broncos67 Mock Draft v1

[broncos67]

Alright gents, figure I'll give this one a shot since we're approaching draft season and the free agency period has mostly come and gone. 

One additional FA move- Sign Marquette King. I think Denver could and should check in on King. I've seen it mentioned quite a bit that we intend to bring in competition at the position. Dixon is garbage. King would give us a weapon on ST we haven't had at the punter position in some time.

Round 1, Pick 5- Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State

Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part, but I believe Barkley will be available and I believe he's atop Denver's list. The beat personalities have all been mentioning him recently, and I think Elway sees the success that accompanies having a solid, 3-down RB in the NFL. I believe Chubb is gone at 2, and Rosen gets taken ahead of us. This pick solidifies us at RB for a LONG time and gives us a player we sorely need with dynamic talent to help out Keenum and the rest of the offense.

Round 2, Pick 40- Billy Price, C/G, Ohio State

We pass on Nelson, and miss out on some of the other talent, but we're able to land Billy Price, who is a hell of a prospect in his own right. Price allows us to have options when it comes to Paradis and his long-term future with the team. He can play guard and solidify the line at that position, but if Paradis is not retained, he can slide over to OG. He's not the level of talent that Nelson is, but he provides stability and

Round 3, Pick 71- Dante Pettis, WR, Washington

Truth be told, I have absolutely no idea where Pettis actually lands, but I doubt it's anywhere beyond early Round 3. He's a very dynamic offensive weapon capable of lining up outside or in the slot, and is nightmare with the ball in his hands. He does have some injury concerns, and although he hasn't had his pro day yet, who knows how he'll perform. He's an instant upgrade on our ST units as well, and he gives us another offensive chess piece.

Round 3, Pick 99- Greg Senat, OT, Wagner

Sensing a theme here? The offense needs a major overhaul, and this draft continues the theme. With Senat, we get a developmental tackle prospect with massive upside. He's an athletic marvel with a basketball background. Watched him quite a bit during the combine. Solid mirroring technique, but his hand placement and footwork need some work. He's got the necessary athleticism to handle outside pass rush in our division, and with Veldheer manning RT for a year, we can take a flier here on a guy who has starting potential in Year 2.

Round 4, Pick 113- JC Jackson, CB, Maryland

Maybe it's a homer pick, but Jackson is a skilled CB. He's fairly big and he's a good fit on the outside, particularly in zone. Given that we've been playing more and more zone as a defense, whether I agree with it or not, it makes sense to add talent at the position. Jackson doesn't need to be an immediate contributor, but he's only really played 2 years of college ball and has some time to refine his game.

Round 4, Pick 149- Jack Cichy, LB, Wisconsin

There's been an explicit mention of adding additional LB talent to the team. Cichy is just that. He put up some pretty nice numbers on an always solid Wisconsin defense when he was healthy, but he will likely slip some here because he didn't play last season due to his torn ACL.

Round 5, Pick 160- Dmitri Flowers, FB/TE, Oklahoma

I'm shooting in the dark a bit with this pick, but I think it's an interesting one. Flowers isn't a FB really, but he also isn't a RB. He's not really even a true TE. But he is a potential offensive chess piece that can be a short yardage nightmare, he can line up as an H-Back, and maybe even give us additional blocking presence. In otherwords, he's another player that adds another dimension to our offense and can be found later in the draft.

 

That's all I got. You'll notice I didn't take a QB. If we don't take one 5th, I'm not sure we take one at all. I went with that approach in this draft. My theme was to load up heavily on offense because I do think JE and the crew recognize the talent deficiency on that side of the ball and will use picks accordingly to make us better.

 

[Broncofan]

It’s that time of year - gotta love the mocks.  Only 1 major and 1 minor change I’d consider:  

3.71 - get me Anthony Miller if he’s there.   Guy’s got great WR skills.  Or if he falls Kirk.   I don’t like Pettis’s injury risk and those 2 are more skilled WR’s.  I don’t think Kirk will make it there but if he did OMG yes give me Kirk (same for DJ Moore obv). 

3.99 - Can’t argue developmental T.   Just that if he’s still on the board Parker is an even better 2019+ developmental guy.  Senat is a fantastic call if Parker is gone.  

[broncos67]

1 hour ago, Broncofan said:

It’s that time of year - gotta love the mocks.  Only 1 major and 1 minor change I’d consider:  

3.71 - get me Anthony Miller if he’s there.   Guy’s got great WR skills.  Or if he falls Kirk.   I don’t like Pettis’s injury risk and those 2 are more skilled WR’s.  I don’t think Kirk will make it there but if he did OMG yes give me Kirk (same for DJ Moore obv). 

3.99 - Can’t argue developmental T.   Just that if he’s still on the board Parker is an even better 2019+ developmental guy.  Senat is a fantastic call if Parker is gone.  

Honestly I love Anthony Miller, but I just wanted to mix it up lol. I could see Miller as the pick over Pettis, but I do think Pettis, if healthy, could be a very unique player in this league.

[iLikeDefense]

Probably my favorite mock I’ve seen! Would love this and I can fully seeing us not even taking a QB this year. 

