Since the retirement of Peyton Manning, the talk surrounding the Denver Broncos has been dominated by the quarterback position and who would be the guy that ends up sticking.
The team has been through several options over the course of that stretch and none of them have panned out beyond a season or so with Trevor Siemian.
Much of the focus of this offseason has been on Drew Lock, who will be entering his third season in the league. Many fans feel that it is already time to move on from him and speculation all offseason has been on whether the team will trade for a quarterback, sign a veteran free agent like Alex Smith, or draft one in the first round later this month.
Many of those options seem to have come off the table as teams around the league have made trades, uncertainty surrounds the future of Deshaun Watson and the Broncos have decided against signing a free agent.
There is no doubt that the first three picks of the draft are likely to be used on a quarterback, but the Broncos could still obtain one by trading up or even sitting at No. 9 and see if a guy like Mac Jones or Justin Fields falls there.
However, there is the option of waiting until the second round or even later to find a quarterback to fill the roster, one that could eventually compete with Lock for the starting job. Outside of the top five quarterbacks in this draft (Jones, Fields, Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson and Trey Lance), here are three quarterbacks the Broncos could target in later rounds.
Kyle Trask is an intriguing, yet far from perfect, prospect.
His football story is one that is inspiring, having never started a single game during his high school career to ending up at one of the top college programs in the country.
His 2020 season at Florida was special as he completed 69 percent of his passes for over 4,200 yards with 43 touchdowns. He was a front-runner to win the Heisman Trophy for much of the year.
Trask is a skilled passer who has the arm strength to succeed at the professional level. Whether or not he’s ready to read an NFL defense on a consistent basis is a legitimate question, so he would be more of a developmental prospect with a big upside.
He also has a big frame at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds and because of that, can be used on designed runs. He also has the kind of pocket toughness you like to see, willing to stand in and wait for his targets down the field.
Mond put together a great career at Texas A&M as a three-year starter and nearly led the Aggies into the College Football Playoff last season. He considered entering the draft a year ago but wisely returned to school.
For his college career, he threw for nearly 10,000 yards with 71 touchdown passes. Watching him play and considering what he could do at the next level is both exciting and quite frustrating.
Mond can make some amazing plays at times. He has good mobility and could be considered a decent dual-threat quarterback, though nowhere near the level of a Lamar Jackson. Still, you can watch him make some incredible throws on the run at times, throws that make you wonder how it was possible.
However, on the very next play, he will sail the ball way over his target’s head, for example. He is wildly inconsistent and his accuracy throwing the ball is far from where it needs to be. If he was a more accurate passer, he would be a late first-round or second-round pick. Instead, he is likely to go on the third day of the draft.
But that could be a perfect pick for the right team.
Mond has worked with Jimbo Fisher in college, a coach with a proven track record of producing pro quarterbacks. Though Mond doesn’t have the buzz that a guy like Jameis Winston had coming out of college, he could work his way into a starting role at some point in his career.
For the Broncos, picking Mond in the fourth round or later could make some sense. He could sit behind Lock and learn from offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and quarterbacks coach Mike Shula, two guys with a wealth of experience, on those accuracy issues.
Like Trask, Mond would be a developmental backup with a high upside and chance to become the starter as soon as year two in the league.
Davis Mills is a name that is starting to rise and he could be the “come out of nowhere” quarterback of this draft class.
Though staying another year at Stanford likely would have been beneficial, Mills has chosen to jumpstart his professional career and see where it takes him. Though he isn’t the flashiest player, he does show intelligence and a true competitive nature.
Teams are starting to take notice of Mills through their evaluations for what he did in a short period of time at Stanford.
He started as a backup behind K.J. Costello but after the latter transferred, Mills came in and completed about 66 percent of his passes with 18 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. He is solid in size at 6-foot-4. His skills seem to get better all the time, which is what makes him an interesting prospect.
Mills is far from hitting his ceiling and if he could come onto a team and have his technique, footwork and decision-making coached up, he could be one of the steals of the entire draft.
Of course, learning behind a veteran would help and he would not get that in Denver, but the Broncos might be interested enough to take a chance on him, knowing that good coaching can turn an unknown college quarterback into a terrific professional.
That’s what teams see in the potential of Mills right now, so using a day three pick on him would not be the worst idea.