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.
Trading for a Veteran Wide Receiver
This might look a bit contradicting with the earlier prediction, but the Denver Broncos will trade for a veteran wide receiver in the draft.
Houston Texan WR Brandin Cooks has been on the trading market for a long time, and Denver needs to add some key players to that position. Nick Caserio and George Paton can work something out that can be beneficial for both teams.
Jerry Jeudy had a career year and has shown that he can become the player he was drafted to be. With Sean Payton as the HC now, fans can expect even bigger things from Jeudy. Unfortunately enough, the rest of the players did not have a great year.
Courtland Sutton had a considerable drop-off in his play this past year. There were moments when Russell Wilson was treating Sutton as the WR1 of the team and targeting him a bunch. The performances were not up to par for Sutton and Jeudy quickly took over that role.
Who knows what Payton will do with the current players at wide receiver, but he does have familiarity with Cooks. Without losing draft capital, the Broncos can offer the Texans Sutton for Cooks while swapping some draft capital.
Cooks' contract plays a significant factor in trade discussions. For example, Sutton's cap hit sits at 15, regarding the 2023 financial rankings. Cooks' cap hit is fourth most amongst wide receivers. Not only will the Texans be receiving a cheaper WR against the cap, but a younger talent as well.
This shouldn't cost the Broncos in losing any draft capital when trading for Cooks. They'll be trading for an older and more expensive player. It'd be a win-win for both teams as DeMeco Ryans can have a young talented wide receiver in his tenure, and Payton can reunite with Cooks.
Drafting QB Hendon Hooker
It's not out of the realm of possibility that Sean Payton gets to establish a young quarterback out of the draft that can learn under Russell Wilson.
Being the backup quarterback (QB2) is one of the most underrated positions in the league. We all saw what happened to the San Francisco 49ers this past year. It's essential to have a competent QB2 and Hendon Hooker gives the Denver Broncos tremendous value in that department.
Hooker is coming off a torn ACL he suffered mid-season with the Tennessee Volunteers. During his Heisman campaign (pre-injury), he was one of the best quarterbacks in college football. Hooker completed 69% of his passes while throwing 27 touchdowns and two interceptions. He's won 23 college games and I mention this because Bill Parcells always looked at how many wins (and the level of competition) the player has in college. It gives an accurate read on if he knows how to win and the experience he has. Sean Payton can adopt this philosophy himself by drafting Hooker.
Hooker throws a beautiful deep ball and can escape from the pocket. What is also great about him is he stands 6'4 and weighs around 215 lbs. Hooker has everything physically a coach would want in a quarterback.
Brett Rypien being QB2 is not a successful backup plan for the Broncos. Anything can happen, and there needs to be a quarterback that is young and willing to help the team. Drafting Hooker solves all of those problems in addition to his upside being great.
Payton recognizes that if he drafts a quarterback and he executes at a high level, he may have the future of the franchise learning every day from Wilson. That'd be a dream scenario for the Broncos after being in QB purgatory for many years.
That said, Denver will draft Hendon Hooker as he continues to fall in the draft due to concerns about his torn ACL and injury.