Only in the NFL does a week in the dead part of the offseason gift us so much news. Between Kyler Murray making his commitment to the NFL official, the Denver Broncos trade for Joe Flacco and Brandon Marshall’s imminent release, the league ruled the news cycle in the Mile High City.
With all those changes in Broncos Country, there was no better time to update our draft rankings and give you several names Denver might be looking at, especially now that the Broncos have more flexibility at the top of the draft with the acquisition of a new veteran quarterback.
With all these changes, here are some positions and player’s rising up our board in the fourth update of our top-50 prospects.
Three ideal linebackers for Fangio’s ‘D’
The 2019 class is loaded with edge rushers, guys who in the Broncos’ 3-4 scheme would play outside linebacker, where Denver is set for the foreseeable future.
However, significant upgrades will be needed at the inside linebacker position, maybe the most important spot in Vic Fangio’s defense, where speed and range in coverage are essential. The ILB position is that much more of a priority now that Marshall won’t be on the team anymore.
This year’s class is made up of three standouts who fit Fangio’s ‘D’ to perfection, starting with LSU’s Devin White, who remains the second-best player on our board. White is a heat-seeking missile who flies around the field and takes on blockers with reckless abandon.
Watch LSU for a couple plays, and it’s impossible not to notice No. 40 flying around the formation and making plays all over the field. White doesn’t just play with an edge, he’s fast both downhill and sideline to sideline. While his skills in coverage are still raw, he has plenty of athleticism to cover lots of ground in Fangio’s underneath zones. If he were to drop to 10, he’d be a logical selection if the Broncos don’t see a quarterback they’re in love with still available.
While undersized, Michigan’s Devin Bush is cut from White’s same cloth with NFL-ready instincts to boot. Bush’s size isn’t as much of a concern because he’ll take on blockers and finish tackles like a 250-pound backer. He has everything a team could ask for out of a linebacker in the modern NFL, and if the Broncos were to trade down from 10 or trade up in the second round, Bush would be an ideal target.
You know that football is modernizing when even a school like Alabama is producing ILBs who are competent in coverage like Mack Wilson. Not only is Wilson “competent,” his strength is covering ground and moving smoothly in coverage, rather than thumping downhill like other Tide backers have in the past. He’s not exactly soft tackling or having to take on blockers either.
Those three are clearly the top players at their position. What will be interesting to see once the NFL Combine and Pro Days begin is who establishes themselves as the fourth-best off-ball linebacker in 2019.
For now, the next guy on our board is Terrill Hanks, a small-school standout and potential downhill destroyer with endless talent in coverage, though his instincts are still very raw.
Hanks barely missed the cut in our top-50 after a break out week at the Senior Bowl, but others could emerge. Finding out who fills out that group will be particularly interesting in Denver, where more athleticism will be required to get Fangio’s defense playing up to its lofty standards.
The cream is rising to the top
The 2019 NFL Draft has always been defined by the interior defensive line group, another position of interest in Denver, where the team has nice depth but lacks a true game wrecker on the line to compliment Von Miller and Bradley Chubb outside.
This draft will have plenty of candidates, starting with Quinnen Williams, who will almost certainly be long gone before Denver’s 10th pick. If for some reason he was to drop, he’d be an absolute game changer for the Broncos defense due to his mix of power and quickness off the snap.
Another premier talent is Houston’s Ed Oliver, who has some detractors after a disappointing junior season. Oliver is the best interior penetrator in this draft and could be a special pass rusher if he puts everything together in the NFL.
Given some size concerns and lack of production in his final season, Oliver could drop to 10 where the Broncos would have a hard time passing on him.
The clear top tier at the position is closed out by Rashan Gary, who played defensive end at Michigan but profiles more as an interior rusher in the pros. Gary could see his stock soar if his freakish athleticism is showcased at the combine. He’s the rawest of the top three but has as much talent as anyone.
You couldn’t go wrong with drafting any of those phonemes at 10th overall where they’d present great value. After Jeffrey Simmons suffered an awful ACL tear this week, those three are clearly the top of the class.
The beauty is the Broncos could wait, too, because the depth is just that good. Our top-50 features nine interior D-lineman and that figure could rise before we get to the draft in late April.
Wideouts with more than just size
With the addition of a new OC, Rich Scangarello, who’ll implement more vertical shots in his offenses and a big arm like Flacco’s, the Broncos need to add speed at receiver regardless of what they decide to do with Emmanuel Sanders this offseason.
Given that need, it’s a good thing that the 2019 class is starting to show there’s more than just big-bodied wideouts available. This WR group is a strength of the draft with six wideouts in our top 50 and two more who just missed the cut.
The most intriguing talents for Denver in 2019 are Oklahoma’s Marquise Brown, a true field-stretcher who could play in the slot or out wide with his elite speed, forcing defenses to guard the entire field when facing the Broncos aerial attack. Brown is truly undersized at 5-foot-10 and 168 pounds, but paired with Courtland Sutton’s ball skills could be the perfect compliment for Denver’s receiving corps.
Ole Miss’ D.K. Metcalf doesn’t have size concerns at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds and is built like a football Adonis, but he does have breakaway speed as illustrated by his 18.3 yards per catch average over the course of his career.
Metcalf is an interesting prospect after having his final season cut short by a devastating neck injury, but concerns about the midseason injury seem to be eased, and if he checks out medically at the combine, he could go very high.
