Broncos will get up-close look at Austin Apodaca, sleeper quarterback
The Denver Broncos are hosting a local pro day on Thursday, and will get an up-close look at New Mexico’s strong-armed quarterback Austin Apodaca…
In every NFL Draft class, there are guys who slip through the cracks. The NFL now offers local pro days for players from or near NFL cities to try and limit the amount of slippage. The Denver Broncos will play host to one of those local pro days on Thursday, and New Mexico quarterback Austin Apodaca has a chance to impress the team up-close.
The whole experience of the local pro day in Denver is going to be a bit of a surreal experience for Apodaca, who is a Longmont, CO native and life-long Denver Broncos fan.
His favorite player growing up — John Elway — is likely to be on hand for the pro day workout today and Elway’s Broncos have already shown measured interest in Apodaca, meeting with him at the New Mexico pro day.
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Running the triple option at New Mexico, throwing opportunities were somewhat sparse for Apodaca and his receivers — as I noted in footage of his pro day workout — seem to attempt to catch passes with closed fists instead of open hands.
In other words, the offense he played in at New Mexico wasn’t doing him any favors in terms of impressing scouts consistently throwing the football, nor was it effective for getting him mechanically ready for the NFL.
Apodaca has work to do on his footwork and mechanics, but this kid has one of the best arms in the draft, and that’s not hyperbole.
In what would have set an NFL Scouting Combine record, Apodaca was clocked at 61 miles per hour throwing the football. For a quick comparison, the strongest arm in this year’s draft class is generally considered to be the right arm of Patrick Mahomes II out of Texas Tech. He tied the combine record by hitting 60 MPH on the gun.
The athleticism is certainly there for this guy, as he ran a 4.73 second 40-yard dash, which is solid for a quarterback. The mobility and escape-ability are definitely there, and I think the Broncos might have really stumbled onto something here.
As we saw with Trevor Siemian in 2015, getting picked in the seventh round or even nearly going undrafted doesn’t mean they never get a shot in the NFL.
The raw skills are certainly there with Apodaca, and if the Broncos have a chance to stash him on the practice squad, he could be an absolute steal.