The Denver Broncos appear to be going with Drew Lock or Teddy Bridgewater in 2021, barring a trade, which at this point in the offseason, would be a bit surprising.
Whoever wins the job between those two men is going to have to play lights out and at the very least, get the Broncos into the playoffs. If that doesn’t happen, there will likely be mass turnover at key spots within the organization.
One of those would be at the quarterback position. The 2022 draft features a group of quarterbacks who will have a lot of hype and will be first-round picks, but they could just as easily join the long list of first-round busts throughout history.
With the college football season still about a month away from even starting, most of this will just be speculation. The players on this list could either prove they should be taken in the first round, or they could fall all the way to day three of the draft.
But rest assured, if Lock, Bridgewater, or both fail this coming season, the Broncos will be taking a long look at the players on this list.
This will give fans a chance to get to know these players ahead of time.
Matt Corral is a name to watch this coming season because he is going to rise as the leader of the Rebels.
Corral’s name is one that is not familiar to most football fans, but he will make a name for himself in 2021 after having a tremendous year in 2020. Last season, his first with Lane Kiffin as the team’s head coach, Corral completed a very impressive 71 percent of his throws for over 3,300 yards and 29 touchdowns.
Though Kiffin is not a favorite of many, he is a respected head coach and still has some influence on the NFL, where he once coached the Raiders. He is considered one of the game’s best offensive minds and it’s no coincidence that Corral flourished under him.
That will continue this season as Corral will show his ability to fit the ball into tight spaces, throw from many different angles and display his tremendous athleticism. He is not a name that would have been considered as a first-round pick even late last season, but he will by the end of this year.
If you were looking at mock drafts for 2022 even six months ago, you would have been able to find some with Sam Howell as the No. 1 overall pick. That likely won’t happen unless Howell completely goes off this year, but that’s a possibility.
Howell has been the starting quarterback for the Tar Heels in each of the last two seasons and he has been more than impressive while helping build a strong program.
He has completed 64.4 percent of his passes for 7,227 yards with an incredible 68-14 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He also has a quarterback rating of 168.8.
If you have watched Howell play, you know that he is not your conventional drop-back passer. But he can make plays that not many guys can make.
He is an accurate thrower and he throws the ball on the run quite well. He has solid mobility and is always a threat to run for the first down or touchdown. He’s not afraid to take contact in order to pick up tough yardage and he’s the kind of guy other players love to have on their team.
Howell could be a top-five pick or he could slide all the way out of the first round, but a solid 2021 season should make him an easy first-round pick.
Desmond Ridder will be one of those rare four-year starters as he enters the 2021 season with the Cincinnati Bearcats. He has been great for that school but he is getting more limelight now following the Bearcats’ excellent 2021 season in which they were one of the best teams in the nation.
For his career, Ridder has thrown for over 6,900 yards with 57 touchdowns and 20 picks. He has just a 61 percent career completion rate, lower than most of the first-round options.
Many won’t even see Ridder as a first-round choice, especially right now. He actually considered leaving school last season but was told he would be a day three pick. Hearing that news, he decided to come back for his senior season to see what else he can do at the program.
Ridder has amazing arm talent, perhaps the best on this list. He can make all of the throws and he can fit the ball in when it doesn’t seem possible. Arm strength will not be a question at the next level.
He is also a dual-threat option and with his size at 6-foot-4, can be a real problem for defenses. He may not be a first-round pick for many teams, but if he can get into the right situation, one where there is a great veteran in front of him (like Atlanta), he could make the kind of transition that Patrick Mahomes made into being a starter.
This is one of the more interesting guys to watch this college football season.
In a mock draft released shortly after the 2021 draft, the Broncos were slotted as taking USC’s Kedon Slovis. The Trojans’ passer was getting first-round consideration at the time, but Walter Football, one of the most trusted outlets there is, doesn’t see it that way currently.
Slovis will be entering his third year with USC but he has only started 18 career games. However, he has been good in those games, throwing 47 touchdown passes with just 16 interceptions.
Slovis displays high football intelligence and reads defenses well. He also gets through his progressions better than most but what could set him apart is his accuracy, as he has completed 70 percent of his throws during his college career.
This will be an important season for Slovis as he tries to prove his case as a first-round pick. He likely would not be the first quarterback off the board and the Broncos hopefully won’t be picking that high anyway, which could leave Slovis as an option.
It’s understandable why he was selected by the Broncos in that mock.
On the other hand, if he has a season like he did last year and unlike the stellar season he posted as a freshman, then he could take a big tumble down draft boards.
Definitely one of the more intriguing names in next year’s draft will be that of Malik Willis. You can find mock drafts out there right now that show the Broncos taking him in the first round.
There’s no way anyone heard of Willis before last season and most probably still haven’t, but he certainly put his name on the map with an outstanding 2020 campaign in which he threw for over 2,300 yards and 20 touchdowns.
But that wasn’t all. He racked up an additional 944 yards running the ball and had another 14 touchdowns, drawing comparisons to Lamar Jackson.
This would be a much different approach at quarterback than the one the Broncos usually go with, but if the team were to have a new coaching regime if it missed the playoffs again this season, that group could see the benefits of a guy like Willis.
The knock against Willis is going to be level of competition. Though the Flames do play Syracuse and Ole Miss in 2021, they also have games against the likes of Campbell, Troy, and Middle Tennessee.
However, that was the same thing many people said about Trey Lance going into the most recent draft and he was the No. 3 overall pick.
Willis is an interesting prospect and if he has another year like 2020, he will have first-round draft buzz heading into next year’s selection process.
The name Spencer Rattler is one you are going to hear a lot this college football season. Not only does he play at one of the top programs in the country, but he could also be in the thick of the Heisman Trophy race.
If you have ever watched the Netflix series QB1, you may already be familiar with this kid. He does have a cockiness about him, but he gets the job done. Some analysts see him as the No.1 overall pick in next year’s draft and that’s where he goes in this mock draft.
If that is the case, the Broncos would have to be really bad in order to end up with him. Like, worst-ever bad.
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That said, so many things can change between now and next April. Rattler could be seen as the No. 1 overall choice right now, but a bad season could change that.
Rattler is only 6-foot-1 and a shade over 200 pounds, so he’s not the biggest guy and there will be teams that rank him lower for that reason alone. Other scouts will look right past that because of his crazy arm strength, ability to throw from many angles, and the way he can use his legs to make plays.
He has already drawn comparisons to Mahomes.
Rattler will be a high pick in next year’s draft and he will be one of the most talked-about players during this upcoming college season.
Will any of these guys end up in Denver next year? Or will Drew or Teddy be able to hold it down, take the Broncos to the postseason and have the team not even thinking about quarterback next spring?