Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - MOCK DRAFT: Emeka Egbuka the MISSING PIECE For Denver Broncos WR Room

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

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Does the perfect Denver Broncos mock draft exist in 2025? We're going to find out on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. You are locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. The perfect mock draft for the Denver Broncos, as we are less than one month away from the big event and finding out how are the Denver Broncos going to surround young quarterback Bo Nix?

Who could they target on day two to potentially be the air apparent for Evan Ingram at the tight end position? And is it a possible strategy just to go with all Oregon ducks or all Ohio State Buckeyes in the draft? We're going to be looking at some of your mock draft scenarios that you, the listeners of Locked on Broncos, sent in. Welcome to today's episode of the show. My name is Sayre Bedinger, co-host here at Locked on Broncos. Appreciate every single one of you so much for making Lockedon Broncos your first listen of the day. every single day. And you know that your boys, Cody and Sayre, are going to have you covered every day. Whatever happens with your favorite team, the Denver Broncos. So make sure you're

subscribed and locked in if you haven't done so already. And today's episode of the show is brought to you by our friends at Fanduil. Right now, new customers at Fandual can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Broncos country, we ask the question, does the perfect mock drive exist. Well, the reality is, is that you've probably got a better shot of projecting the entire March madness field than you do of getting an entire mock draft correct. But that's not exactly what makes a perfect mock draft, right? What makes a perfect mock draft is hitting on perceived value at every juncture of the draft, finding players who fit your not only needs now, but into the future as well. And we're going to take a look at one of the scenarios that was sent in by one

of you. We had an awesome mock draft submission from Orange crushing it on Twitter. And a number of you resonated with it. Saw a bunch of likes on this particular mock draft, which featured an Ohio State Buckeye in the first round. And that's kind of become a really popular projection for the Denver Broncos is, hey, in the first round of the draft, can you really go wrong with an Ohio State Bucke? Because Emeka Egbuka, the wide receiver, he makes a lot of sense for what the Broncos need right now. And Trayvion Henderson, the running back out of Ohio State, he makes a lot of sense for what the Broncos need right now. And yes, they could take either of those guys at 20 overall. But this mock draft sent in by Orange Crush and it actually had them taking both

guys, a mecha egg bucca in the first round and Trayvion Henderson in the second round. Now, I've gone on record as saying that I believe that it's more likely maybe that Trayvion Henderson goes in the first round of this year's draft. But look, it's, it's impossible to know exactly who's going to be available at what selection. You can't sit here right now and say, well, this guy's, unless you're talking about like Travis Hunter or Cam Ward or something, you get it, right? You can't sit here and say, well, this guy's for sure not going to be there at 20 overall.

Or this guy's for sure not going to be there at 51 overall. The reality is, is that we just don't know, which is what makes mock drafts so much fun and unpredictable is that you might be projecting a guy to go to the Broncos in the first round today who they could get at 51 overall later in April. And so I feel like that's one of those things to where if you're projecting the draft and you feel like, hey, if the Broncos are faced with this possibility, like let's not just pass on it for the sake of realism, right? Let's take these guys and build a top tier class.

the Broncos getting a mecha, and Trevion Henderson with their first two picks in this draft is the dream scenario. You could stop the draft right there, in my opinion, because those two guys alone fit exactly what Bo Nix needs, what Sean Payton said is going to help Bo Nix be successful in that triangle of the offense, right, where he talked about you need a tight end,

you need a running back, and you need a wide receiver three or a third receiver to really fit in the middle of the field and open things up for everything else. They've got Evan Ingram right now. He can fill that need for the next couple of years. They don't have that guy at running back. And I don't think they have that guy at wide receiver. The guys they have at wide receiver, they're more so outside guys.

And Sean Peyton has been clear about that. He feels like, you know, obviously Cortland Sutton is the quintessential X wide receiver, that guy that plays on the outside. And then you have obviously Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims who play the other outside spot. Do you have that slot guy? Well, Devon Velae can play that role as a big slot, but do you have that player that can consistently create separation? That's where I think Emeka Egbuka is enticing me more and more as somebody the Broncos could really go for at that 20th overall selection. He's a not the biggest receiver, but he's a big body.

he's a good blocker. He's got reliable hands. He showed at the Ohio State Pro Day that he's plenty of athletic to do all the things that you need him to do. So I really love this direction from this mock draft to say, hey, let's go get Emeka Egbuka right away. He can come in and play a variety of difference. He can play inside. He can play outside. And he can be a high volume target from day one, just like another former Ohio State guy, Jackson, Smith, and Jigba, who I think he compares kind of favorably to it.

bit bigger, obviously, but similar in the way that he can be used out of the slot consistently. And this might be a hot take, okay, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway. I feel like a Mecca Egg Buka can be somewhat similar in his usage to Justin Jefferson. Now, I'm not saying that he's going to be Justin Jefferson. Let's not get carried away on the hot take train today, but I feel like he can be used in a similar type of way. Remember, when Justin Jefferson was coming out of LSU, there were not a lot of folks that thought, hey, he's going to be the best wide receiver in the league. In fact, at this point in the process back in 2020, more people were saying, now,

I wouldn't use a first round pick on Justin Jefferson or even a second round pick. I'd wait to get him until rounds three or four because that's where the mock draft machines had him going, remember? So now, how about now, right? I mean, no, but Justin is a perfect fit for the way that they use him in Minnesota primarily out of the slot and he did that at LSU as well. And a lot of folks were saying, well, because he's primarily working out of the slot, like that's going to bring his value down.

