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John Elway gives his thoughts on the 2019 quarterback class

By Sayre Bedinger

PALO ALTO, CA - NOVEMBER 05: General Manager and Executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos looks on from the sidelines during an NCAA football game between the Oregon State Beavers and Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium on November 5, 2016 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA - NOVEMBER 05: General Manager and Executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos looks on from the sidelines during an NCAA football game between the Oregon State Beavers and Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium on November 5, 2016 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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John Elway will certainly be taking into consideration the 2019 quarterback class, just in case they pass on QBs in 2018…

If the Denver Broncos pass on a quarterback in the 2018 NFL Draft, they had better have a good idea of which players might declare for the 2019 NFL Draft.

John Elway was asked about whether or not the team takes a future class like that into consideration, and his response may have given away quite a bit.

You can watch Elway’s pre-draft press conference in its entirety here:

Right around the 4:20 mark of the video, Elway gets asked the question about taking next year’s class into consideration. Here’s his response in writing:

"“We try to do that. We try to figure out what next year’s draft is going to look like. It’s hard. It’s hard enough getting through all of the evaluations of the kids this year. We’ll have a general idea and overview of who is going to be out next year. It’s not real deep.”John Elway (quotes via Broncos PR"

Just before Elway said, “It’s not real deep,” he also started to say, “It’s not real in-depth.”

At least, that’s what it sounded like.

When you read this quote on paper, and when I heard Elway say it live, I could have sworn he was describing next year’s quarterback class rather than the team’s evaluation of that class.

The more I listen to it, the more it sounds like Elway is telling whoever asked the question that they do a really general look at the class a year from now, but they don’t do any in-depth digging.

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Ironically, if he did mean that next year’s class isn’t too deep, he would actually be correct.

As it stands right now, the top quarterback prospects eligible for 2019 include Missouri’s Drew Lock, Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham, Northwestern’s Clayton Thorson, and Oregon’s Justin Herbert.

The 2020 class features some more exciting players, including Alabama’s National Championship hero Tua Tagovailoa and Georgia’s stud young arm Jake Fromm.

There are always guys who emerge year after year as well, but this year’s quarterback class has four players that Elway and his staff in the Broncos front office have given first round grades.

Thus, it would be a shocker if the Broncos didn’t draft someone at the quarterback position in the first round to me. When you have four guys that have first round grades at that position, that means those players are often in your top 15-20 overall players as well.

First round grades are not given out easily by NFL teams.

If the Broncos have (let’s estimate on the high end) 20 players with first round grades, that means 20 percent of their highest graded players are at the quarterback position.

Why would you not invest a high pick in that kind of player at such an important position?

It makes sense, and I think fans worrying about the Broncos passing on a quarterback will have their worries quelled next Thursday.

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