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Albert Breer predicts Denver Broncos trade up for Baker Mayfield

By Sayre Bedinger

MOBILE, AL - JANUARY 27: Baker Mayfield #6 of the North team throws the ball during the first half of the Reese's Senior Bowl against the the South team at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on January 27, 2018 in Mobile, Alabama. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
MOBILE, AL - JANUARY 27: Baker Mayfield #6 of the North team throws the ball during the first half of the Reese's Senior Bowl against the the South team at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on January 27, 2018 in Mobile, Alabama. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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Albert Breer of MMQB predicts the Denver Broncos will trade up for Baker Mayfield in his latest 2018 NFL mock draft projection…

The quarterback rumors for the Denver Broncos aren’t going anywhere even with the addition of Case Keenum in free agency.

Albert Breer of the MMQB is as plugged in to the league as anyone, and he’s had a hunch for a while that the Broncos would be landing both Case Keenum and a rookie quarterback.

Previously, Breer had predicted the Broncos would land Keenum and UCLA’s Josh Rosen. Now, he has the Broncos moving up one spot in the 2018 NFL Draft with the Cleveland Browns to land Oklahoma quarterback and Heisman trophy winner Baker Mayfield.

Here’s his full first round mock draft.

Something important to know about the mock draft Breer made here is that he is plugged into the league, and he is throwing this scenario out to actual decision-makers in the NFL. He’s not just taking wild guesses. He’s not predicting based on what he thinks or perceives team needs to be.

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This was done with some significant insight into what teams are trying to do, and specifically for the Broncos, he’s been pounding the drum that Denver is following Philadelphia’s 2016 model.

Of course, at that point in time, the Eagles were paying Sam Bradford similar money to what the Broncos are paying Case Keenum, and they had traded up in the draft to secure Carson Wentz as their QB of the future.

There’s no exact formula to make this all work, but I personally have been hesitant to just jump on board for this tactic.

The Broncos have a former first rounder in Paxton Lynch on the roster. They also have a developmental guy in Chad Kelly. Now they’ve added Keenum to the mix. If you add another first round rookie, they are going to sit on the bench behind Keenum along with Lynch and maybe Kelly for another year.

It’s hard to see the bigger picture when you’ve drafted a player in the top five and you want to see him play. Of course, that would be nothing new to Keenum, who was the starter with the Rams when they drafted Jared Goff with the first overall pick.

One way or another, the Broncos need a permanent solution at the quarterback position. They could always trade Keenum next offseason if they feel like it’s time to permanently move on to Mayfield, but what if you draft Mayfield and Keenum has a ton of success?

I guess in that case, you could just trade Mayfield to another quarterback-hungry team.

The situation doesn’t seem ideal on paper, but if the Broncos want to give themselves the best shot at success at the quarterback position, perhaps this is the right way to go.

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