Broncos 2021 mock draft: Trading down and stocking on defense

An ascending prospect, Greg Newsome II is pretty much exactly how you might draw up a Vic Fangio cornerback.

Although almost all cornerbacks prefer the challenge of man coverage and following around the other team’s best receiver, Newsome has proven himself to be excellent playing off coverage (something he would do plenty of in Fangio’s defense) as well as in the nickel, a position that is not quite as glamorous as playing on the boundary.

Newsome has drawn pre-draft interest from the Broncos already, and there’s no question he would be a good fit schematically.

The questions around Newsome at this point revolve around his availability. He missed games as a freshman due to an ankle injury and suffered a groin injury in the Big Ten Championship game.

Although there could be some concerns about durability here, there is no concern about what Newsome is capable of doing as a playmaker in the defensive backfield. He has fluid hips, tremendous ball skills, and great reactive quickness.

Even when he gets beat off the line of scrimmage initially, Newsome has the quick feet, recovery speed, and length to make up for it.

Adding him to the Denver secondary along with players like Simmons and Moehrig would give this team a completely revamped look on the back end of the defense.