After Sunday’s game, it will unfortunately be draft season for Broncos Country. A high pick means they’ll have a great opportunity to add an elite prospect who could go a long ways towards turning the team around.
Let’s take a look at some of those prospects Denver could target with each of their first three picks.
First Round, Pick 10: Patrick Surtain, CB, Alabama
The Broncos need help in the secondary badly. Their cornerback group has consistently been shredded by opposing offenses this season and that problem has only been made worse by the countless injuries at the position.
Denver’s mock selection of Patrick Surtain does a lot to fix that problem at cornerback. He is perfectly suited for Vic Fangio’s scheme, as an especially physical cornerback that is versatile in coverage. Of course he’s an excellent zone-cover corner, which should appeal to the Broncos, but what they’ll really love is his mentality. If you designed a Fangio-style cornerback in a lab, he’d look eerily similar to Surtain
If the Broncos have the option to select either Caleb Farley or Patrick Surtain, they should leap at the opportunity. They are desperate for cornerback help, and both of those options are ideal scheme fits with talent worthy of a top-10 pick.
Second Round, Pick 41: Alex Leatherwood, OT, Alabama
Denver should feel great about the future of the offensive line, as weird as that sounds to say. Garett Bolles played like a borderline All-Pro this season, and while Dalton Risner and Lloyd Cushenberry III had a rough 2020, Munchak will get to continue to develop them. Add in Netane Muti, who looked like he could already be starting when he played the Panthers, and the Broncos have four of their five lineman of the future in place.
With the selection of Alex Leatherwood, they make it five of five.
Ja’Wuan James will also be back next season as the starting right tackle, so this will allow the Broncos to bring Leatherwood along slowly, though he’s fairly pro-ready. He will have to learn to play a little more contained, as he has a tendency to put himself out of position by being too aggressive in his blocks, but that should be a relatively easy fix. By 2022, he would be starting at an average to above-average level, which should be enough to give Denver one of the league’s better lines.
Third Round, Pick 72: Hamsah Nasirildeen, S, Florida State
To describe Hamsah Nasirildeen in a single word, you would have to go with, “explosive.”
He plays the game like a heat-seeking missle, coming down hill to blow plays up. Honestly, it looks a lot like Kareem Jackson, just in the body of a much freakier athlete. He fits the mold of recent explosive box safeties to come out like Derwin James and Jeremy Chinn.
His ball skills are a work in progress, as he can often struggle to find it in the air once he’s turned his head, but his athletic profile often allows for him to make up for it. That said, he would definitely struggle with some of Jackson’s responsibilities as a rookie, which is why he might need the 2021 season to grow into that role.
Once the mental side of the game catches up to the physical side for Nasirildeen, you’ll have the perfect compliment to Justin Simmons, a defensive playmaker, and one of the rare defensive athletes that can go toe-to-toe with the Travis Kelce’s and Darren Waller’s of the world.
Other Noteworthy picks
In my mock draft simulation I also landed LSU’s linebacker Jabril Cox in the fourth, UCLA’s gadget player Demetric Felton in the fifth, and Colorado’s very own Nate Landman in the seventh among others.
Landman was definitely a sentimental pick, but he would also fill an upcoming need for the Broncos. Jewell has been great this season, but he’s also very replaceable and probably not worth the contract he’ll likely receive as a free agent following the 2021 season.
With him potentially leaving soon, it makes sense to add Landman who can do everything Jewell can, but at a fraction of the price.
Cox is an athletic linebacker that could either provide much-needed depth or one day become a starter. He could be a solid off-ball option to either Alexander Johnson, Jewell, or whoever else the Broncos have at the position.
Lastly, Felton reminds me a lot of Antonio Gibson, who was excellent for Washington this season. You’ll have to determine how you want to use Felton, but he makes plays with the ball in his hands. He’s perfect for jet sweeps and screens, which have only become more prevalent in the league. Most importantly, he could even serve as a terrific insurance policy for Phillip Lindsay, who will likely be playing on a one-year deal next season.