In today's episode of flip-flopping-reports-on-who-the-Buccaneers-like, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report says the Bucs are leaning toward Marcus Mariota because they think he's the safer option. As all the other reports do, Cole notes that it's still very early in the process and things can change.
Mariota certainly is the safer option off the field. There are no reasons to believe you're going to have to worry about his embarrassing the franchise or acting out when removed from the team's facility. Whether he's the safer option when it comes to transitioning to the NFL on the field is another question entirely, however.
Just two days ago, Pat Yasinskas reported that Lovie Smith preferred Jameis Winston, while on the same day Todd McShay reported that the Bucs have "a lot more love" for Mariota than other teams. We haven't been able to go a week without a report on where the Bucs are leading -- and none of those reports are consistent.
The amount of reports saying the Bucs are leaning one way or the other are getting slightly comical, and somewhat reminiscent of last year's conflicting reports on their apparently non-existent interest in Johnny Manziel. To me, this suggests the Bucs are trying very hard to obfuscate their actual thought process.