By Jordan Long
The NFL Draft starts on April 29th and ends on May 1st. The Denver Broncos, assuming they won’t move up or down the draft board, will select 9th in the first round. They have plenty of options.
Before free agency, the Broncos needed help at the cornerback position. In expert mock drafts, they were projected to select Caleb Farley from Virginia Tech or Patrick Surtain out of the University of Alabama. The Broncos may not select either one because they have fixed that part of the secondary in free agency. They signed Ronald Darby and Kyle Fuller who they hope will make plays for the Broncos defense by either knocking passes down to end drives or intercepting the football.
The Broncos could go quarterback, linebacker, or offensive lineman. The Broncos haven’t fixed the quarterback position behind Drew Lock. On the roster, they have Brett Rypien and Drew Lock. The only veteran quarterback they have is Jeff Driskel. It is still possible Denver could trade for another one or look at the free agent market.
If Denver decides not to deal or sign a quarterback they may draft one. They will not have the opportunity to get Trevor Lawrence who is projected to go 1st overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars. There are other top quarterbacks they could try for. These include Justin Fields or Trey Lance.
Fields could be the second best quarterback in this draft class. He played his college football at Ohio State University and the University of Georgia. He started at Georgia in 2018 before transferring to Ohio State for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. In his 3 years in college football, Fields showed he could throw the football downfield to find his open receivers totaling 5,701 yards and 67 touchdowns. He was careful with the football with an impressively low 9 interceptions. Fields can also run with the football to move the chains. He rushed for 1,133 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Fields might fit into the Broncos system. They run a bootleg type of offense to try and move the quarterback out of the pocket. Fields can be that quarterback. The Broncos could decide he is worth it but they would have to trade up to get him. That can be draft picks for years to come to another team or swapping picks during this years’ NFL draft.
A quarterback who could land to them at #9 is Trey Lance. Lance played at North Dakota State University. He was the starter this past season throwing for 2,786 yards and 28 touchdowns. Lance didn’t toss an interception in his college career. He can also run the football totaling 1,182 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.
The Broncos may not be able to pick either one because they could be gone by the time they are on the clock. They might look at an offensive Iineman to protect the quarterback or linebackers. The Broncos offensive line needs upgrades. They have yet to do that. A lineman the broncos should consider is Rashawn Slater out of Northwestern. He is listed at 6 foot 3 and 315 pounds. He would help block and protect whoever the quarterback is.
The Broncos need to add to the linebacker depth. They have Bradly Chubb and Von Miller. After that, they don’t have linebackers who can play in coverage, stop runners, or sack the quarterback. Two players who might improve that are Micah Parsons and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.
Micah Parsons is one of the fastest linebackers in this draft. His 40 yard dash time was clocked at 4.41 seconds. Parsons played at Penn State but opted out of this past year due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Parsons was with Penn State in 2018 and 2019. He finished his college career with 191 tackles and 6.5 sacks. He played in coverage with 5 passes defended. Parsons could help the Broncos pass rush and he can defend. Quarterbacks will have to watch out for Chubb, Miller, and Parsons because they don’t know which one is going to pass rush to sack them. Those rushes could be passes that will be intercepted.
Owusu-Koramoah played 2 years for Notre Dame. He totaled 142 tackles and 7 sacks. He was also used in coverage tipping away 7 passes. Both Parsons and Owusu-Koramoah are an improvement for the defense.
The Denver Broncos will do what is best for the team at #9 and probably go with the best player available. Whoever that is must be an upgrade for the team.
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