Why the Denver Broncos should draft Jaylon Smith
2016 NFL Draft: What is going to happen with Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith? Should the Denver Broncos find a way to get him on the roster?
With the 2016 NFL Draft fast approaching, the status of Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith has me all sorts of confused. Smith’s Combine medical re-check didn’t reveal anything we didn’t already know — he’s going to miss the 2016 season.
That is a certainty, but what about 2017? 2018?
How soon can an NFL team get this kid on the field?
As you may have seen in my most recent mock draft, I have the Broncos taking the stud Notre Dame linebacker in the third round. I don’t know at this point if that’s too high or too low, and we won’t until he’s actually drafted, but I have some reasoning for the pick and I expounded on that a little bit with my pick explanation in the mock draft.
Drafting Jaylon Smith in 2016 with any pick outside the first round is basically like giving yourself an additional 1st round pick in 2017. In the scenario of the mock draft I made, the Broncos would be basically giving up a 2016 compensatory third round draft pick in exchange for a first rounder in 2017.
Would you make that trade? I would.
Regardless of whether or not Jaylon Smith ever plays, this is a risk worth taking. I would have said the same thing about Marcus Lattimore a few years ago, and despite the fact that he never played, I would say it again.
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Smith is a phenomenal talent, and likely would have been a top three pick were it not for his devastating injury at the end of last season. Heck, had he just torn ligaments in his knee, he might still be worth a first round pick.
He’s that good.
For the Broncos, they can afford a little stash with one of their early picks if they want to take it. The Broncos have five picks in the first four rounds, and seven picks in the first five rounds. They aren’t hurting for draft capital, and sometimes, you make an investment for a year beyond 2016 with one of your picks.
Certainly the Broncos would have to have a good grasp on the medical situation of Smith to make such a pick, something none of us in the general public really have. Will he play football again?
If the answer to that question is yes, then the investment is worth the risk.