Dane Brugler predicts Broncos still land top WR in 2020 NFL Draft

Dane Brugler of The Athletic has his ears to the ground and put together a first-round mock draft with the Broncos getting a top-flight WR prospect.

After the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Denver Broncos fans were left hanging their heads feeling like all three of the top wide receivers in the 2020 NFL Draft — Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs, Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb — would be off the board by the 15th overall pick.

Dane Brugler of The Athletic seems to think otherwise based on his intel and what he’s hearing from scouts and executives in his latest mock draft.

Ultimately, a mock draft is just a mock draft, but Broncos fans should not panic at this point that none of the top wide receivers are going to be on the board with the 15th overall pick.

It’s certainly possible, but Brugler’s latest mock draft reflects one of a wide variety of scenarios where at least one of those top three receivers is on the board.

In case you don’t have a subscription to The Athletic, in which case you’re missing out on some great content from people like Brugler, his mock draft pick for the Broncos is Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs.

The Broncos would get a scare in this scenario with CeeDee Lamb and Jerry Jeudy going at picks 12 and 13 (Raiders and Colts) respectively, and in that case, it’s highly possible that some other team would spend the capital to jump up ahead of the Broncos to the 14th pick to take Ruggs. The Broncos have to hope that by the time the Bucs are on the clock, two of the top three receivers are still on the board.

That seems increasingly unlikely because of how badly Broncos fans want the top wide receivers to be on the board, but last year, it felt like all of the top offensive tackle prospects would be off the board early as well and guys who were expected to go in the top 10 potentially were lasting to the later part of the first round.

For the Broncos, this is really a hard scenario to ‘lose’ depending on how highly you think of the top 15 overall players in this draft class and how they might fit into the Broncos’ context.

There are at least three receivers and three offensive tackles in the top 15 players in this draft class, and that’s outside of the quarterbacks and defensive players that will undoubtedly go in the 14 picks ahead of Denver.

Let’s say all three of those tackles and receivers are gone by the time the Broncos are on the clock. Where do they go from there?

I don’t think this year’s top two inside linebackers can be counted out for the Broncos’ pick this year, and with the depth of this year’s receiver group, a prospect like Kenneth Murray of Oklahoma or Patrick Queen of LSU would be excellent for Denver in the first round.