John Elway and friends made some decisions on the second day of the draft that left members of Broncos Country scratching their heads.
The night started off by doubling down on the wide receiver position by selecting K.J. Hamler out of Penn State University, which was surprising considering the Jerry Jeudy pick at 15th overall. Hammler does provide an element to the offense that Jeudy doesn’t, with his supposed sub-4.35 speed.
There are few people in the entire draft, at any position, that are more dangerous than Hamler with the ball in their hands. He goes from zero-to-60 faster than an Italian hypercar and he can stop on a dime too. That quick stop-start ability makes Hamler a headache of migraine proportions for any defender to bring down.
That being said, there were better receivers on the board that didn’t have as many red flags as Hamler. His 5’9”, 176-pound frame will prevent him from ever being a true outside receiver and he dropped too many passes in college. His lack of route-running experience may also force the Broncos to scheme touches his way via jet sweeps and bubble screens early in his career.
Denver followed up their puzzling selection at 46 up with the even more baffling pick of Michael Ojemudia at 77, a player ranked closer to 150th overall, than 90th overall.
Ojemudia is a very impressive athlete at cornerback, with a 4.45 40-yard dash, great size, and ideal length, but the technique and instincts just aren’t there. Even when Ojemudia put himself in a good position in coverage, he often couldn’t find the ball to make a play on it. His was the type of developmental pick you love in the middle of Day 3, not Day 2.
Fortunately, John Elway more than made up for it with his next selection, the regally named Lloyd Cushenberry III. Getting a quality, Day 1 starter at center like Cushenberry at 46 would’ve been a home run pick for the Broncos, but getting him at 83 is one of the best steals of the entire draft.
He immediately fills the hole in the middle of their line, which was arguably the most pressing need, and could even be an immediate upgrade on what Connor McGovern was for them last year at center.
Playing in LSU’s newly-outfitted, pro-style offense last year makes him ready to hit the ground running, he’s a much better pass protector coming out of college than Connor McGovern was, and he’s more impressive from an athletic standpoint than McGovern as well.
John Elway punctuated the evening by selecting Arkansas defensive tackle McTelvin Agim. Agim was the best player on a bad Arkansas team that has impressive burst and a first-step that should pair nicely next to Von Miller’s up front.
Bleacher Report’s Connor Rodgers described him as, “a poor man’s Javon Kinlaw,” because that’s exactly what he is. He’s a fantastic athlete at defensive tackle or 3-4 defensive end, with a lot of upside as a pass-rusher, but he’s currently relying too much on that athleticism and not enough on technique and hand usage.
It definitely wasn’t as great a selection as the one that preceded it, but that’s a high bar to clear. In fact, the Cushenberry pick was so excellent, it recontextualized the entirety of the Broncos’ second day of selections.
Seeing Hamler at 46, Ojemudia at 77, Cushenberry at 83 and Agim at 95 looks like two mediocre picks, one awful pick and one marvelous pick. But, had the Broncos come away with Cushenberry at 46, Hamler at 77, Agim at 83 and Ojemudia at 95, it would look like two great picks, one average pick and a reach on a developmental cornerback that you’re trusting Fangio to develop.
The value is technically the exact same, yet the order it’s delivered in provides two entirely different narratives to Denver’s draft. Unfortunately, we won’t know which is the true narrative until September at the earliest.
