BowlenBall 2014 Mock Broncos Draft 1.0

[BowlenBall]

Don't normally do these, as it tips my hand when it comes to the OM Mock draft, but was curious what people would think of my stab at a mock draft for our beloved Broncos:

Broncos Top Needs
1. ILB - this has been a problem since Al Wilson left. Woodyard and Trevathan are WLBs, not ILBs.
2. SS - Ihenacho is the weakest link on the defense, it's time for an upgrade.
3. WR - Broncos only go 3 deep (Caldwell is nothing special), and Welker is a concussion risk.
4. TE - A stud daddy across from Julius Thomas makes our 2 TE sets deadly.

Round 1 (32): Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville. Pryor is the best safety in a soft draft class, and although he's listed as a free safety in college, his physical stature and playing style look more suited to SS in the pros. An instant upgrade for the back end of the defense. There's a 50-50 chance that he'll be there when we pick....

Round 2 (64): Chris Borland, ILB, Wisconsin. The second coming of Zach Thomas, he's undersized but stout enough and strong enough to dominate in the run game. Has great instincts and is a real war daddy.

Round 3 (96): Paul Richardson, WR, Colorado. This may seem a bit late for Richardson, but receivers tend to drop in the draft, and he has a slight build and an injury history which may scare off scouts in the early rounds. His build is very T.Y. Hilton-ish, another guy who was taken late in the 3rd.

Round 4 (129 or so): Seantrel Henderson, OT, Miami. High risk, high reward pick - he's a character risk, but we seem to have the right locker room now for handling a couple of these types of players. He either replaces Zane Beadles at guard or serves as quality depth behind Clady and Franklin. Worst case is that he becomes a devastating blocker on the goal line offense.

Round 5 (165 or so): Marcus Williams, CB, North Dakota State. 2-time FCS all-american who has a record 7 pick-sixes and two more TDs on kick returns in his career.

Round 6 (200 or so): Andrew Jackson, ILB, Western Kentucky. Our linebacker depth (especially in the middle) is lacking -- Jackson is similar in build and playing style to Borland (except an inch taller and 15 pounds heavier) and would be a monster on special teams.

Round 7 (238 or so): Joe Don Duncan, TE, Dixie State. Another small-school all-american with a pro body, Duncan has the size to block well, but was a receiving TE with great wheels and soft hands in college. Kind of reminds me of Orson Mobley....

[Requiem]

Good news to see Pryor declare, that is a good selection for us. We need cover men badly.

Did Andrew Jackson have a really bad year? I thought people assumed if he declared he would go in rounds 2 or 3 last year.

Interesting draft. Richardson could very well go higher than that, not sure we need him unless Decker leaving is for certain. Not a huge fan of Borland, but he is a gamer.

Nice to see you giving Williams some good recognition. I know that there have been a few teams in town to watch him and our OT Billy Turner, who is going to surprise some people -- lets see who gets him in the OM mock .

Re: Marcus -- He had a rather down year, so that draft pot is probably right for him, though he could go a lot higher if he runs well and teams are impressed by past tape as opposed to this year. He isn't as physical as he should be and doesn't understand the term "jam" at the LOS -- at least he didn't this year. He also has some character concerns (I can PM you about them) that will raise maturity issues during the interview process. I think he is going to do well on a strict zone basis in the NFL, but will struggle man-up in the NFL.

Overall, good work. I would like to see a pass rusher at some point in time, preferably top 4 rounds.

[BMORE]

I just mentioned Pryor to Req. I like him.

[BroncosfanGuy]

Round 3 (96): Paul Richardson, WR, Colorado State. This may seem a bit late for Richardson, but receivers tend to drop in the draft, and he has a slight build and an injury history which may scare off scouts in the early rounds. His build is very T.Y. Hilton-ish, another guy who was taken late in the 3rd.

yes...Yes...YES!

Also, I think CB is a serious need position for Denver. Maybe even the top position depending on what Denver does w/ DRC's option.

[SpringStein]

Richardson is CU, not CSU.

[BroncosfanGuy]

Richardson is CU, not CSU.

good call. i was so excited to see him mocked to Denver I didn't even realize he was listed as being from CSU

[BowlenBall]

Richardson is CU, not CSU.

