2023 NFL Draft: 3 Early Predictions for the Denver Broncos

With the 2022-23 season coming to an end as divisional rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, won the Lombardi trophy, all 32 teams in the NFL shifted their focus to the new season upon us.

The Denver Broncos are one of the few teams that have a significant off-season ahead of them. It all started earlier when Sean Payton was announced as the 20th head coach in franchise history. With the most significant question mark solved, it's time for Payton and the organization to focus on the draft.

As of now, GM George Paton and the Broncos have six total picks in the draft. Paton has mentioned that he likes to get at least ten picks when the draft is done. The more draft capital, the better.

With the NFL draft becoming the main focal point now, here are three early predictions for the Sean Payton-led Denver Broncos and the 2023 NFL draft.

Denver Broncos Accumulating more Draft Capital

Sean Payton is from the Bill Parcells coaching tree, and he's one of the best coaches to learn from. They share the same philosophies to a certain extent and they love having draft picks. George Paton also loves the fact of having an abundance of draft capital for the simple fact of having higher odds of selecting great players.

It's pretty simple. The more draft picks you have, the greater your chance of selecting players that will become cornerstone pieces of the franchise. Sounds easy and plain, but many teams don't adopt this thinking style.

The 2023 draft picks for the Denver Broncos currently are:

• Round 3, Pick 68 (from Colts)
• Round 3, Pick 69
• Round 4, Pick 108
• Round 5, Pick 140
• Round 6, Pick 194 (from Steelers)

The way Payton and Paton like to operate should tell fans that they will have more than six total draft picks this year. The simplest way of accomplishing that is by trading down in the draft.

An easy one to figure out is the two current picks in the third round. The Broncos have back-to-back picks (pick 68 and 69) in the third round. Unless Payton and the front office have two players that are high on their draft boards sitting right there for them to draft, it'd be smart to trade one of those picks to accumulate more in the draft.

Whether it is trading one of the third-round picks or not, one of those picks gives them the best chance of recouping more draft capital in return for the trade.

This particular draft class is deep in multiple positions, so it'd be nice if the Broncos could have more picks in the range of 100-200 than they currently do now (3 picks).

Sean Payton and George Paton understand that they need to have a great draft this year, and the only way to do that is by drafting many players. They'll trade down and accumulate picks in the later rounds of the draft. Fans won't like it, but it is the right move to make.