Denver Broncos: How they can supplement drafting a QB

The Denver Broncos have plenty of scenarios to work through with their top draft pick, but drafting a QB presents the most favorable outcome…

The Denver Broncos are not fooling anybody about their perceived interest in possibly taking a quarterback with the fifth overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

At this point, taking any position other than a quarterback would be a shocker.

The Broncos are exploring moving up in the draft, moving down in the draft, and also just staying put at five overall and letting the board fall as it may. With about a month left until the 2018 NFL Draft, the most likely scenarios seem to involve the Broncos either moving up a spot (or three) to take a quarterback, or betting on just three quarterbacks going in the top four picks.

The draft is extremely unpredictable, but it seems likely one of the quarterbacks among Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen, and Baker Mayfield will be available when the Broncos are on the clock at number five overall.

If the team has seen all it needs to see from those four guys and feels comfortable with any one of them moving forward, it makes sense to stay at five overall or even move up one spot with Cleveland to secure at least one of those players.

After going through some of the scenarios utilizing Fanspeak’s ‘On The Clock’ simulator, the results of the draft as a whole after picking a quarterback with the fifth overall pick were substantially better than when I selected Notre Dame’s Quenton Nelson with the fifth pick, or a defensive player.

The fact of the matter is, no matter what order you make the selections, a quarterback has to be part of your ‘mock draft’ scenario. The Broncos are going to take one at some point within the top few rounds, and if that’s the case, there’s no reason for them to delay.

This year’s draft class is rare at the quarterback position. Some of the players have flaws, but they are worth the investment because of their talent level.

Running through the simulator — which is obviously not 100 percent reality — I was able to put together a few scenarios and the differences in the quality of the class were staggering.

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Let me just say — I don’t think the class that involves the Broncos taking Quenton Nelson in round one is a bad one at all.

But when you look at these two classes, the one where the Broncos take a quarterback at number five overall (in this case, Rosen), the result thereafter is arguably the best possible draft class the Broncos could realistically have.

Not only do we come away from the first round with Josh Rosen, but we get Will Hernandez — a starting offensive guard — with the 40th overall selection. Then in round three, getting perhaps the pass rusher with the highest upside and a running back that can be a game-changer are huge selections and what the Broncos need in terms of impact players.

Even in round four, looking at players like Rashaan Gaulden and Darius Leonard, the Broncos would be getting starter caliber players into day three.

That’s the important thing to remember about this draft class. A quarterback is going to be an impact player, it just might not be in 2018. That is okay. The Broncos need to get that position figured out for the long-term, and when you look at the ways they are able to upgrade the roster from rounds 2-5, it is clear that taking a quarterback is the best route to take given the depth of this draft class, and the way the Broncos can attack other positions after the first round.