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Denver Broncos 2017 NFL Draft Primer

By Sayre Bedinger

Mar 1, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Denver Broncos executive vice president of operations John Elway speaks to the media during the 2017 NFL Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 1, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Denver Broncos executive vice president of operations John Elway speaks to the media during the 2017 NFL Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 29, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes offensive lineman Garett Bolles (72) celebrates a touchdown by Utah Utes tight end Evan Moeai (not pictured) during the second half against the Washington Huskies at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Washington won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 29, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes offensive lineman Garett Bolles (72) celebrates a touchdown by Utah Utes tight end Evan Moeai (not pictured) during the second half against the Washington Huskies at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Washington won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports /

Garett Bolles, OT, Utah

Cam Robinson, OT, Alabama

Forrest Lamp, OL, Western Kentucky

Ryan Ramczyk, OT, Wisconsin

I decided to lump all the tackles into one slide, not because I don’t view this position as unlikely in the first round, but because the reasoning for picking any one of these guys is roughly the same.

The Broncos’ biggest need going into the draft (as of the time of this posting) is left tackle. Who out of this group would be able to step in as a rookie and start right away?

I don’t know if there’s an answer to that…

This year’s offensive tackle group is not considered the greatest of all-time by any means, but there are some guys worthy of consideration in the first round. The top player on my board at offensive tackle is Garett Bolles. Bolles is going to be 25 years old as a rookie, which a lot of people are turned off by, but there may not be a nastier lineman in this year’s draft.

With just one year at Utah, Bolles’ lack of experience in division 1 is another potential hinderance to his initial development in the NFL.

Cam Robinson has three years of starting experience at Alabama, and is the self-proclaimed best lineman in this year’s draft. When you watch him, it’s easy to fall in love with his stretches of nasty play at left tackle, but there are times when he doesn’t show the best effort, and there are off-field concerns with him as well.

Forrest Lamp may be the most technically sound lineman in the entire draft, but some question whether or not he’s capable of playing left tackle in the NFL. If the Broncos view him as a left tackle, he would absolutely be worthy of their first round pick. He’s one of the safest picks in this year’s draft, if you ask me.

The wild card here is Ryan Ramczyk, who played extremely well this past year at Wisconsin. Rumors abound that Ramczyk doesn’t love football, which makes sense because he only has one year of collegiate experience (at Wisconsin) due to him not knowing whether or not he wanted to play coming out of high school.

There’s no doubt about Ramczyk’s on-field ability, but he’s having hip surgery this offseason, and questions about his love and passion for the game concern me greatly.

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