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Buccaneers cornerback Alterraun Verner joined the cast of NFL AM on NFL Network Thursday morning to discuss the hottest topic in Tampa – what will the Bucs do with the No. 1 pick in this year's draft.
Verner said he likes all three of the popular options – drafting Winston, drafting Mariota and trading down.
"That's why I don't think I should ever be a GM," Verner said, "because of this type of decision. Obvioulsy with (Josh) McCown being released, quarterback definitely is probably something we need. A lot of talk is between Winston and Mariota."
"Winston – I haven't seen too much of him to be honest with you with him being at Florida State but I've seen a lot of Mariota since he was a Pac 12 guy. I've seen him beat the (UCLA) Bruins on countless occasions. I just know what type of player he is. I think it would go well with either one of those. I'm not opposed to us even trading down, accumulating more picks and trying to help us out more."
A Throwback Thursday photo gallery of new Bucs CB Alterraun Verner from his time at UCLA where he was voted Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, 2009 1st Team All Pac-10 & 2009 Rivals.com All-American. (Photos courtesy of AP Images)
(Photos Credit: AP Images)
(Photos Credit: AP Images)
(Photos Credit: AP Images)
(Photos Credit: AP Images)
(Photos Credit: AP Images)
(Photos Credit: AP Images)
"There are a lot of ways it can go. I think any way that they decide to go is going to help the team."
But if he had to pick one, hypothetically, Verner said it would be Winston.
"I probably like Winston from a lot of the things I've been hearing, a lot of the things I've been seeing and things like that," Verner said. "Like I said, it's hard for me to go 100 percent there because I haven't really seen him play. I'm just going more on hearsay and just things around."
"Just from his leadership qualities, that's what I've been hearing a lot of. As a quarterback, you want to have that strong leader in the locker room and on the field, somebody that you know you can go out there and feel like he can do anything. From what I hear, that's the type of guy Jameis is."
