Would the Denver Broncos trade up for linebacker Devin White?
Top draft prospect linebacker Devin White is a possibility for the Denver Broncos. Would the team go out of their way to trade up for him?
The Denver Broncos currently hold the tenth overall draft pick in the 2019 NFL draft. LSU inside linebacker Devin White is certainly a possibility, but it is likely that he would be off the board before the tenth selection.
According to White, one team apparently likes him so much that they would trade up to take him.
Devin White hints there's one team that is in love with him who could trade up to draft him early #LSU
— Brody Miller (@BrodyAMiller) March 22, 2019
The Broncos selected linebacker Bradley Chubb with the fifth overall pick in the 2018 draft and Von Miller with the second back in 2011. Adding White could be devastating for opposing offenses.
He is the top linebacker prospect in this year’s draft, and linebacker isn’t necessarily a position of need for Denver. However, general manager John Elway previously stated that the team would not draft for need.
Whether or not the team decides to trade up for White depends on a couple of things:
- Who else is still on the board at the time when Denver decides it’s time to make the move? If they feel like going a different direction is the way to go, they would not be giving up the compensation it would take to trade up.
- What would it take for the Denver Broncos to trade up? This depends on how far they would need to trade up. If it’s a matter of 2-3 draft spots, it that may be doable. If the team has to trade up 6-7 spots, the cost may be too great.
At the inside linebacker position, the Broncos have Todd Davis, Keishawn Bierria, Josey Jewell, and Joseph Jones. Last year, Denver used a fourth-round draft pick on Jewell.
A question the Broncos would have to answer is whether or not White is a good fit for Vic Fangio’s defense. If they are looking for another speedy player at the linebacker position, White is their guy.
At the end of the day, whether or not White ends up in a Denver Broncos uniform depends on how the rest of the cards play out. I would love to have White on this defense, but it would not surprise me if they went a different direction.
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It is impossible to know what the team is going to do. However, head coach Vic Fangio said a couple of weeks ago that the Broncos are not going to draft for need. There are much greater needs on the team than at linebacker, so if you think about it, that keeps White in play for the team.