Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - GO BIG: Broncos ATTACK Needs in Pre-Combine Mock Draft Predictions

Starting point is 00:00:00 We're attacking some big needs for the first Broncos mock draft of the offseason. You are locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. The Denver Broncos need to draft for needs this off season, as opposed to just going with the best player available regardless of position. We're flipping maybe some of the more traditional roster building ideas on their head for this initial Broncos mock draft on today's bonus episode,

Starting point is 00:00:39 Locked on Broncos. And here we are. The NFL scouting combine is this week. The Denver Broncos obviously have plenty of areas to address going into free agency. And we know that they'll address needs in free agency. But we have seen in recent years, this team is not necessarily going after some of its biggest roster holes in the draft, but more so going after players that they believe are the highest on their board,

Starting point is 00:01:02 which there's nothing necessarily. necessarily wrong with that unless those guys aren't playing. And we did see a little bit of that last year with Jaudei Barron. So we're going to talk about that on our mock draft episode of Locked on Broncos. Welcome into the show. All you every dayers out there. We appreciate you so much for making Lockdown Broncos, your first lesson of the day every single day. My name is Sarah Beninger. I'm the co-host of Lockdown Broncos as well as the site expert at predominantly orange.com. And let's waste no time. Broncos country. The Broncos pick 30th overall in this year's draft. And one of my favorite scenarios right now for this team is to go

Starting point is 00:01:40 after an offensive lineman. The Broncos, they don't necessarily need to take a running back or a wide receiver or a skill player with their top pick in this year's draft. I feel like if they go with an offensive lineman, it's maybe one of the wisest courses of action that they can take. And one of my favorite players in this draft right now is Chase Bessantis, the offensive lineman from Texas A&M. So may not be the most popular mock draft pick at this point, but Broncos country, I can tell you right now, this Chase Bessontas at pick number 30 overall would be massive for this team. And really, I feel like you could plug any offensive lineman that you want to in that slot, whether it's, you know, Caleb Lomu of Utah or, you know, the guy from Georgia, Monroe Freeling.

Starting point is 00:02:34 There's plenty of different offensive linemen in there, an Arizona state player that's really rising up boards right now. One of the guy that I would really like to see is actually Caden Proctor from Alabama, who originally was a five-star who committed to Iowa, flipped his commitment to Alabama. I'm not salty about that as an Iowa fan at all, but I would love to see Caden Proctor to the Broncos as well. But Chase Bissontas, I feel I could fill a need for this team sooner rather than later because Ben Powers is set to be a free agent after this coming season. And we'll find out in the coming weeks if Ben Powers is actually part of the Broncos immediate plans. It's going to be

Starting point is 00:03:11 really interesting to find out what they end up doing with Ben Powers after he suffered a pretty long injury this past season was out for a couple of months. So I could see a guy like Chase Bissontas who right now, I mean, he's very highly thought of when it comes to people who evaluate offensive linemen for the NFL draft. One of my favorites to look at is Lance Zeerline over at NFL.com. He has a profile up on Chase Bessantis right now. And he has him graded as a 6.37 will eventually be a plus starter. And so here's some things that he says about him.

Starting point is 00:03:47 He's tough. He's well-schooled. He doesn't have ideal length, but he's got heavy hands, good footwork. good core strength. Those are all traits that you want to see from somebody who's going to be starting for you sooner rather than later. And what I like about what he says about him here, here's one of his strengths. Pairs technique with churning feet for optimal double team displacement, initial quickness to climb and seal or make backside cutoff blocks and has the ability to redirect an edge rush off track. So he's got a lot of those technique things that you look for

Starting point is 00:04:19 in offensive line prospects that, okay, they can come into the NFL refined in these ways. We can really work with these players right away. And I think that more and more as we get closer to the draft, the guy who's six foot five, 315 pounds, came out as a junior. So he's a younger prospect than what we've seen the Broncos take in recent years.

