Deebo Samuel joining Drew Lock on Denver Broncos visit

The Denver Broncos could be in the market for a quarterback and wide receiver early in the 2019 NFL Draft. Deebo Samuel is on a top 30 visit.

Three weeks from right now, Drew Lock could be the newest quarterback of the Denver Broncos.

Also three weeks from today, he could be teammates with wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who is joining him on his top 30 visit to Denver (along with Texas CB Kris Boyd).

Samuel posted on his Instagram story a meeting with Lock, and included some video of their dinner together on Sunday evening before what I assume will be a day visit to the Broncos’ facility on Monday.

The former South Carolina star is one of my favorite players in the 2019 NFL Draft class. Watch his Clemson tape from this past year and tell me there is a player in this draft with more heart.

This guy is stellar after the catch and one of the best playmakers in college football over the last four years in a variety of ways. He scored 23 scrimmage touchdowns and had four career kickoff return touchdowns for the Gamecocks.

If the Broncos were to draft Samuel, I would view it as a bit of an atonement for the Carlos Henderson pick in 2017.

Henderson missed his entire rookie season with a thumb injury and was cut by the Broncos after training camp in 2018, which he did not attend for personal reasons.

Henderson was a dynamic all-purpose talent coming out of Louisiana Tech, and Deebo Samuel is a better version of that type of player.

He may not have had the same type of production, but he is capable of playing inside, outside, as a running back, or as a returner.

This guy can do it all.

He would be a great pick to pair with a guy like Drew Lock if the Broncos choose to take him, but even if they don’t go with a quarterback in the first round, Samuel is a player this offense could use now and into the future.

What’s involved in these pre-draft visits?

The players meet John Elway, of course, but they also get the chance to meet the coaching staff. The position coaches will put these players through an X’s and O’s test in addition to getting to know them personally.

The players tour through the team’s facility and get the chance, in some cases, to meet current Broncos players in passing.

Essentially, these top 30 visits are a chance for these players to envision being a Denver Bronco.

Last year, among the Broncos’ reported pre-draft visits (each team is allowed 30) they drafted two — Josey Jewell and Keishawn Bierria.

Those were both day three selections, so you just never know what’s going to happen when the Draft rolls around. The Broncos have their draft board set the week of the draft, and when players like Courtland Sutton — a player they had graded a first-round pick — fall to the second round, his grade and pre-draft background check (perhaps a Combine meeting) are good enough for the team to make the decision to pick a player.

These pre-draft visits with players who have common or relatively close draft grades (like Deebo Samuel, N’Keal Harry, and JJ Arcega-Whiteside) can help the Broncos get a clear pecking order outside of just on-field performance.

Last year, the Broncos utilized their time at the Senior Bowl to bring in a class of players they spent a significant amount of time with prior to the 2018 NFL Draft. This year, and most years, they don’t have that luxury.