Michael Ojemudia pick puts De’Vante Bausby, Isaac Yiadom on the clock
By Gustavo Kury
Michael Ojemudia, drafted in the 3rd round by the Broncos, will compete with De’Vante Bausby and Isaac Yiadom for a cornerback starting role.
The Denver Broncos addressed their primary need in wide receivers with their first two picks. Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler will help the offense commanded by Drew Lock and will give a very needed plus overall.
Now it was time to improve the defense. With the departure of Chris Harris Jr., a big hole was needed to be filled in the cornerback position, and John Elway brought Michael Ojemudia to compete for the starting role alongside A.J. Bouje and Bryce Callahan.
The competition for this role originally was going to be between Isaac Yiadom and De’Vante Bausby, but now Ojemudia rolls into the mix as well.
Yiadom got the start in 8 games in the 2019 regular season, on which he allowed 38 completions on 54 targets and 490 yards. A 9.1 yards per target and 70.3 percent of completions allowed are not great numbers to have in your resume.
De´Vante Bausby was an intriguing signing last year, the problem was that he could not stay healthy. He showed good potential with 5.0 yards per target and 53.3 percent of completions allowed, but the sample size is just too small. Bausby played only136 snaps on defense, while Yiadom played 504 (led the team).
Guys like Davontae Harris and Duke Dawson will fall a spot behind on the depth chart. They will need to show potential during practice and the limited snaps they will receive if they want to keep their chance to compete for a starting role.
Ojemudia will slide right in the competition with Bausby and Yiadom. Playing almost completely zone coverage during his college career in Iowa, Ojemudia fits perfectly with Vic Fangio´s defensive scheme.
It’s hard to evaluate his ability at press since he had only 115 snaps on press-coverage in his last two seasons, and had a questionable Senior Bowl at best. He allowed 12 receptions on 18 targets and two touchdowns.
Ojemudia is not a polished player, he will need to keep grinding during the offseason and his rookie season to prove he is a reliable, volatile cornerback that can excel on his role as he did on Iowa.
Next. Experts react to KJ Hamler pick for Broncos. dark
What we can assume from this stats is that Isaac Yiadom will start the 2020 season as the starting cornerback alongside A.J. Bouye and Bryce Callahan, with Bausby and Ojemudia competing for defensive snaps to prove they too deserve the spot on the promising defense commanded by Vic Fangio.