Same thing, isn't it?

Just kidding -- fixed in original post.

[BowlenBall]

Good news to see Pryor declare, that is a good selection for us. We need cover men badly.

Did Andrew Jackson have a really bad year? I thought people assumed if he declared he would go in rounds 2 or 3 last year.

Interesting draft. Richardson could very well go higher than that, not sure we need him unless Decker leaving is for certain. Not a huge fan of Borland, but he is a gamer.

Nice to see you giving Williams some good recognition. I know that there have been a few teams in town to watch him and our OT Billy Turner, who is going to surprise some people -- lets see who gets him in the OM mock .

Re: Marcus -- He had a rather down year, so that draft pot is probably right for him, though he could go a lot higher if he runs well and teams are impressed by past tape as opposed to this year. He isn't as physical as he should be and doesn't understand the term "jam" at the LOS -- at least he didn't this year. He also has some character concerns (I can PM you about them) that will raise maturity issues during the interview process. I think he is going to do well on a strict zone basis in the NFL, but will struggle man-up in the NFL.

Overall, good work. I would like to see a pass rusher at some point in time, preferably top 4 rounds.

Jackson had a good(not great) year, but was suspended during the season for team violations. A short middle linebacker from a smaller school, I don't see him going any higher than the 5th unless he really tears it up at the combine.

[Mat'hir Uth Gan]

Thoughts:

1) Pryor is a good prospect, but there are a couple safeties I feel are better that may still be there in the late 1st. I think Pryor is more of a Mid-Late 2nd Round guy when it's all said and done.

2) Yeah, Borland isn't going before the 4th round. Pretty confident in that. Besides not having ideal size, he's also not a great athlete. I do agree with the Zach Thomas comparison though. Personally, I think he'll go in the 6th.

3) This is one of the deepest WR drafts we've seen. I think Richardson would be thrilled to go in the 3rd Round. He does have some Markus Wheaton to his game, but he's wafer thin. I'm expecting the 4th-5th Round. I'm also not sure he's the type of WR we want, as I know he's not going to be effective blocking.

4) I think you have Henderson in the right spot. He actually could go a little higher if he works out well. He's essentially an imitation of Orlando Franklin, so that's interesting we're taking him. I think he absolutely projects to OT though, specifically RT. I actually like him more as an OT prospect than I did Franklin, whom I thought/think would be best at OG. He's not a great 3rd OT though because I think he's probably limited to RT.

5) Don't know enough about Williams to comment. He's headed to the Shrine, so he's at least decent. Ideal size for a CB. Looks like a solid 5th round selection to me.

6) Agree with you on Jackson. I think the 6th-7th is where he will go. I enjoy watching him play, he reminds me of Joe Mays.

7) No clue about the TE.



As for team needs, until we re-sign Phillips or Ayers, I still think a pass rushing RDE is our main need. Malik looks great at DT next to Knighton. Hopefully, Wolfe comes back fine. If not, we will need a 5 tech as well. But there are some nice options at DE we could look at in the first couple rounds. I still think Jordan Matthews at WR is our likely 1st Round pick to replace Decker. And if not, this is a good draft for bigger, physical WRs. Safety is a need, but that's an easy position, especially SS, to fill with a veteran on the cheap. We're in win now mode, not sure we go with a rookie. Plus, Ihenacho has some glimpses, I'm not ready to write him off just yet. An athletic, pulling LG to replace Beadles would be on my list as well, definitely not a guy like Henderson. And MLB seems like it needs to be hit as well, we're probably getting tired of patching that position every year, though in our scheme, it's a subpackage position, so I doubt we go there before the 3rd.


Anyway, awesome attempt as always. I'm dying to do some of these, but I don't want to give away my targets in the draft game.

[BowlenBall]

Thoughts:

1) Pryor is a good prospect, but there are a couple safeties I feel are better that may still be there in the late 1st. I think Pryor is more of a Mid-Late 2nd Round guy when it's all said and done.

2) Yeah, Borland isn't going before the 4th round. Pretty confident in that. Besides not having ideal size, he's also not a great athlete. I do agree with the Zach Thomas comparison though. Personally, I think he'll go in the 6th.

