Denver Broncos mock draft: Rashee Rice the future at WR?

4. Jartavius Martin, DB, Illinois

Could the Denver Broncos really wait until round four to take a defensive player in this Draft? Well, the team only has five picks as of right now, so anything is possible. You see a lot of Denver Broncos mock draft scenarios with EDGE players in round three, some with safeties, some with cornerbacks, and even some with linebackers.

What the Denver Broncos have seemingly been looking very closely at is players who have positional versatility in the secondary -- guys who can come in right away and play nickel, safety, linebacker. The name of the game in today's NFL is versatility and in Vance Joseph's defense, you've got to have some guys with that positional versatility. We saw plenty of that in his time with the Arizona Cardinals.

So, here, the Denver Broncos land the versatile Jartavius Martin, a defensive back out of Illinois with a ridiculous 44-inch vertical jump and tons of evidence that he can come into the NFL and play all over the defensive formation. He can play outside corner, nickel, deep safety -- he can do it all.

It will be interesting to see how the Denver Broncos approach the secondary during and after the 2023 NFL Draft. How confident are they in their current depth? If I were George Paton, I wouldn't be feeling too great about it. I think a player like Martin would be awesome to have because it would allow you to keep Caden Sterns in the deep safety slot and have a new player roaming around as that slot/dime defensive back.

Martin plays with a level of physicality that could also translate well to special teams at the next level, which he would certainly have to play.