Denver Broncos: 10 players to avoid in the 2021 NFL Draft

The Denver Broncos have addressed needs through free agency and the focus is now on the 2021 NFL Draft.

In many ways, free agency helps fans whittle down NFL Draft options in terms of positions the team could address, but in other ways, it makes things all the more confusing.

Since the Denver Broncos and new GM George Paton have essentially filled out the roster by addressing primary needs in free agency, the options early on in the NFL Draft are pretty wide open. With that being said, there are players Paton might avoid in his first year on the job as GM.

Paton has stated he’s going to be aggressive in his managerial style without being reckless. There are players in the 2021 NFL Draft class that, depending on the case you want to make, could be viewed as reckless investments. At a minimum, they might just not be great fits for where the Denver Broncos are currently at.

What players fit into the category of “Players the Denver Broncos should avoid” in the 2021 NFL Draft?

Let’s take a look through 10 of them.

10. First-round edge players

This is a bit of cheating to start things off, but one position group the Denver Broncos should avoid in the first round no matter if they stay at pick number nine, trade up, or trade down is off the edge.

This would include players like:

• Azeez Ojulari, Georgia
• Jaelan Phillips, Miami
• Gregory Rousseau, Miami
• Kwity Paye, Michigan
• Jayson Oweh, Penn State

Every single one of these guys comes with a “risk/reward” tag attached and a number of question marks. Furthermore, you have to look at scheme and overall fit when you’re talking about taking one of these guys in the first round.

Azeez Ojulari comes with concerns about his size and ability to set the edge against NFL players. Jaelan Phillips is a supremely talented player with major injury concerns. The sample size on Gregory Rousseau and his fit off the edge might not be there long-term.

Kwity Paye is a project in terms of his overall skill set despite having plenty of physical tools.

Jayson Oweh is a major projection with elite traits.

There is no Chase Young in this draft. There is no Bosa brother. There’s not even a Josh Allen or Brian Burns type in this draft. For those who have been evaluating the draft for a while, this crop of edge players is much more in the Jason Pierre-Paul realm.

On one hand, the Denver Broncos seem to be in a decent position to take on a bit of a project off the edge. On the other hand, they have other areas they could be addressing early on rather than prioritizing someone here who might be the fourth option in 2021 at best.

9. Marvin Wilson, DL, Florida State

We’ll continually clarify this throughout the post, but keep in mind that the Denver Broncos should avoid these particular players up to a certain point in the 2021 NFL Draft.

There will be a point where players on this list are too good to pass up on. For Marvin Wilson, however, that time may not come until very late in the 2021 NFL Draft.

About a year ago at this time, there was some legitimate first-round hype for Wilson. About 16-18 months ago, Wilson was out on the field for Florida State playing like one.

The former five-star prospect and top-ranked player in the state of Texas chose to play his college ball at Florida State and there were certainly flashes of brilliance for him as a Seminole. He was an honorable mention All-ACC selection in 2018 and really burst onto the scene in 2019 with 8.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, and four passes defended in just nine games before suffering an injury.

The broken thumb he suffered in 2019 was compounded by poor play and another injury that required a minor procedure in 2020. Having played in just 15 games over the past two seasons, it’s definitely “buyer beware” with Marvin Wilson.

The Denver Broncos seem to have plenty of depth on the defensive line right now, enough that taking Marvin Wilson in the first four, maybe five rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft would not be the wisest investment.

At one point, that would have seemed like highway robbery for this guy. Combine his recent injury history with the fact that he will be 23 as a rookie, and this is the kind of guy you would be excited about on the back end of day three as a flyer option, but before that, it would not be nearly as exciting.

8. Tyson Campbell, CB, Georgia

When you look at cornerback prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft, Tyson Campbell certainly stands out for his combination of size and athletic talent.

Campbell is 6-foot-1, 193 pounds, and he ran a 4.34 in the 40-yard dash at the Georgia pro day.

Those aspects of his overall evaluation have never been in question. What has been in question for Campbell up to this point is what could ultimately prevent the Denver Broncos from seriously considering drafting him anytime before maybe the fourth round.

For all of Campbell’s physical traits, he might be a fit for defenses that run man coverages the majority of the time because of his lack of reactive quickness at this point.

