In the weeks surrounding the 2015 NFL Draft, Jon Gruden was among Marcus Mariota’s biggest boosters, telling anybody who would listen that Mariota was a special — even a “can’t miss” — talent.

Gruden, then an ESPN analyst and host of the popular “Gruden’s QB Camp” series, even recommended that his old team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, select Mariota with the No. 1 overall pick.

Now, five years later as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, Gruden gets an opportunity to polish that prescience and help Mariota fulfill some of that potential.

On Wednesday, the first day of the NFL calendar year, Mariota, an unrestricted free agent, is expected to sign with the Raiders.

But while Mariota’s deal holds promise for both the Saint Louis School graduate and the Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers’ trade of Mariota’s former Oregon teammate, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, looks, at first glance, to be more about dollars and cents than sense.

The 49ers swapped Buckner, a Punahou graduate and Waianae native, to Indianapolis for the 13th overall pick in next month’s draft. With the Colts, Buckner will have a five-year contract that pays him an average of $21 million a year, second-highest at the position in NFL history only to the Rams’ Aaron Donald.

In parting with Buckner, a team captain and 2018 Pro Bowl selection, instead of the often-injured Arik Armstead, the 49ers figure to save about $4 million a year and pick up a first-rounder at a lower rate, moves that allow them to keep more pieces of the NFC championship team in place.

Meanwhile, Mariota, after five seasons and a constantly changing cast of head coaches, offensive coordinators and quarterback coaches, might have finally found a coach who can put his talents to best use — somebody who sees a niche for his read-pass option abilities and is willing to turn him loose.

The 26-year-old Mariota steps into a situation that is the reverse of what he leaves behind in Nashville, where he started the 2019 season as the under-the-gun incumbent and Ryan Tannehill arrived as the challenger.

In the Raiders’ inaugural season in Vegas it will be Derek Carr who is being pushed. In two seasons under Gruden, Carr has not lived up to his early production or the expectations.

Last year the Raiders encouraged Carr to take off running more, something that has not been in his nature in college or the pros. If Carr is unable — or unwilling — to open things up, the door is open for Mariota.

Back in 2015 Gruden envisioned a dual-threat role for Mariota, saying, “I see him functioning in the pocket, out of the pocket, and if you want to run a zone-read, he’ll rip the defense apart. He is like Russell Wilson, only he is 6 feet, 4 inches.”

When the Titans were preparing for the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs, Mariota was assigned to portray Lamar Jackson on the scout team, a role he is said to have given his all to and played exceedingly well.

Mariota, as is his character, will arrive in Vegas as the quintessential team player, of course. Just a little hungrier, no doubt, as a competitor. Asked heading into free agency at the end of the 2019 season if he thought he could return to becoming a starting quarterback somewhere in the NFL, Mariota said, “I have no doubts at all.”

Vegas, under Gruden, just might be the best platform for him to prove it.

Hopefully, this will last longer than most Las Vegas marriages.