiler is in the final year of his four-year contract and may not be in Denver beyond the 2015 campaign. That leaves only former seventh-rounder Zac Dysert, who never made it off the practice squad last year.

Denver may want to address that.

ESPN commentator Jon Gruden discussed the Broncos’ quarterback plans heading into the draft, per Klis: "It depends on how much they like Osweiler. None of us really know because he hasn't played much except for some mop-up duty late in games. So I think it all depends on how much they like the progress they have seen with Brock Osweiler."

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Bringing Osweiler back on a new contract is certainly one option, but so is drafting the likes of Garrett Grayson, Brett Hundley, Sean Mannion or Bryce Petty in the middle rounds. Grayson and Mannion quarterbacked pro-style attacks and have experience under center, while Hundley and Petty bring intriguing athleticism to the table as prospects.

Whomever Denver drafts is not going to be a quarterback who is ready to step into the spotlight right away, especially with Manning still spearheading the attack. Rather, it should be someone the Broncos are comfortable starting over with when Manning does eventually retire. 

Whether that is Grayson, Hundley, Mannion, Petty, Osweiler or someone else remains to be seen.

Follow me on Twitter:

Follow @ScottPolacek