Western Illinois DL Khalen Saunders will visit Denver Broncos
Western Illinois defensive lineman Khalen Saunders will take an official top 30 visit with the Denver Broncos. Where will he be drafted?
The Denver Broncos — like every other team in the NFL — have got to be impressed by the depth on the interior defensive line in the 2019 NFL Draft class.
There should be starting players available into the later portion of day two and into day three, and one player in that range who could be of particular interest is Western Illinois stud Khalen Saunders.
Saunders will reportedly be visiting the Denver Broncos on an official top 30 visit before the 2019 Draft.
Western Illinois DT Khalen Saunders has Top30 visits with the #Panthers, #Jets, #Broncos and #Bills according to a source.
— Josh Edwards (@EdwardsCBS) April 3, 2019
Saunders was a man among boys in FCS play and more than held his own against other players at the 2019 Senior Bowl.
He certainly made headlines for his backflips and the fact that he flew back and forth from the Senior Bowl to be there for his newborn child.
Saunders racked up 57 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks this past season for the Leathernecks on his way to All-American honors. He showed at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine that, athletically, he belongs in the NFL.
He ran a 5.01 in the 40-yard dash at just under 6’1″ 324 pounds.
Despite his wide size, Saunders is more of a penetrating nose tackle than a gap-clogger, and if he can improve his ability to stay on the field all three downs (rather than just passing downs) he can be a longtime starter in this league.
He certainly has the drive and desire to get it done.
When Saunders visits the Broncos, they — and all other teams Saunders visits — will unquestionably be impressed by him as a person.
The Broncos’ pre-draft visit list and the names coming in has grown substantially in recent days. Here are the names we know of so far:
QB Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State
QB Drew Lock, Missouri
QB Daniel Jones, Duke
QB Kyler Murray, Oklahoma
WR N’Keal Harry, Arizona State
WR Diontae Johnson, Toledo
TE Josh Oliver, San Jose State
OL Chris Lindstrom, Boston College
OL Dalton Risner, Kansas State
DL Dre’Mont Jones, Ohio State
DL Khalen Saunders, Western Illinois
EDGE Justin Hollins, Oregon
EDGE Ben Banogu, TCU
CB Isaiah Johnson, Houston
That puts us at just under half of the Broncos’ pre-draft visits having been released to the public. On the day of this writing, Dalton Risner is coming to Denver for his visit.
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The Broncos’ pre-draft list doesn’t include many guys who will be UDFA candidates so far, and it often consists of about 10 players they are targeting as late-round/post-draft prospects. The only one on this list I think will even come close to that is probably Diontae Johnson of Toledo. Otherwise, all of these players are probably fourth-round picks or better.