I relayed the information earlier on Monday that the Denver Broncos received Missouri pass rusher Shane Ray with their top pick in ESPN’s NFL Nation live mock draft, which featured reporters for each team or division making picks for the teams they respectively cover.
With Ray on the board, Jeff Legwold may have had the easiest option of any of the mock GMs in this draft, taking a guy who had 22.5 TFL and 13.5 sacks last year to go along with three forced fumbles and a blocked kick.
The guy was simply a monster, who made plays all over the field.
He was so good, in fact, that ESPN analyst and former Colts GM Bill Polian compared him to Robert Mathis.
That seems like way too good of a player to fall into Denver’s laps, but it’s happened pretty much every single draft that John Elway has been around for.
In 2011, the Broncos got Von Miller 2nd overall, a much better player (in my opinion) than Cam Newton who went first overall and they had plenty of options available with Marcell Dareus, Patrick Peterson, and J.J. Watt also on the board.
In 2012, the Broncos might not have had the right player fall into their lap, and they ended up trading out of the first round entirely to take Derek Wolfe, a defensive end out of Cincinnati who has started every year since.
In 2013, Sylvester Williams fell into the Broncos’ laps, and John Elway would talk after the draft about how he was a player that, at pick 28, they did not expect to be on the board whatsoever with his power, quickness, and work ethic.
In 2014, the Broncos faced a similar situation when Bradley Roby, pretty widely considered a top 20-25 player, fell into the Broncos’ slot at 31 overall. John Elway, who had just spent a ton of money on Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward for the secondary, decided Roby was too good to pass up.
Again, none of the Broncos’ pre-draft mock exercises included a scenario in which Roby was on the board, so having him fall was an unexpected pleasant surprise.
Dec 6, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Missouri Tigers defensive lineman Shane Ray (56) tackles Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Blake Sims (6) during the second quarter of the 2014 SEC Championship Game at the Georgia Dome. The play caused Ray to be ejected from the game for targeting. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
That could and probably will happen again this year, as so many teams have such a wide variety of needs and options available to them. This is a really unpredictable draft it feels, as they always do, so the fact that Shane Ray (or a player like him) fell to the Broncos in this particular mock exercise should serve as a warning — don’t become too attached to the players currently being picked in the 20-40 range of mock drafts, because the Broncos could very well get someone on the top 20 of their board.
Another such player is Randy Gregory, who has issues off the field with marijuana and would be a major risk for the Broncos, but is a phenomenal athlete and football player. He could be on the board at pick 28.
If the Broncos are able to cash in on the fall of a bigger name player like Ray or Gregory in the first round, don’t be surprised to see them trade up in the second round to get another player they might covet, such as an offensive tackle like Jake Fisher, D.J. Humphries, or T.J. Clemmings.
If the Broncos come away from this draft with a top flight defender and a starting offensive lineman, perhaps another quarterback and depth elsewhere, they will have done just fine.