On tape, Campbell can get pretty easily burned by savvy route runners despite his tremendous long speed, and when he is able to get in position to make plays on the ball, he simply doesn’t make enough of them.

Over the course of his time at Georgia (33 games), Campbell had just 11 pass breakups and one interception.

The potential is certainly there for Campbell, but this is a very deep class of cornerback prospects. The Denver Broncos have a strong starting trio and a fourth guy in Michael Ojemudia who could still be a long-term starter.

Although Vic Fangio has been public about the fact that he thinks you’ve got to find more ways to fit talented cornerbacks into your scheme, Campbell may be an exception as someone who really needs to thrive in mostly man coverage to have success in the NFL.

7. Davis Mills, QB, Stanford

The Denver Broncos could be interested in adding a quarterback prospect at some point in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Whatever point that is, they might consider avoiding Stanford quarterback Davis Mills.

Although Mills certainly has talent and he is very intriguing given the fact that he is a former five-star prospect with all of the physical talent you look for, there are some substantial concerns you have to gloss over in order to take him likely in the first two rounds where he’s currently being projected to land.

Mills could be the first quarterback off the board after the top five guys in this year’s draft. That speaks to the desperation of NFL teams given the fact that Mills only started 11 games at Stanford.

We talk about other players having only 16, 17, or 18 games of experience as a red flag, and Mills has just 11 games as a collegiate starter since he was the top-ranked QB recruit in the country back in 2017.

Furthermore, Mills suffered a knee injury in high school that bothered him for three years after the fact.

It’s not that the Denver Broncos need to avoid any and every prospect with medical concerns, but given Mills’ lack of time on task in addition to those medical concerns, it would be hard to get really excited about this guy as your second, even third-round pick.

6. Kyle Trask, QB, Florida

After he came off the bench as the Florida Gators’ starter in the 2019 season, Kyle Trask got his first opportunity to go into an offseason as the starting quarterback for the first time since his high school days.

As a matter of fact, he hadn’t been the starting quarterback in his final three years of high school or his first three years of college at Florida before blowing up statistically in 2020 and leading FBS in touchdown passes (43).

Despite leading the nation in touchdown passes, questions remain about Trask’s game as he translates to the NFL level.

At 6-foot-5, 236 pounds, Trask bears a slight resemblance to a younger Ben Roethlisberger. Unfortunately, Trask does not have the same kind of pocket savvy and escape-ability as Roethlisberger.

Trask doesn’t play with consistently sound mechanics at the position and perhaps the most concerning aspect of his game is his lack of mobility and playmaking ability.

It’s not that you can’t have guys who primarily win from the pocket nowadays, but Trask does not thrive when he’s pressured like some more pocket-oriented passers do, he doesn’t excel in the arm talent department, and although he made some really nice throws to spots in 2020, Trask’s accuracy is not always where it needs to be.

Ultimately, for teams that are looking for a solid backup quarterback, Trask would be an intriguing day three selection. For the Denver Broncos, the fit is just not there right now.

5. Chuba Hubbard, RB, Oklahoma State

The Denver Broncos will almost certainly be using at least one of their picks in the 2021 NFL Draft on the running back position.

When that happens remains a mystery.

At some point, they will likely be faced with the opportunity to draft Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard, and there are a variety of reasons he would be a fun selection.

In 2019, Hubbard ran for over 2,000 yards at Oklahoma State. To go along with that impressive 2,000 yard total, Hubbard had 21 rushing touchdowns and averaged 6.4 yards per carry.

However, coming off of a down year in 2020, Hubbard has been put under the microscope, and there are some glaring concerns.

For starters, he missed the final chunk of the 2020 season due to a high ankle sprain and his explosive plays all year were way down compared to the year prior.

Over the course of his time at Oklahoma State, Hubbard had 11 fumbles. While the ball protection of Phillip Lindsay is certainly abnormal (Lindsay’s next fumble will be his first in the NFL, and first since his early days at Colorado), 11 fumbles on roughly 630 touches is a bit of an uncomfortable number.

Hubbard is also not as dynamic as some other players in the 2021 NFL Draft class as a receiver, and he’s not effective as a pass protector.

With his long speed, Hubbard excels at breaking away from defenders but he’s most effective in a straight line and doesn’t break a lot of tackles.

