Todd McShay mock draft implies a QB is on the way

Todd McShay’s latest mock draft at ESPN.com implies that a quarterback is on the way to the Denver Broncos in free agency…

Todd McShay put out another new mock draft post-Scouting Combine, and his pick for the Denver Broncos was an interesting one.

For the past couple of mock drafts, McShay has been giving the Broncos a quarterback. In his first mock draft, he had Denver taking Josh Allen, the Wyoming quarterback. In his second mock, he had Denver selecting Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield.

This time around? He has the Broncos going a completely different direction, selecting offensive guard Quenton Nelson:

Obviously the selection of Nelson would imply that the Broncos have the quarterback position figured out via free agency.

I don’t know that this mock draft, which doesn’t have Josh Rosen in the top 10, will end up being completely accurate. Mocking the draft is not an exact science, but McShay deliberately passed on a quarterback for the Broncos and you have to wonder why.

There’s obviously speculation running rampant right now that the Broncos are in on a variety of free agent quarterbacks. That could be Kirk Cousins, Case Keenum, A.J. McCarron, Josh McCown, Teddy Bridgewater — any number of guys.

Whatever the case, there’s only probably one quarterback on that list the Broncos could realistically acquire that would prevent the from taking a quarterback with the fifth overall pick, and that’s Cousins.

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I’m not necessarily saying that’s what McShay is implying, but one could read into it that way.

Personally, I feel like if the Broncos signed Keenum, they would also be wiser to pass on a quarterback at five overall, because investing in Keenum would be significant enough against the cap that you’d have to allocate draft resources elsewhere.

That’s just my opinion. I don’t take a quarterback at five if I sign Keenum to a contract worth $20 million per year.

Therefore I don’t think the Broncos will realistically be in it for Keenum.

With that being said, an offseason where the Broncos potentially acquire Kirk Cousins and Quenton Nelson is about as big of a win as I can think of. Nelson is going to be a stud in the NFL, and obviously having Cousins, you would solidify two major problem areas on the offense.