January 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway late in the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots in the 2013 AFC Championship football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Broncos haven’t been flashy in free agency, but that’s not the style of a Gary Kubiak coached and managed team. John Elway apparently agrees with his philosophies of developing from within, and that makes sense considering the Broncos have a ton of players from the last two draft classes that have not made significant contributions yet.
At least, not significant enough.
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One thing you can count on this year is rookies making significant contributions in Denver, and in my opinion it all starts on the offensive line. The Broncos have an established left tackle in Ryan Clady, and they have an established right guard in Louis Vasquez. Other than that?
The pickings are slim…or are they?
The Broncos drafted right tackle/left guard Michael Schofield out of Michigan a year ago, and they plan on giving him a shot to win a starting job this offseason. The same goes for redshirt Matt Paradis, who was drafted last year in the sixth round out of Boise State. He’ll get a crack at the starting center position, and the Broncos will make sure to do due diligence with Ben Garland at left guard as well.
As of right now, the Broncos have six picks in the 2015 NFL Draft but that should increase to 10 once they are awarded compensatory picks at the owners’ meetings. John Elway has expressed publicly that the team is expecting to have 10 picks, and it’s not unlikely that they’ve already heard from the league in some capacity on the manner.
Earlier in the offseason, Elway said the team was expecting to have 8 or 9 picks, and this time around he explicitly stated 10.
So, if the draft were being held today, here’s how I’d pick it for the Broncos, based off of third party NFLDraftScout.com’s rankings.
Next: First Round