Broncos-related takeaways from day one at the Senior Bowl

MOBILE, Ala. — It’s officially Senior Bowl week as the North and South teams took to the field for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, putting their talents on display for the entire NFL world.

The entire BSN Denver crew was on hand for the practice and the media-day festivities that preceded the on-field work.

Between all of that and last night’s press conferences, here’s what we’ve learned so far at the 70th annual Senior Bowl.

Drew Lock has a little something

I’m not ready to call it the “it” factor quite yet, but Missouri quarterback Drew Lock, who has been linked to the Broncos early in the process, has some serious moxie.

On Monday, Lock was the “headliner” of the Senior Bowl opening-night press conference, and man did he put on a good show. With a look that suggested he had just woken up from a nap, Lock navigated the presser with ease; cracking jokes, providing informative insight, acing the hard hitters and dropping valuable tidbits.

“So, I went up and introduced myself to [Jon Gruden] this morning at breakfast,” Lock shared. “He was like, ‘Hey, sit down a sec,’ and I was like, ‘Awesome, here we go.’ We got to talking, and he’s awesome. I loved every second of talking to him… It’s just another example of why I needed to stay another year [in school], I would have been [a deer in the headlights] talking to him a year ago. I would have had no idea what he was talking about, I would have been really overwhelmed. Now, I was sitting there talking to Jon Gruden and I was just like, ‘I’m ready. Shoot your shot.'”

It was an impressive display that showed you very clearly that he has the media savvy to be the face of a franchise.

On the field, Lock impressed, as well. When you watch him, one phrase comes to mind—easy cheese. He doesn’t quite put the velocity on the ball that a guy like Josh Allen did last year, but boy does he make it look easy to get that thing whistling, something Allen—who has a longer delivery—can’t say.

On one drill, Lock was asked to roll out to his left and deliver the ball to a coach who was heading toward the sideline 15 yards down the field. The young gunslinger released the ball with the flick of his wrist and nearly decapitated the coach, the ball sailing inches above his head before he could even get his hands up. The throw caused audible gasps in the audience.

Lock also delivered the best deep ball of the day, diming up Ohio State’s Terry Mclaurin with a 40-yard rainbow that couldn’t have been more perfect.

Don’t be surprised if the Missouri kid ends up being the big winner of the week here in Mobile. In talking to him one-on-one, his comfort in this entire process was really impressive. He seems to be unflappable, something I did not expect coming into Mobile.

Kyler Murray to the Raiders?

As you would expect, Jon Gruden’s meeting with the media drew a lot of fanfare on Tuesday afternoon, commanding the largest scrum of the day.

One very interesting tidbit from the press conference is Gruden’s apparent interest in Heisman winner Kyler Murray. Two different times during the scrum, Gruden mentioned Murray, a prospect who is notably not here at the Senior Bowl, unprovoked.

“I used to think [quarterback size] mattered a lot until I saw Drew Brees twice a year in Tampa, and then I met Russell Wilson coming out of NC State, and now I’m watching this Murray at Oklahoma, and I am putting away all the prototypes that I once had,” he said. “I used to have a prototype for hand size, height, arm length, all that stuff; now we’re looking for guys that can play and do a lot of different things. They come in all shapes and sizes nowadays.”

Later, when asked about this year’s quarterback class, he mentioned Murray and only Murray by name.

The Raiders currently hold the fourth pick in the draft, and if you think they are happy with who they have under center right now, consider this: Oakland’s staff got both Drew Lock and Daniel Jones on their side this week. For an event that preaches building the rosters for competitive balance, it is a bit curious that one team got the two best quarterbacks here. Especially when you add in the fact that the 49ers, the other staff here, are certainly not drafting a QB in the first round.

It’s a very similar situation to last year, when it was the Broncos who got both Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen on their squad while the Dashaun-Watson-bearing Texans were left with Kyle Lauletta and company. In hindsight, it probably should have been a bigger red flag that the North team, led by Vance Joseph, still got their doors blown off.

If the Raiders do go quarterback at 4, that could complicate things for the Broncos at 10 if they are also looking to get a QB.

Iman Marshall?

According to a source, the Broncos were intrigued by the performance of Southern California cornerback Iman Marshall during the North practice in the afternoon. Marshall, who had a very solid practice, is a speedy corner who hit 19.9 MPH during the session, a top-five speed on his team.

Despite drafting corners in the third round of each of the last two drafts (Brendan Langley and Issac Yiadom), the Broncos are still in need of help outside, especially with Langley appearing to be a bust.

Marshall, a 6-foot, 205-pound corner, could be an interesting piece to bring into Vic Fangio’s defense.

Other Broncos notes

• John Elway was in the house for both practices on Tuesday, flanked by his right-hand man Matt Russell and Broncos’ VP of Security, Keith Bishop. Also in the group was actor Dan Marino, famous for his role in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
• The Broncos named longtime lineman Chris Kuper their assistant offensive line coach on Tuesday. Kuper played eight seasons for the Broncos between 2006 and 2013.  Kuper, who is seen as a rising star in the business,  spent the last three seasons in an assistant role on the Dolphins coaching staff.
• The Broncos also signed offensive lineman Don Barclay to a future contract on Tuesday. Barclay is a seventh-year player who has appeared in 65 games in the NFL, including 25 starts. He most recently spent the 2018 preseason with New Orleans.

Stay tuned to BSN Denver for wall-to-wall coverage of the rest of the week here in Mobile.