3) This is one of the deepest WR drafts we've seen. I think Richardson would be thrilled to go in the 3rd Round. He does have some Markus Wheaton to his game, but he's wafer thin. I'm expecting the 4th-5th Round. I'm also not sure he's the type of WR we want, as I know he's not going to be effective blocking.

4) I think you have Henderson in the right spot. He actually could go a little higher if he works out well. He's essentially an imitation of Orlando Franklin, so that's interesting we're taking him. I think he absolutely projects to OT though, specifically RT. I actually like him more as an OT prospect than I did Franklin, whom I thought/think would be best at OG. He's not a great 3rd OT though because I think he's probably limited to RT.

5) Don't know enough about Williams to comment. He's headed to the Shrine, so he's at least decent. Ideal size for a CB. Looks like a solid 5th round selection to me.

6) Agree with you on Jackson. I think the 6th-7th is where he will go. I enjoy watching him play, he reminds me of Joe Mays.

7) No clue about the TE.



As for team needs, until we re-sign Phillips or Ayers, I still think a pass rushing RDE is our main need. Malik looks great at DT next to Knighton. Hopefully, Wolfe comes back fine. If not, we will need a 5 tech as well. But there are some nice options at DE we could look at in the first couple rounds. I still think Jordan Matthews at WR is our likely 1st Round pick to replace Decker. And if not, this is a good draft for bigger, physical WRs. Safety is a need, but that's an easy position, especially SS, to fill with a veteran on the cheap. We're in win now mode, not sure we go with a rookie. Plus, Ihenacho has some glimpses, I'm not ready to write him off just yet. An athletic, pulling LG to replace Beadles would be on my list as well, definitely not a guy like Henderson. And MLB seems like it needs to be hit as well, we're probably getting tired of patching that position every year, though in our scheme, it's a subpackage position, so I doubt we go there before the 3rd.


Anyway, awesome attempt as always. I'm dying to do some of these, but I don't want to give away my targets in the draft game.

All good comments -- totally agree with you on the wide receiver depth, this might be the deepest class I've ever seen. Also agree that Paul Richardson might not be exactly what we're looking for, but his talent is undeniable, and he'd be able to fill in for all three wide receiver positions (X, Y, Z) due to his height/speed/shiftiness. If Elway wants to solve our 4th/5th receiver issues, he can wait until the 3rd/4th round to do so this year.

Borland intrigues me -- I know that he'll drop in the real draft, but also think he'll end up playing in the league for 10 years.

I pick for the Steelers in the OM Mock every year, so several of the players above won't be fits or meet the Steelers draft needs -- Borland and Jackson, for example, probably won't fit in Dick LeBeau's scheme. However, I'm intrigued as always with who will end up wearing the predominantly orange, and wanted to try one of these Broncos mocks for feedback from everyone else.

[Requiem]

Matthews is a stud, but unless we get two solid defensive FA, I cannot see us going WR early.

[Requiem]

Joe Don Duncan broke his foot during training and won't be participating in the Senior Bowl in Mobile.

THANKS A LOT BOWLEN.

[Nickstixx]

Considering the situation Denver is in now, I think CB is going to be a pretty high priority to get, along with ILB (which I have been wanting for a while now).
That being said, I think I would much rather go ILB and CB in the first two rounds depending on who is there.
So if a guy like Roberson CB is available in the 1st I would much rather have him than a SS.
I also don't think Ihenacho is the weakest link, and think Mike Adams can fill in for a bit when needed.
Then I would want an ILB in the 2nd. Would be great if Christian Jones or Skov are still available.
I don't know much about Marcus Williams though, who you picked. Seems like we have had some luck with later round CB's, or even undrafted.
How nice would it be if Bolden would have just worked out? Sadly I think he's a lifetime special teamer. :/

[BowlenBall]

Joe Don Duncan broke his foot during training and won't be participating in the Senior Bowl in Mobile.

THANKS A LOT BOWLEN.

Good -- that means I pick him up as a UDFA and look like a genius when he makes all-pro in 2015

[NFLBRONCO]

I thought 2014 S class was WEAK?