Denver Broncos: Sam Beal, others an option in Supplemental Draft
The Denver Broncos may have some interest in this year’s Supplemental Draft with defensive backs leading the top available prospects, including Sam Beal…
The Denver Broncos could have some interest in the 2018 Supplemental Draft with a few intriguing defensive backs eligible.
The best of the bunch could be Western Michigan’s Sam Beal, a teammate of Cincinnati Bengals rookie Darius Phillips who was selected in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Beal picked off two passes in 2018 in addition to breaking up 10 passes in 10 games, earning second-team All-Conference honors.
Listed at 6-1, 185 pounds, Beal has great length for the position and has shown a lot of improvement over the course of the past two seasons as a defensive back after transitioning from the wide receiver position.
Beal excelled in press-man coverage and as you can see in this video here, he was blanketed on Central Michigan’s top receiver (or, tight end) Tyler Conklin pretty much the entire game.
The Broncos obviously covet cornerbacks with press-man skills, but they’ll have to weigh depth they currently have versus the chance to add yet another young player into the mix.
They have used picks in the third round of each of the past two draft classes on the cornerback position with Isaac Yiadom in 2018 and Brendan Langley in 2017.
In 2016, the Broncos used a third-round pick on safety Justin Simmons.
This team has an eye for defensive back talent so it wouldn’t surprise me to see them put a bid on one of the three big-name defensive backs in this Supplemental Draft.
In addition to Beal, Mississippi State’s Brandon Bryant and Virginia Tech’s Adonis Alexander are expected to be eligible for the Supplemental Draft.
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Why are these talented players available?
Unfortunately, the Catch 22 with the Supplemental Draft is that players are often available because they have something going on off the field in college.
For these three players, specifically, it sounds like academics are the primary reason they are ineligible for the 2018 NCAA season.
That’s at least good news from the perspective that none of these guys are carrying the type of baggage we saw from Josh Gordon coming out of Baylor a few years back.
With the Broncos taking on a youth movement at the cornerback position, a player with Beal’s potential should be considered in the third or fourth round.
The Broncos were rumored to be interested in some of the top corners in the 2018 NFL Draft, but decided to wait until the end of the third round to take Yiadom.
If they feel Beal would have been a second-round player a year from now, investing a mid-round pick on him in the Supplemental Draft is a worthwhile risk.