Owning the final pick in the first round is one of the greatest honors in football. Simply put, it means you’re the best. And right now, the Broncos are the best.
Unfortunately, that honor doesn’t normally come to those who are in dire need of a quarterback — most Super Bowl champions have that well taken care of. So in this scenario, the Broncos probably wish they were a good 10, 20, 30 picks higher in the draft.
Despite what Peter King says, though, that’s not likely to happen. And if it did, it’d cost the Broncos an arm and a leg and a torso and a soul, and that’s on the cheap end of things.
What the Broncos need is for someone to fall in their lap, and I’m not just talking about quarterbacks. Even if Denver doesn’t get their signal caller of the future, they better hope they can get a heck of a player to make up for his absence.
In no particular order, here are five prospects the Denver Broncos should be hoping and praying fall to pick No. 31.
LB Jaylon Smith (Bonus)
PROJECTED ROUND: 3rd-4th HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6-2/223 LBS
CAREER NUMBERS: 284 total tackles; 23.5 tackles for a loss; 4.5 sacks; 10 passes defensed; 3 forced fumbles
Here’s the deal: Jaylon Smith may be the biggest risk/reward pick in NFL history. That sounds like an exaggeration, but it’s not.
This is a guy who has Hall of Fame talent. This is a guy who is viewed by many as the most talented on-field football player in the class, and it’s not even that close. This is a guy who should have been selected within the first three picks of the draft, no questions asked.
This is also a guy who may have suffered a career-ending injury during Notre Dame’s bowl game.
The Broncos aren’t going to select Smith in the first round — no one is — but if they can grab him in the third, even the second, it’s worth it. He’s not playing this season, and there’s a chance he doesn’t play the next, but Denver is in a position where they can redshirt their second- or third-round pick.
If he ever rebounds to 90 percent of the player he used to be, the Broncos could walk away with one of the greatest draft-day steals in a long time.
LB Reggie Ragland
PROJECTED ROUND: 1st HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6-1/247 LBS
CAREER NUMBERS: 220 total tackles; 17.5 tackles for a loss; 4.0 sacks; 1 interceptions; 10 passes defensed; 4 forced fumbles
Honestly, until a few days ago, I hadn’t even thought of Reggie Ragland as an option; I figured he’d be long, long gone. But in the last few days, I’ve seen some mock drafts with Ragland slipping into the late 20s, and Fox Sports even had him falling into the second round.
Safe to say, that’s great news for the Denver Broncos.
Ragland is unanimously viewed as the top inside linebacker in the draft, and while other, more-athletic, prospects may look more like the man they’d be replacing, Danny Trevathan, Ragland’s pure talent is too much to pass up.
If he somehow falls to pick 31, there are very few players the Broncos could possibly consider over him, and they’re all on this list. Not only would he be the best player on the board, but he would fill a position of need perfectly.
QB Paxton Lynch
PROJECTED ROUND: 1st/2nd HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6-7/244 LBS
CAREER NUMBERS: 62.9% completion; 8,865 yards passing; 59 passing TDs; 23 INTs; 687 yards rushing; 17 rushing TDs
There are plenty of stop-gap options out there, but the Broncos need a long-term solution at quarterback, and Paxton Lynch may be their best shot.
His draft stock, though, has been hard to pin down.
Midway through the college season, some had Lynch as high as a top-five pick, but after a bumpy finish, he fell down towards the second round. Now, he’s back to possibly being a top-20 pick, but who’s to say what he’ll be next weekend?
We’ve seen years where quarterbacks get pushed way to high — Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder — and we’ve seen years where quarterbacks have fallen way too far — Andy Dalton, Derek Carr, Teddy Bridgewater. If the Broncos are lucky, this year will be more like the latter, and Lynch will slip into their lap.
DT Robert Nkemdiche
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPhgQhazzqQ
PROJECTED ROUND: 1st/2nd HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6-4/296 LBS
CAREER NUMBERS: 81 total tackles; 16 tackles for a loss; 6 sacks
Much like Jaylon Smith, Robert Nkemdiche is a huge risk/reward pick. In his case, the risk has less to do with his knee and more to do with his head.
Nkemdiche is a knucklehead, and that’s putting in nicely. More importantly, he’s an unpredictable knucklehead.
Off-the-field issues aside, this is a guy who should be a top-five pick. Unfortunately, with the way the careers of Johnny Manziel, Justin Blackmon, Josh Gordon and a multitude of others have gone, a franchise may be better off not drafting him all together.
Luckily, if there’s one team that can afford the risk, it’s the Denver Broncos. Yes, a completely blown first-round pick would definitely hurt, but this is the exact type of locker room a guy like Nkemdiche needs; he needs role models, like DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller, who can not only teach him how to dominate on the field, but how to be a pro off it.
And if it all works out, Denver will have their Malik Jackson replacement in place, and then some.
G Cody Whitehair
Projected Round: 1st/2nd Height/Weight: 6-4/301 LBS
No, a guard is not as sexy as a quarterback or pass rusher, but that doesn’t mean it’s not absolutely critical to a team’s success, especially a team that needs to make sure they give their quarterback all the help he can get.
The Broncos have strengthened their tackle position with the signings of Russell Okung and Donald Stephenson, but they could still use an upgrade at guard; Max Garcia is nice, but they’re still without their two starting guards from last year’s Super Bowl.
Maybe they move Ty Sambrailo inside or maybe they just go ahead and draft the top guard in this year’s draft. I lean towards the second; at least that way the worst case scenario is they have too much depth.
DT A’Shawn Robinson
PROJECTED ROUND: 1st HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6-4/307 LBS
CAREER NUMBERS: 133 total tackles; 22.0 tackles for a loss; 9.0 sacks; 5 passes defensed; 1 forced fumbles
Like his Alabama teammate, Reggie Ragland, it’s hard to imagine that A’Shawn Robinson will be available at pick 31, but he’s been slipping down draft boards recently, too.
Why? Well, not because there’s questions or concerns about his ability, but simply because the defensive tackle position is so deep this year. There are legitimately seven or eight prospects you could make a case for first-round consideration, and there’s just not enough landing spots for all of them. And if some of them prefer a guy like Jarran Reed or Vernon Butler, than maybe Robinson does slide down to the backend of the first.
Robinson is a guy that’s definitely raw, but the tools are all there. Get him to Denver, and Wade Phillips and the Broncos coaching staff will pull the best out of him.