[jsthomp2007]

You had me at Saquon

[elliot878]

I fundamentally disagree with drafting a RB in the top 5 picks.  It's just a positional shelf life thing.  Leveon Bell has been the best RB in the NFL since his rookie year, and after this franchise tag year, I doubt he's back in Pittsburgh.  I loathe the idea of taking a guy who will likely only last his rookie contract + a franchise year with a top 5 pick, or any first rounder.  Even with that said, Barkley would be so awesome to watch and I'd probably fall in love with the guy in a Broncos jersey, I think he'll be awesome.

Billy Price would be a great pick, the developmental OT sounds perfect.  3rd round WR sounds like the exact same prospect as Carlos Henderson.

[thebestever6]

7 minutes ago, elliot878 said:

I fundamentally disagree with drafting a RB in the top 5 picks.  It's just a positional shelf life thing.  Leveon Bell has been the best RB in the NFL since his rookie year, and after this franchise tag year, I doubt he's back in Pittsburgh.  I loathe the idea of taking a guy who will likely only last his rookie contract + a franchise year with a top 5 pick, or any first rounder.  Even with that said, Barkley would be so awesome to watch and I'd probably fall in love with the guy in a Broncos jersey, I think he'll be awesome.

Billy Price would be a great pick, the developmental OT sounds perfect.  3rd round WR sounds like the exact same prospect as Carlos Henderson.

That rb for Cincinnati in the 90s scares me

[Broncofan]

9 hours ago, thebestever6 said:

That rb for Cincinnati in the 90s scares me

I wouldn’t be scared.  That dude has to be almost 50 years old couldn’t harm a fly now.  

[broncos67]

11 hours ago, thebestever6 said:

That rb for Cincinnati in the 90s scares me

By that logic, we shouldn't take a QB Top 5 because he might be Ryan Leaf. There's always a risk of injury or bust. 

I won't lie, I do love Saquon, but if Denver didn't go that way, I would get it. That said, I do think Denver is highly interested in him, it just seems that way reading the beat writing tea leaves.

[jsthomp2007]

12 hours ago, elliot878 said:

I fundamentally disagree with drafting a RB in the top 5 picks.  It's just a positional shelf life thing.  Leveon Bell has been the best RB in the NFL since his rookie year, and after this franchise tag year, I doubt he's back in Pittsburgh.  I loathe the idea of taking a guy who will likely only last his rookie contract + a franchise year with a top 5 pick, or any first rounder.  Even with that said, Barkley would be so awesome to watch and I'd probably fall in love with the guy in a Broncos jersey, I think he'll be awesome.

Billy Price would be a great pick, the developmental OT sounds perfect.  3rd round WR sounds like the exact same prospect as Carlos Henderson.

So, you don't think the Cowboys have been impacted by having Elliott?  When he was in the lineup the Cowboys are a playoff team.  Without him they aren't.  I think Saquon is going to be better than Zeke.

[AnAngryAmerican]

I love the mock, Ben. Excellent job. I'd be thrilled with a draft like this. I'd prefer to see Michael Gallup drafted instead of Price but I might be biased. There's also a damn good chance Gallup doesn't make it to the third. 

As far as what @elliot878 says about taking a RB that early, I do understand the logic, the shelf life for RBs is short and it is a position where a committee of above-average players can replicate the production of one elite guy. Once the five year rookie contract is over, the player gets very expensive and, after 1500+ touches, the tread on the tires is wearing thin. That said, for five years of elite production, a player that keeps opposing defensive coordinators up at night and someone, in the case of Barkley, who is not only a dynamic talent but a charismatic and likable personality is what you want with a top-5, "face of the franchise" kind of player (see Von Miller, who is the same player and personality but on the other side of the ball). 

[broncos67]

22 hours ago, AnAngryAmerican said:

I love the mock, Ben. Excellent job. I'd be thrilled with a draft like this. I'd prefer to see Michael Gallup drafted instead of Price but I might be biased. There's also a damn good chance Gallup doesn't make it to the third. 

As far as what @elliot878 says about taking a RB that early, I do understand the logic, the shelf life for RBs is short and it is a position where a committee of above-average players can replicate the production of one elite guy. Once the five year rookie contract is over, the player gets very expensive and, after 1500+ touches, the tread on the tires is wearing thin. That said, for five years of elite production, a player that keeps opposing defensive coordinators up at night and someone, in the case of Barkley, who is not only a dynamic talent but a charismatic and likable personality is what you want with a top-5, "face of the franchise" kind of player (see Von Miller, who is the same player and personality but on the other side of the ball). 

Thanks Dan!

Yeah, the Barkley pick is a tricky one. I love Barkley, which isn't a secret, but I do understand the positional worth logic applies to him as much as it would apply to Nelson. Another reason why I'm not opposed to Nelson at 5, but I wouldn't take him over Barkley.

[AnAngryAmerican]

2 hours ago, broncos67 said:

Thanks Dan!

Yeah, the Barkley pick is a tricky one. I love Barkley, which isn't a secret, but I do understand the positional worth logic applies to him as much as it would apply to Nelson. Another reason why I'm not opposed to Nelson at 5, but I wouldn't take him over Barkley.

Yeah I think I would go Barkley, Chubb, Nelson in that order. But truth be told I wouldn't have a problem with any of them if, as I suspect, QBs go 1-4.