Over the next few weeks, Nikola Jokic will win his third MVP award for the Nuggets. There will be no Hart-break for the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon. And the Broncos, drum roll please, will draft a cornerback.
Wait, what? Didn’t they fire Vic Fangio?
Upon seeing Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest ESPN mock draft, I wondered if he was mocking Broncos Country. At No. 12, the Broncos select Quinyon Mitchell.
Holy Toledo.
Mitchell is faster than fiber optics — a 4.33-second time in the 40-yard dash — and he broke up everything but Hollywood marriages with 46 career PBUs. By all measurables, he is a worthy first-round pick. But a cornerback? For the Broncos? With the 12th pick?
It is not just Kiper thinking along these lines. Many others have predicted Alabama’s Terrion Arnold.
There is no question the Broncos need another cornerback. But it would speak to a flawed process if the pick goes this way in the first round. We have been told on multiple occasions this offseason by general manager George Paton that Riley Moss is “a starter in this league.” The Broncos traded up for the Iowa cornerback a year ago, swapping pick No. 108 and a 2024 third-rounder to select Moss 83rd overall.
And let’s be clear, they needed Moss because Michael Ojemudia, a third-rounder in 2020, fizzled as part of John Elway’s last ghost draft class (only reserve linebacker Justin Strnad remains). Taking a corner at 12 becomes cover for a past mistake if not an indictment for aggressively pursuing Moss.
This is how non-playoff teams remain homecoming opponents. My flip phone no longer functions, so I am going on eBay to find another, um, flip phone. This is not how any of this works. Drafting a cornerback in the first round without giving Moss a chance to win the job in camp suggests Denver whiffed last year or lacks patience, which would be foolish in this transition season.
Of course, the quarterback makes this first-round pick a magnet for interest. That will be addressed in this space. But the larger issue with taking a corner is that this roster screams with needs at edge rusher and tight end. Cornerback comes off as a luxury pick. Want to help Surtain? Sign a modest veteran like Levi Wallace, who is visiting the Broncos on Friday, and improve the pass rush.
Jonathan Cooper led Denver with 8.5 sacks last season. Nik Bonitto and Baron Browning provided flashes of excellence, but combined for 12.5 sacks. Making quarterbacks uncomfortable remains paramount in the modern NFL, especially in a division with Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert. Do you realize the Broncos have not had a player reach double figures in sacks since 2018?
Want to stay put and stay off a quarterback? Take Alabama outside terror Dallas Turner or Jared Verse, who wrote a diary of havoc for Florida State last season.
No matter what term is applied, the Broncos are in the process of a reboot or rebuild in hopes of staging a revival. Most sportsbooks believe they will win five or six games in 2024. This seems like the final thud in this eight-year slide. A rebound depends on hitting on second- and third-day picks. Keep missing on those and you become the Rockies.
But the Broncos really cannot fail in the first round. It is the nitromethane to fuel their race back to relevance. Based on my social media accounts and grocery story encounters, most fans want a quarterback. Between the losing, the boring offense and the revolving coaches and coordinators, it is only natural to lean into the sport’s greatest need.
Teams without a quarterback are Pavarotti in a silent movie.
However, it remains tricky. Coach Sean Payton selecting one in round one makes sense as long as it is part of a clear vision for success, not a desperate grab for a needed resource.
Bo Nix at 12? Why not trade back with the Rams, Steelers or Dolphins, acquire a much-needed second-round selection and take the Oregon quarterback at 19 or the early 20s?
Michael Penix Jr., anyone? I am not sure he makes it past 13th because I can see the ghost of Al Davis taking him. He doesn’t exactly mesh with the Payton offense, but his arm talent is breathtaking.
Part of the concern with fans — not the current regime — is the franchise’s ugly history. Not only have the Broncos used 13 starters at QB since Peyton Manning, but their results on first-round quarterbacks are unnerving. Tommy Maddox, Jay Cutler, Tim Tebow and Paxton Lynch combined for a 26-33 record with 81 touchdowns, 59 interceptions and a single playoff victory.
There is no guarantee Payton and Paton get it right. Neither one has a history of doing so. Payton’s confidence is fascinating, if not comforting, in light of the stakes involved.
The 2018 and 2021 first-round quarterbacks eloquently explain the risk.
But one thing is certain: I would rather sign the waiver and move into the top four for a quarterback than secure my seatbelt in row 12 and take a cornerback.
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