Denver Broncos: Thoughts on Mel Kiper Jr.’s first mock draft
By Bruce Matson
Does ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.’s most recent mock draft show any indications to what the Denver Broncos might do with their first-round pick on draft day?
The Denver Broncos have a lot of options they can explore with their first-round pick. The fifth pick in the draft holds a lot of equity, which means they could easily trade down in the draft and receive a large sum of players and picks in return. They are also not far from trading up to one of the top spots in the draft if they needed to make a move to get the player of their choice. No matter what, the Broncos will get the opportunity to select one of the top players in the draft.
ESPN NFL Draft Analyst Mel Kiper Jr. dropped his first mock draft of the season on Thursday. The mock shook a lot of heads because it had Wyoming quarterback, Josh Allen, going first overall to the Cleveland Browns. This shouldn’t be a surprised, because every year, when Kiper posts his first mock draft of the season, he tends to make some bold moves.
I tweeted out Kiper’s mock on Twitter to share with the public. The majority of people who interacted with me hated that Allen was the first overall pick. There was also a lot of people that were disgusted that Lamar Jackson was selected in the first round of Kiper’s mock. I spoke with some Broncos fans about the mock draft and almost all of them were thrilled about the results of the mock draft.
Mel Kiper's Mock Draft
— Bruce Matson (@MetricScout) January 18, 2018
1. Browns - Josh Allen
2. Giants - Josh Rosen
3. Colts - Bradley Chubb
4. Browns - Saquon Barkley
5. Broncos - Sam Darold
6. Jets - Minkah Fitzpatrick
7. Bucs - Quentin Nelson
8. Bears - Calvin Ridley
9. 49ers - Denzel Ward
10 Raiders - Roquan Smith
Kiper had Sam Darnold, quarterback from USC falling to the Broncos. Darnold is rated as one of the top two quarterback prospects in this draft and the fact that he would fall all the way to fifth spot is astonishing to me. Nonetheless, this is an incredible pick for the Broncos, because in most cases they wouldn’t get the opportunity to draft Darnold unless they traded up to one of the first two picks in the draft.
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I like how the mock draft unfolded for the Broncos. I think they got one of the biggest steals of the draft. However, I don’t think this is going to actually happen during the draft. It’s hard to see Darnold slipping all the way to the fifth pick. He’s more than likely going to get drafted by either the Cleveland Browns or the New York Giants in the first two picks of the draft.
Even if Darnold slips past the first two picks in the draft, there’s a good chance that another team will make a trade with the Indianapolis Colts for the third pick or with the Browns for the fourth pick in the draft to select one of the top quarterbacks. Either way, a lot has to happen for Darnold to fall all the way to the Broncos.
The major takeaway from Kiper’s mock, is that there’s a very good chance that two quarterbacks are going to be selected before the Broncos get the chance to pick. If they want to get one of the top quarterbacks in this draft they will need to pay whatever price it takes to move up to one of the top picks to get the quarterback of their choice.
Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Conference Championship edition
The odds that this mock draft comes to fruition is very low and it should be taken with a grain of salt. Darnold will more than likely won’t fall to the Broncos in the draft. Right now, we have to weigh all of the options and speculate who might be available when it’s Denver’s turn to pick.