Overall, Hubbard may just not be a great fit for what the Denver Broncos are looking for given his lack of ability as a receiver and pass protector and fumble issues.

4. Walker Little, OT, Stanford

There was a point in time where Walker Little was being considered as the next great offensive line prospect coming out of the collegiate ranks.

He was the Pac-12 Co-Freshman Offensive Player of the Year in 2017 before earning first-team All-Pac 12 honors as a sophomore in 2018, but the 2018 season is where some of his issues began.

He missed the Stanford bowl game with a shoulder injury, then in the first game of the 2019 season, he suffered a season-ending knee injury.

After suffering a season-ending knee injury, Little understandably decided to opt out of the 2020 season due to COVID concerns as well as the potential that he could go out there and get hurt again, further taking shots to his NFL Draft stock.

Essentially, Little has been the college version of Denver Broncos right tackle Ja’Wuan James the past couple of years.

How do you invest a top-100 pick in that player? I don’t see how you can do it, yet that’s where he’s being projected.

Now, if you could look at Little as a potential Netane Muti type of risk/reward proposition sometime late on the third day of the draft? That’s another story entirely. But if you’re taking this guy in the top-100, you’re taking a player who hasn’t really showed you anything in almost three years, and even when he was playing in 2018, he was playing through a shoulder injury.

The medical concerns and time away from playing in games are a concern here, far too concerning for the Denver Broncos to invest one of their top four or five picks in.

3. Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech

The inclusion of Caleb Farley in this list will come as quite a surprise given the number of times he’s been projected to land with the Denver Broncos in 2021 NFL mock draft scenarios.

Let’s qualify this one a bit — the Denver Broncos should avoid Caleb Farley in the early portion of the first round of this particular draft class.

Does this mean they should avoid him altogether?

I don’t think so.

If Farley by some stroke of luck falls to the Denver Broncos’ second round pick at number 40 overall? They should pounce.

The good news for Farley is, he has two very productive seasons at Virginia Tech, a freakish frame for the cornerback position at 6-foot-2, 197 pounds. He also combines freakish athleticism with that freakish frame, reportedly cracking the 4.4 barrier at some point in time during his years with the Hokies.

Unfortunately, there are a variety of reasons why taking Farley in the first-round of the 2021 NFL Draft may not make sense for the Denver Broncos or any other team.

First and foremost, you have to consider this guy’s lengthy injury history. In 2017, Farley suffered a torn ACL causing him to miss his freshman season. He came onto the scene at cornerback in 2018 and picked off a pair of passes, but those came in the first two games and he didn’t have any more after that.

In 2019, Farley picked off four passes, showing off how much he had progressed from year one of his transition at cornerback to year two, but again, injury concerns popped up with a back injury that caused him to miss a pair of games.

That back injury has lingered on.

Not only did Farley opt out of the 2020 season citing COVID as a primary concern, but he will not be able to work out for NFL teams prior to the 2021 NFL Draft due to a procedure on his back. He may not be ready for training camp at this rate.

Given how new he is to his position, injury concerns, and the fact that the next time he takes a football field it will be over 600 days since he last did so (November 2019), there are a variety of reasons to potentially avoid using a really high pick on Farley.

2. Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State

When it comes to the quarterback position in the NFL Draft, you have to keep an open mind if you’re a general manager.

Fret not, Trey Lance stans, I am also going to make a case at some point for why the Denver Broncos should draft this guy.

For now, and for the purposes of this exercise, why might it make sense for the Denver Broncos to pass?

First and foremost, a reason that might give any NFL team pause when considering drafting Trey Lance — his lack of time on task.

To no fault of his own, Lance only played one “showcase” game in the 2020 season, bringing his collegiate total of games started to just 17. There are very few quarterbacks that have had success coming from any level of college football with only 17 starts or fewer.

In fact, the list Lance would be joining in general is quite small.

Kyler Murray, you’ll recall, won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma after transferring from Texas A&M. He was drafted into the NFL by one of his college coaches, Kliff Kingsbury, who obviously had an intimate knowledge of Murray as a person and his game and his strengths and weaknesses.

Lance was the FCS version of Murray in 2019, if you will, but he never got the chance to go up against any FBS teams.

In his time at North Dakota State, Lance averaged 18.6 pass attempts per game. We’ll call it 19. In that same timeframe, the Bison averaged 45 rushing attempts per game, Lance’s running abilities heavily featured among them.