Starting point is 00:04:40 I feel like he's going to be one of those types of guys that he could become a late first round type of player. If not, maybe the Broncos would look to trade back and get him anyway. In the second round of this mock draft, we're not necessarily going to go with a player who won't start right away. I want to go with another player that I think is going to actually start right away for this team. I'm taking Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez,

Starting point is 00:05:05 actually put him to the Broncos in my mock draft that I did over at predominantly orange over the weekend. Jacob Rodriguez forced 19 turnovers over the last couple of seasons at Texas Tech. And I believe 11 of them came this past year. Seven force fumbles, four interceptions. I mean, just an absolute dog when it comes to the linebacker position playing with instincts, aggressiveness, getting after the football. I feel like Jacob Rodriguez, even if the Broncos had to take him at 30 overall, I mean, is this one of those guys that you say, I want him on my team at any cost? Like, he might be that type of prospect. So I think if the Broncos could come away from their first two picks with an offensive lineman and a linebacker, man, that would address two positions.

Starting point is 00:05:51 groups that they really haven't done a great job drafting at in recent years, wouldn't it? I mean, the Broncos haven't drafted an offensive tackle since Garrett Bowles, but the last time they drafted a guard, well, it turned out pretty good for them, right? Quinn Miner's third round pick back in 2021 might be time to now draft somebody as you've already paid a number of those guys on your offensive line. You might need to reset the clock at one of those positions at the very least, go after an offensive guard, and then you get a linebacker who could play right away. So Chase Bissontas, Jacob Rodriguez are the two picks to start off this Broncos mock draft, and we are going to look through the team's top five picks in this mock draft. So we've got three

Starting point is 00:06:31 picks left. What are we going to do? Broncos country. We're not going to necessarily focus on either side of the ball in particular, but we definitely need to get the Broncos a tight end. We're going to do that coming up on this mock draft edition, a bonus episode locked on Broncos. Today's show is brought to you by our friends at Home Chef. As the new year gets going, a lot of people are trying to simplify their routines and dinner. It is a big one between busy workdays, cold winter nights, and pack schedules. Having an easy, reliable dinner plan, it just makes a huge difference.

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Starting point is 00:09:00 entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA finals. Play your game with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. We're tackling the last three picks of this Denver Broncos mock draft. Of course, Broncos country. The team has quite a few picks to work with in this year's NFL draft. We're focusing on the top five for this mock draft bonus episode, Locked on Broncos. We already took an offensive guard in round one, Chase Basantis of Texas A&M. And we went and got Jacob Rodriguez, the linebacker out of Texas Tech in round two. How are we going to approach the next couple of picks? Well, you're about to find out on today's bonus show. But quickly I want to say thank you to all of you every dayers out there that listen to Lockdown Broncos every single day

Starting point is 00:09:44 and make this show exactly what it is. We appreciate you. So, so. much. And look, when it comes to the Broncos on day two and day three of the NFL draft, I think that you want to find guys that can contribute right away. But I also don't think you necessarily marry yourself to the idea that you have to draft a starter in these rounds. However, I will say my favorite round three pick right now for the Denver Broncos, assuming that he's still there is going to be Stanford tight end, Sam Roosh. Sam Roosh is one of those players who can play in line. he offers you a bit more of a dynamic past catching option than Adam Troutman. And I think the Broncos really, they need to kind of revamp the tight end position completely, right?

Starting point is 00:10:28 Because even if they do run it back with Evan Ingram, even if they do make a shorter term addition at the tight end position and free agency, maybe they do go for a long term. Maybe they go for somebody like a Daniel Bellinger and they say, hey, we want him to be our inline guy. I still think you need more options. You need more variety. You need more players who could actually be threats in the passing game, as well as do what Sean Payton and new offensive coordinator, Davis Webb, are going to want you to do in the running game.

Starting point is 00:10:56 Sam Roush coming from that Stanford program, he's going to be able to do that. To me, he's a no-brainer for the Broncos on day two. If he is still there, he's such a great fit for this offense. We know Condoleezza Rice in the ownership group is always going to be pulling for those Stanford Cardinal players. And certainly Sam Ruch is that. type of guy that you feel like would fit in with what this team wants. Offensively versatility.

