Denver Broncos: Darnold, Draft, or Drew Lock at QB in 2021?
The 2021 NFL Draft
At this particular point in time, everyone knows that three quarterbacks are going in the first three picks of the 2021 NFL Draft.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are going to take Trevor Lawrence in all likelihood.
The New York Jets seem to be poised to take BYU’s breakout player Zach Wilson.
The San Francisco 49ers have moved up into the third overall spot and will take a quarterback, though at this point no one knows whether that will be Mac Jones of Alabama, Trey Lance of North Dakota State, or Justin Fields of Ohio State.
The smoke right now has the 49ers favoring Alabama’s Mac Jones, somewhat surprisingly.
Regardless, the Denver Broncos — and all other NFL teams — can plan on only two of Jones, Fields, and Lance being on the board by the time the Atlanta Falcons are on the clock with the fourth overall pick.
And the Falcons may or may not be taking a quarterback.
George Paton has been making the rounds at college pro days, including seeing Zach Wilson (BYU), Trey Lance (North Dakota State), and Justin Fields (Ohio State) all in person. He told the media that evaluating quarterbacks from the ground level is one way he prefers to get a feel for guys, so the fact that he did not make it to either of Mac Jones’ pro days at Alabama is somewhat telling.
Paton also wasn’t in attendance at Clemson’s pro day to see Trevor Lawrence, but there is no chance he’s getting him anyway.
Paton did send representatives to the Alabama pro days, including Brian Stark who is the director of scouting for the team.
If we’re believing Paton at face value, however, then it stands to reason that the quarterbacks he has the most interest in drafting in 2021 are Wilson, Fields, and Lance. Nobody would have any way of knowing what order, but it’s likely you can whittle that list down to simply Fields and Lance being available to the Broncos unless the 49ers take one of them over Mac Jones.
If Paton has, indeed, determined that four or five quarterbacks in this class are worth building a roster around, he is going to need to get ahead of the Carolina Panthers (pick 8) and any other team that might be willing to trade up (New England, Washington, Chicago) ahead of them at pick number nine overall to get one.
The ideal trading spots would be picks 4 and 5, but the Falcons and Bengals might be more interested in plucking the top non-quarterbacks off the board than trading their picks. The Dolphins at pick number six overall are an option, as are the Lions at pick number seven.
George Paton would need to be on the phone making calls and ready to pounce on draft night if the fourth and fifth picks are not really for sale.