Round 5, No. 152 overall: Caden Sterns, Safety, Texas
Sterns is a developing safety who possesses great ball skills and elite speed. He is a top-tier athlete who was at one time one of the top safety prospects in college football. However, his game is far from perfect.
When watching his game film, the amount of missed tackles and how he looked in attempting to make them is a bit ridiculous. That is something that needs to be a focus of his from day one in the NFL as he will have to get better at that.
Grade: C
Round 5, No. 164 overall: Jamar Johnson, Safety, Indiana
It’s usually tough to sell the idea of using two picks in a row on the same position (the Broncos did it last year with their first two picks) but in this case, I loved it.
The Broncos have a great combination at safety in Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson, but Jackson is playing on a one-year deal and could easily be gone next year. That means one of these young safeties could be groomed as his replacement.
I like Johnson better than Sterns and think he will end up being the better player.
Johnson also has tremendous ball skills and his anticipation is beautiful. He shows great traits for a coverage safety but like Sterns, needs to become a better tackler.
Grade: B+