Broncos Roundtable: Who was Denver’s best value pick?

DENVER — The Broncos’ 2020 draft class will be one to remember. Not only was the remote nature incredibly unique, but the Broncos drafted 10 players — tying a record for Denver’s biggest draft class in the John Elway era.

But which of those 10 draft picks was the best value?

The DNVR Broncos Crew breaks it down.

WHO WAS DENVER’S BEST VALUE PICK?

Zac

Jerry Jeudy — I know, I know Jeudy was Denver’s first-round pick. But I was advocating for the Broncos to trade up to land the star receiver from Alabama. In fact, I was okay with the Broncos forking over a third and fourth-round pick, along with No. 15 overall, to the Browns in order to land Jeudy at No. 10.

But instead, Elway sat back, kept the third and fourth-round pick in his pocket and let the 6-foot-1 All-American fall right into his lap.

So not only, in my book, did Elway add value to this pick by landing him at 15 instead of a trade up, but he landed the draft’s best receiver in the middle of the first round. Physically, Jeudy doesn’t bring any elite traits to the field. But once on the field, he’s elite at getting open — the most important attribute for a receiver.

While the Raiders got enamored with Henry Ruggs III’s elite 4.27 40-yard dash speed with the 12th-overall pick, the Broncos sat back and drafted the best overall wideout in a historically great receiver class.

Jeudy wasn’t just the draft’s best receiver, he was without a doubt a top 10 player in the draft. To get great value in the first round, a team has to hit a home run. The Broncos hit a grand slam with Jerry Jeudy.

Mase

Netane Muti — Rolling the Day 3 dice on players with lengthy injury histories has not worked out well for the Broncos in the Elway era. Such gambles on edge rusher Quanterus Smith (2013) and tight end Jake Butt (2017) came up snake eyes. But it only takes one big score to make up for a slew of these types of misses, as the Broncos learned in 1995 when they selected Terrell Davis in the sixth round.

This isn’t to say Muti will become the offensive-line equivalent of T.D. But the powerful, talented Fresno State product mauled opponents when he wasn’t sidelined with Achilles tendon or Lisfranc injuries. Were it not for these injuries that limited him to five games over the last two seasons, Muti likely would have been a second-round pick — which translates to being an immediate starter.

His background at guard and tackle gives the Broncos multiple options for his development. Further, with the first-team offensive line set for 2020, the team can take its time with his recovery from the Lisfranc injury that ended his redshirt junior season.

The risk was low — a sixth-round pick. The rewards could be as immense as Muti himself.

Ryan

K.J. Hamler — Hamler wasn’t able to run the 40-yard dash at the combine due to an injury, but if he did, he may not be a Bronco right now. New Broncos tight end Albert Okuegbunam trained for the combine with Hamler in Florida and had this to say on SiriusXM Radio, “A slow time for KJ would be in the mid-4.3s. He was putting up ridiculous numbers. By far the fastest guy there. I have no doubt he would have hit in the 4.2-range.”

If Hamler runs in the 4.2-range at the combine, there is very little chance he falls to the Broncos in the second round of the draft. In fact, the only receiver in this year’s draft to run in the 4.2s, Henry Ruggs III, was the first wide receiver taken at No. 10 0verall.

Could Hamler have beat Ruggs 4.27?

“I think so,” he said. “I’ve never seen someone put up the times that he did. I think it would be close if it wasn’t K.J.”

You can be sure that if he beat that 4.27, he would not have been there for the Broncos ar 42. So, when Denver ends up with one of the most dynamic receiving trios in the league, you can thank Hamler’s minor hamstring injury that stopped him from running in Indy.