There’s some young Demaryius Thomas to Metcalf’s game, as he has the potential to be a true No.1 target in Denver’s offense pushing Sutton to be a possession big-bodied WR, a more natural fit. That could revolutionize the Broncos offense for years to come, and if the injury and lack of production—due to a scarcity of games played—push him down the board, he could be a worthwhile risk to take on day two.
Senior Bowl standout Deebo Samuel is another riser who would fit perfectly in Denver. Against some of college football’s best DBs, he was absolutely unstoppable in Mobile, catching everything and showing an elite combination of hands, quickness, and speed.
Samuel’s also a more polished route-runner than the two aforementioned WRs and might still be around by the Broncos second-round selection—pick No. 41. His stock is soaring right now, and an impressive showing in Indianapolis could push him firmly into the first-round mix. He currently sits at 39 on our board.
More depth than initially thought at CB
Let’s face it, with two outstanding cornerback classes in 2017 and 2018 the Broncos may have missed the boat by coming away with Brendan Langley and Isaac Yiadom, but they’ll have another shot at adding depth at the position in 2019, where the class is shaping up to be pretty darn good.
It might not be the talent level we saw the last two years, but the depth at cornerback is turning out to be pretty good with eight players in our top 60.
The top three are LSU’s Greedy Williams, Washington’s Byron Murphy and Georgia’s DeAndre Baker, who will all be candidates at the 10th pick.
Williams has the elite traits that you look for in a top-10 pick, where cornerbacks taken that high can play on an island and lock down the NFL’s best WRs. He has some effort concerns, and in Fangio’s defense, which features a lot more zone concepts, the lengthy corner might not be a priority like his teammate White is, though he should still merit consideration.
Murphy is a stud, and though he’s undersized, he plays with ferocity when having to fill against the run or fly downhill to make tackles. He’s also much more scheme versatile; he could play off coverage, has electric feet and great ball skills paired with high-end instincts to play in zone. He’s also super fluid with ample speed downfield to play man coverage as well.
The 10th pick might be just a smidge too rich for the talented Husky, though that could change if he shows out in Indy.
Baker is the best of both worlds. He has more size than Murphy and is much more physical than Williams. He’d fit the Broncos scheme perfectly, though it needs to be seen if he has the type of speed to warrant a top-10 selection.
Others like Trayvon Mullen, Joejuan Williams, and even Julian Love could rise further up our board with good showings in Indianapolis. The size and ball skills Mullen and Williams possess are high end, while Love would be an ideal fit in Fangio’s defense.
The Broncos need to add more depth at the position, and there will be plenty of options in 2019 despite a thinner crop than in the last two historical classes.
Top-50 Big Board 4.0
1. Nick Bosa, DE, Ohio State
2. Devin White, LB, LSU
3. Quinnen Williams, DL, Alabama
4. Ed Oliver, DT, Houston
5. Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State
6. Andraez ‘Greedy’ Williams, CB, LSU
7. Clelin Ferrell, EDGE, Clemson
8. Josh Allen, EDGE, Kentucky
9. Kyler Murray, QB, Oklahoma
10. Rashan Gary, DL, Michigan
11. Jonah Williams, LT, Alabama
12. Deionte Thompson, FS, Alabama
13. Drew Lock, QB, Missouri
14. Brian Burns, EDGE, Florida State
15. Byron Murphy, CB, Washington
16. DeAndre Baker, CB, Georgia
17. Yodny Cajuste, LT, West Virginia
18. Dre’Mont Jones, DL, Ohio State
19. Josh Jacobs, RB, Alabama
20. Jeffrey Simmons, DT, Mississippi State
21. Christian Wilkins, DL, Clemson
22. Jerry Tillery, DT, Notre Dame
23. Marquise Brown, WR, Oklahoma
24. D.K. Metcalf, WR, Ole Miss
25. Montez Sweat, EDGE, Mississippi State
26. Irv Smith Jr., TE, Alabama
27. Devin Bush, OLB, Michigan
28. T.J. Hockenson, TE, Iowa
29. Cody Ford, OL, Oklahoma
30. Jawaan Taylor, OT, Florida
31. Mack Wilson, LB, Alabama
32. Zach Allen, DL/DE, Boston College
33. N’Keal Harry, WR, Arizona State
34. Austin Bryant, EDGE, Clemson
35. Jachai Polite, EDGE, Florida
36. Hakeem Butler, WR, Iowa State
37. Garrett Bradbury, OC, NC State
38. Gerald Willis III, DT, Miami
39. Deebo Samuel, WR, South Carolina
40. Greg Little, OT, Ole Miss
41. A.J. Brown, WR, Ole Miss
42. Joejuan Williams, CB, Vanderbilt
43. Trayvon Mullen, CB, Clemson
44. Andre Dillard, LT, Washington State
45. Noah Fant, TE, Iowa
46. Dexter Lawrence, DT, Clemson
47. Julian Love, CB, Notre Dame
48. Taylor Rapp, SS, Washington
49. Nasir Adderley, CB/S, Delaware
50. Dalton Risner, RT, Kansas State
Just missed the cut:
David Edwards, RT, Wisconsin
Rodney Anderson, RB, Oklahoma
Kelvin Harmon, WR, NC State
Riley Ridley, WR, Georgia
Charles Omenihu, DE, Texas
Lonnie Johnson Jr., CB, Kentucky
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, CB/S, Florida
Kaden Smith, TE, Stanford
Terrill Hanks, OLB, New Mexico State
Daniel Jones, QB, Duke
