2015 NFL Draft: Broncos Will Have Interest in Hurricanes
The Denver Broncos, like all other teams, are scouting this week’s Senior Bowl prospects and making further preparations for the 2015 NFL Draft by getting up close and personal with the players they might take in April. One school in particular that the Broncos should have a particular interest in is Miami (FL), which has players in seemingly every round that fit some need the Broncos currently have.
As far as Senior Bowl prospects go, Miami has linebacker Denzel Perryman, tight end Clive Walford, wide receiver Phillip Dorsett, and cornerback Ladarius Gunter.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the Broncos had interest in all four players, but as we approach the mid-week point of practices at the Senior Bowl, there have already been two reports of the Broncos getting significant time with two of those players.
WalterFootball.com reported that the Broncos set up a hotel meeting with linebacker Denzel Perryman, a second or third round prospect that can hit like a ton of bricks and has drawn comparisons to London Fletcher due to his shorter stature (just about 6-feet tall).
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Perryman would be a nice player for the Broncos to take if available in the second or third round, but it would depend entirely on what they plan to do with Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevathan, the team’s leading tacklers the last two seasons. If the Broncos take an inside linebacker high, they obviously plan on him starting sooner rather than later, and it seems odd they’d want to keep either one of those guys on the sideline for any real length of time. Maybe they think having a more traditional inside linebacker can be a benefit to them.
Our friend Chad Jensen at Mile High Huddle is on hand at the Senior Bowl, and he reported that the Broncos had been in close contact with tight end Clive Walford, who is drawing rave reviews and perhaps pricing himself out of the Broncos’ range. Walford is 6-4, 254 pounds, and is a beast as a receiver. He caught 44 passes for 676 yards and seven touchdowns this past season for the Hurricanes, and established himself as probably the top senior tight end in this class. He hasn’t disappointed in Mobile this week.
Phillip Dorsett is a guy who has incredible speed that could give the Broncos a potential deep threat at the back end of their receiver rotation as well as a guy who could help you win on special teams, as both a returner and gunner. Daniel Jeremiah says that Dorsett is probably the fastest player in the draft, and when you watch him play, it’s hard to disagree with that. He is an absolute blur on the field. He caught only 36 passes this past season, but averaged nearly 25 yards per reception and had 10 touchdowns.
The Hurricanes also have Ereck Flowers, an early entry at the offensive tackle position that could intrigue the Broncos with their top pick. Flowers has great size and athletic ability, and if the Broncos lose Orlando Franklin, they’ll have decisions to make about what to do at left guard and right tackle this offseason with Michael Schofield waiting in the wings. Flowers is a guy who could start at left or right tackle, but he’s also not far off from Franklin’s size so you wonder if he could also play guard if needed.
I think right now, you’d have to put Flowers in the mix as one of the top 10 most likely players to be selected by the Broncos in the first round, but that’s dependent upon whether or not he’s even available. I think because of his movement skills, he’s a good fit for any offense and obviously his size (6-6, 324) is good for any offensive tackle. What’s to be determined at this point is what the Broncos and John Elway do in free agency to upgrade the offensive line, which he said he was going to do.
I think ultimately, you could see at least one of these guys mentioned here picked by the Broncos if the fit is right when the Broncos are on the clock. Miami also has a couple of other senior offensive linemen in Jon Feliciano (OG) and Shane McDermott (C) who might be of interest to Denver as UDFAs or late round types.