Denver Broncos: B/R says Tristan Wirfs is top 2020 draft target

Bleacher Report says that Iowa Hawkeyes offensive lineman Tristan Wirfs is the Denver Broncos’ dream target in the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Denver Broncos undoubtedly have some question marks on the offensive line heading into the 2020 offseason.

What is the team thinking internally about Garett Bolles’ development at the left tackle position? How concerned are we about Ja’Wuan James’ knee?

Will Ron Leary be back? Connor McGovern?

Dalton Risner is good, but he can’t be the only one out there playing consistent ball for the Broncos. Upgrades will undoubtedly be considered over the course of the next two-and-a-half months, including through the 2020 NFL Draft.

One player who seems to be a great fit for the Broncos is Iowa Hawkeyes offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs, and he is a great fit for a number of reasons.

Bleacher Report says that Wirfs is the ‘dream’ first-round fit for the Broncos in the entire 2020 NFL Draft. I’m not sure it’s at that level, but it bears some consideration.

B/R talked about the fact that Drew Lock could be the answer, but if the offensive line doesn’t perform at a competent level, we may never know.

That’s a fair point.

The Broncos allowed 40 sacks last season, although many of those sacks came when Joe Flacco and Brandon Allen were playing the quarterback position. Both Flacco and Allen struggled to see the field and anticipate throwing windows, and they took a lot of unnecessary sacks as a result.

Drew Lock was sacked five times in five games. It wasn’t just that he was constantly getting the ball out quickly — Lock anticipated blitzes and throwing windows, and actually showed some ability to escape pressure with regularity. He didn’t just sit in the pocket and wait for things to open up — Lock moved around and made plays happen and didn’t look uncomfortable doing it.

Keep in mind that, at this point, the Broncos were without no fewer than two regular starters on the offensive line at a time, and there were times when they were down to guys who had just been claimed off of waivers.

With that, there were actually two of Lock’s five games in which he wasn’t sacked a single time.

Yes, the Broncos must get their offensive line addressed this offseason, but is an offensive lineman the dream selection for this team?

As much as I love Wirfs, I don’t know if that’s the case, speaking about linemen in particular with pick number 15 overall.

So why would Wirfs be a dream pickup for the Broncos?

First of all, he’s undoubtedly a top 15 player in this draft class, even as a guy who primarily played right tackle in college.

Wirfs’ strength and athleticism are rare, even among the big uglies up front, but he’s also got positional versatility and he’s very well coached coming from noted offensive line guru Kirk Ferentz at Iowa.

Wirfs played both right and left tackle in his time at Iowa, although his stay at left tackle was a bit brief. He also projects favorably as a guard, which is why he might be the ideal fit for Denver.

Wirfs could come in and start at right guard as a rookie and the Broncos could re-evaluate next offseason if they need to move him to left tackle to replace Bolles or to right tackle to replace James.

Worst case scenario, they would have a Pro Bowl caliber player at right guard for the foreseeable future.

There’s just very little downside to picking Wirfs, even if it’s not spectacular to take a right guard — if that’s what he would end up being — with the 15th overall pick in the draft.