Starting point is 00:11:21 He can play in line. He could split out. He could be a red zone threat for you. I really like his fit with the Broncos. So that gives us the top three picks of Chase Bissontas, the guard from Texas A&M. And then obviously Jacob Rodriguez, the linebacker, excuse me, from Texas Tech. And now Sam Roush, the tight end from Stanford. And here we get into the fourth round for the Denver Broncos.

Starting point is 00:11:43 What do we know about Sean Payton and George? Peyton. Well, I guess more so along the lines of what George Peyton likes to do. We know that George absolutely loves. He always takes defensive backs. He's never not going to take defensive backs. I think in round four, if the Broncos can get Bishop Fitzgerald, a safety out of USC, that he supplements potentially the loss of PJ Locke, but also if the Broncos decide not to resign Brandon Jones after this season. He gives you an option as a developmental starting safety. So Bishop Fitzgerald, the safety out of USC. And here's one thing I think to keep in mind. The Broncos, they just hired a new defensive backs coach, Doug Belk, who's coaching up the defensive backs. He spent the last

Starting point is 00:12:30 two years at USC and prior to that was at Houston. So there's a couple of different prospects in the defensive backfield in this draft that could make sense for the Broncos. Bishop Fitzgerald is one of them, but he's an absolute dog on top of it all. He's somebody that I could see the Broncos really liking. A.J. Halsey was coached at Houston by Doug Belk as well. And then Kamari Ramsey, who was the safety at USC this past season. But with this mock draft, we're going with Bishop Fitzgerald, one of the most underrated playmakers in the defensive backfield that I think the Broncos could go after on day three. So that gives us our top four picks to round out this top five mock draft, another fourth round pick for the Denver Broncos,

Starting point is 00:13:14 what direction do you go, right? Well, you've already gotten an offensive lineman. You've gotten a tight end, a linebacker. You took a safety. This is where I think you want to go with an offensive skill player. And I know a lot of folks in Broncos country right now are loving this guy. I'm going to take Arkansas running back Mike Washington, Jr. So you get a big back out there who can be physical for you,

Starting point is 00:13:39 somebody that can slot into your rotation right away if need be, but also doesn't necessarily have to play unless it's on a have to play basis, right? You want your top two running backs, RJ Harvey and whoever the Broncos bring in as a veteran addition. Ideally, I think those two guys will be your top two in terms of touches, carries this season, but somebody like Mike Washington, Jr. could be somebody that the Broncos insert into the lineup in case of injury. And I think you could lean on him even as a day three pick.

Starting point is 00:14:09 if he ends up being that. So this top five mock draft for the Broncos, let me know what you're thinking about this too, because I like the idea of drafting for needs. I like the idea of drafting for instant contributions. That's something that I'm thinking about after last year's pick of Jada Baron. And certainly, you know, looking through the years like Jonah Ellis,

Starting point is 00:14:30 not that he hasn't made any impact at all, but you almost wonder, like if the Broncos had drafted more for need, would they be in a better position in terms of the way the roster has been built right now. I feel like Chase Bissontas could start for you at left guard either this year or next. And then I feel like Jacob Rodriguez is an instant plug and play starter. I wouldn't mind him.

Starting point is 00:14:51 I know we took him at 62 in this mock draft. I wouldn't mind him at 30 for the Broncos. I like him that much. And then I think you get Sam Ruch. He can play right away for you as an inline tight end. Broncos use a lot of 12, 13 personnel. He can play right away. Then you get Bishop Fitzgerald, the safety.

Starting point is 00:15:09 If you lose PJ Locke, you instantly have a spot for that third safety. Compete with Devon Key, play special teams right away, make an impact. Mike Washington, Jr. You need depth at the running back position. Broncos found that out the hard way this past year. So I think all of these players could contribute now and into the future. And tell me your thoughts. What would your top five picks ideally look like for the Broncos?

Starting point is 00:15:32 I'm sure we'll all have an updated top five, whether it's tomorrow after the scouting combine. we're going to do plenty more mock draft scenarios. But Broncos Country, appreciate you for tuning into this bonus episode of the show. We'll catch you on the next one.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - GO BIG: Broncos ATTACK Needs in Pre-Combine Mock Draft Predictions

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