Denver Broncos mock draft: Daniel Jones picked in dream scenario

First Round: Daniel Jones, QB, Duke

Alright, walk with me on this scenario here.

Let’s say the Broncos end up with a pick inside the top 10 after losing to the Chargers over the weekend.

What if they end up with a top 10 selection, and trade down with some team looking to move up from the late teens or early 20s, and acquire a 2020 first-round pick in the process?

That has been the going rate — or something equivalent — to move up in the NFL Draft in recent years. We’ve seen teams do it for quarterbacks and we’ve seen teams do it for pass rushers. If you want to make a big leap in the NFL Draft order, you have to pay up.

So in this scenario, the Broncos move outside of the top 10, but they acquire a first-round pick in 2020 and an additional mid-round pick in 2019, we’ll say the third round.

After moving down, the Broncos take Duke’s Daniel Jones, a very underrated underclassman who just played arguably the best game of his college career against Temple.

Jones was spreading the ball around and picking apart one of the stingiest defenses in the country, putting on a show for NFL talent evaluators.

The hype for Jones should continue to grow as the 2019 NFL Draft draws near as he spent his entire college career learning from Duke head coach David Cutcliffe, the quarterback guru Peyton Manning has worked with since his college days at Tennessee and someone Manning has kept a close relationship with to this day.

Jones will have a huge advocate in the Broncos’ building in Manning, who still lives in Denver and keeps in close contact with the team.

As much hype as there is right now for Drew Lock, it wouldn’t shock me in the least to see the Blue Devils’ quarterback get the call from Denver when the 2019 NFL Draft rolls around. All of the connections are there, and Jones is pro-ready.