The Denver Broncos have a wide variety of talented pass catchers in their offense in Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler, Noah Fant, Tim Patrick, and Albert Okwuegbunam.

The team has invested so much in the passing attack, does drafting a run-first QB make a ton of sense?

This is not to say that Lance can’t throw the ball — he might have the most impressive all-around arm talent in the draft.

With that said, among his 17 starts at NDSU, Lance had six games with a completion percentage of 56.5 percent or less. Is this guy worth the risk in the first round? Would you trade up for him?

Many would argue “yes”, and again, we’ll get into that argument at some point.

For the purposes of arguing why the Denver Broncos should avoid drafting him, you can point to a variety of reasons. The strongest argument to be made, besides the fact that Lance has only 17 games against strictly FCS opponents on his resumé, is probably that the Denver Broncos would need a complete shift in offensive philosophy with this guy at quarterback.

If you’re talking about trading a future first-round pick to move up and get Lance, the Broncos and new GM George Paton might avoid that given the risk involved here.

If he’s sitting there on the board at pick 9? Well, that discussion might change a little bit.

1. Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State

George Paton attended the Penn State pro day in person, and there’s no doubt about it — the majority of scouts and executives were there to see Micah Parsons and Jayson Oweh.

Incidentally, both of those players made this list.

Plenty has been made among NFL Draft Twitter about Micah Parsons’ off-field concerns, but is it enough? Are Parsons’ off-field concerns concerning enough that the Denver Broncos would avoid drafting the star linebacker?

That remains to be seen.

Since it’s not being put out there a ton by major media outlets, what exactly are Parsons’ off-field concerns?

Dating back to his days in high school, Parsons’ maturity has come into question. He is alleged to have shouted the word “gun” in the high school cafeteria that got him a three-day suspension and ultimately resulted in his transferring away from the school, though Parsons maintains he transferred for other reasons.

Bucky Brooks of NFL Network has said that immaturity is an area of concern for Parsons off the field, noting that he has known him since his high school days.

Before he even joined Penn State, there was a ton of drama surrounding Parsons’ recruitment including a commitment to Penn State, de-commitment, an issue when he was being recruited by Ohio State that caused the Buckeyes’ program to drop their pursuit of Parsons and self-report violations to the NCAA, and then re-commitment to Penn State.

Upon arrival at Penn State, the off-field issues allegedly got worse for Parsons, who is accused of some pretty heinous things by one of his former Penn State teammates Isaiah Humphries. Some of the details of those allegations you can read here.

It’s also important to note that Penn State issued a statement (also included in that link above) in which it said an investigation was conducted regarding the allegations and found they were unsubstantiated.

Parsons was asked about the alleged character concerns in March 2021 and chalked it up to his youth, saying, “We all make mistakes when we’re 17-18.” He doesn’t want those mistakes to define the person he is now.

Interestingly enough, another former Penn State defensive star — Yetur Gross-Matos — was named among the allegations of hazing along with Parsons, but that was never really brought up at all in his pre-draft evaluation.

Gross-Matos and Parsons both had suspensions at some point in 2019 (Gross-Matos at the start of the season, Parsons in November) for violating team rules. Gross-Matos’ suspension was a summer-long suspension, which again never really came up before the Panthers picked him 38th overall unless you followed the Penn State program closely.

Either way, the NFL must have agreed with Penn State that it was all in the past or unsubstantiated and overlooked it.

Will they do the same for Parsons? That remains to be seen.

Parsons is a pass rusher by nature who is learning the off-ball linebacker position. He is a physical freak of nature and if on-field is the only piece of the evaluation, he’s probably the best defensive player in this draft class with plenty of room to get even better considering he only has one season as a full-time starter.

Still, Parsons’ off-field red flags, apparent maturity concerns, and positional value (linebackers are not valued overly high when it comes to 1st-round picks) are all reasons the Denver Broncos may want to avoid him altogether.

And yet, still, they may not.

Denver Broncos 7-round mock draft: Sifting through latest rumors

The Denver Broncos and new GM George Paton have assembled a strong foundation. How will they add to the team in the 2021 NFL Draft?

The team needs to make sure they do plenty of research before making Parsons a top draft pick, if indeed that is the plan.