2014 Broncos Draft Target: Trevor Reilly, DE, Utah Utes

Oct 12, 2013; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes defensive end Trevor Reilly (9) reacts during the second half against the Stanford Cardinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Utah defeated Stanford 27-21. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

We all know the Broncos are going to likely be in the market for a defensive end come time for the 2014 NFL Draft, but right now, it remains pretty unclear what players will emerge as first round targets by the time May rolls around.

One guy I’ve been looking at lately that has stood out to me is Utah’s Trevor Reilly, who is currently graded as a top 40-50 prospect and just capped off a phenomenal senior season in which he had 100 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks, and a game-sealing interception in the regular season finale.

Reilly has been lined up all over the defensive front seven for the Utes this year, playing some defensive end and linebacker and showing versatility that is going to make him very attractive to NFL scouts at the next level.

That’s also something that could hurt his stock, unfortunately.

Some scouts might consider Reilly a jack-of-all-trades and master of none, and because he does play so many positions, it’s fair to question whether or not he could hold up a full season at the defensive end position.

For the Broncos, the good news is that there are a lot of moving parts all the time. Players like Von Miller and Shaun Phillips line up all around the formation at different positions, and are used in different blitz packages and things like that that could make Reilly an intriguing fit for the Broncos.

Reilly has shown incredible improvement as a senior in 2013, but he fits the profile of what the Broncos look for as a steady team leader with the heart of a warrior. He played the 2012 season with a torn ACL and led the team in tackles and earned honorable All-Pac 12 conference honors.

This year, he learned that his then 10-month old daughter had kidney cancer, all or most of which is now gone and doctors believe she can make a full recovery and move on with her life.

With a fully healed knee and his daughter’s positive progress, Reilly had a dominant senior season for the Utes, flying all over the field making plays. That’s something no defense can ever have enough of, and it’s something the Broncos will have to seriously consider when they make their first round selection.