And because he doesn't run in the four threes, you know, that brings his value down a little bit. I can see similar things being said about Emeka Egbuka right now. And I'm not saying that he's going to be Justin Jefferson. Let's not, don't quote me on as saying that. But what I'm saying is, is that he profiles similarly in the way that he plays the game, strong hands, savvy, good route runner, good blocker, does the little things well, going to move the chains for you, going to open up things for everybody else in the offense. And he fits within that triangle that Sean Peyton has talked about in the middle of the field.

He could be that guy. And then you go get Trayvion Henderson in the second round, which I think if we're talking about pure value, because I'm on record as saying I would take Trayvion Henderson at 20 overall. If you can get him in the second round, I think that is the. steal of the draft because Trayvion Henderson is tailor-made to work well in today's NFL. He's a three-down player. He's aggressive with the ball in his hands. He's quick.

He's elusive. He's a good pass catcher. He's a really good pass protector. I feel like he has those traits to be a joker in the Sean Payton offense. I know people are kind of sick of hearing that term being thrown around. I get it. And maybe we're even sick of hearing about Ohio State players being selected. We'll talk about some more players potentially that could go first.

round for Denver later in this show. But I love, love, love the idea of Ohio State guys coming in, not just because they played at Ohio State, not just because they're, you know, national champs or whatever. But those guys, they've proven in recent years, like, especially at wide receiver, they're cranking out some of the most NFL ready guys out of any school out there. And then you talk about other skill position guys like Trayvion Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, who we've talked about as a potential surprise first round candidate before, because Broncos insider Mike Cliss did say that the team brought in Quinn Sean Judkins for a visit

and that he would be an option potentially at 20th overall. Maybe if they trade down as well, but certainly you wouldn't be able to get him at 51, at least in terms of what you think with any of these guys right now. But this scenario brought in to the show today by Orange crushing it. I think absolutely, when you talk about pun intended here, absolutely crushed it with these two picks, any combination. of those Ohio State skill position guys, I think would be incredible in this year's draft for the Denver Broncos.

But orange crushing it wasn't done there with the crushing it. Obviously, you have more picks to use in a mock draft. So what makes up the perfect mock draft for the Denver Broncos? I think you've got to hit tight end. You got to hit linebacker. George Payton always going to be taking a defensive back. Got to take advantage of the depth at defensive line in this class. And you know my brand, Broncos country.

if you've been listening that I love the idea of doubling up at the running back position, orange crushing it checked every single box. And we're going to continue to break down their picks on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Monarch Money. Ever check into your bank account and wonder, where'd all my money go, right? Between dining out, online shopping, which I know I can be guilty of this, and entertainment, it's easy to lose track of where all your money is going.

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especially in the top 100 picks is borderline essential and orange crushing it absolutely killed it with this third round pick. We're going to talk about why Harold Fandon should still be very much in play for the Denver Broncos on day two of the 2025 NFL draft. And Broncos country, thanks so much for tuning into today's episode. We appreciate you rocking with us every single day here at lockdown Broncos. And you know what? If you haven't done so already, take a couple seconds.

Hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you haven't done so, go over to YouTube. Or if you're watching on YouTube, hit that subscribe button right now. So you don't miss a single episode of anything that goes on with your Denver Broncos throughout the course of the offseason. You know that your boys, Cody and Say, are going to have you covered, especially during the 2025 NFL draft, where we'll be breaking down every single selection, rounds one through seven. The Broncos currently don't have any picks in round seven,

but you can rest assured we'll be breaking down undrafted free agents. the draft is over as well. But during the draft, the Broncos have a chance to take advantage of the depth of a number of different positions in this particular class. And some of the deepest position groups are the positions the Broncos have the most desperate needs at, whether we're talking about running back, tight end, defensive line. On day two of the 2025 NFL draft, that could be the sweet spot where we see the Broncos take advantage of the depth of this tight end class.

Cody and I have broken down situations in the past of while the Broncos brought in Terrence Ferguson and Gunner Helm, the Oregon and Texas tight ends, respectively, who are both Colorado natives, Denver natives, who could be potential day two fits, maybe even day three if they last until the fourth round. One guy who's kind of been getting dragged through the mud a little bit too much in this pre-draft process is Bowling Green, tight end Harold fan, and he doesn't get talked about a ton because, well, maybe people aren't necessarily all aboard the train in terms of who he played against in college. They feel like a lot of his FBS record, by the way, 117 receptions last year were fabricated touches or things that, hey, they're just quickly getting him the ball.

It's not necessarily all translatable to the NFL level. Folks didn't love his combine workout. Folks didn't love his athletic traits, things like that. I'm telling you right now, you watch Harold Fan. and against Penn State. You watch him against some of the better competition that he played. This guy is an absolute baller. And I think that NFL teams are going to see it that way.

I think, look, you get on the stage of the scouting combine, and you just really never know what is going to go down there for guys. I mean, even Sean Payton has said, like, Bo Nicks didn't throw well at the combine last year. That was his perception. And so you complete the whole pre-draft process. You watch film on guys and you figure out who can be the best possible fit. for your offense and for what you do.

Harold Fanon is one of those guys that I feel like, as, you know, we're talking about this mock draft, you had Emeka Igbuka round one, you had Trayvion Henderson round two. I think if you were to, we're able to get Harold Fanon in the third round, I already said that the first two picks would make for the perfect draft. You wouldn't have to do anything else, but then you add Harold Fanon into the mix.

Like, this would set the offseason off for the Denver Broncos to add this level of playmakers, the excitement that we all felt back in 2020 when Drew Locke was posting videos after the Broncos took back-to-back wide receivers atop the 2020 draft. And then we all got so excited when they then took his teammate,

Albert Okwebunam, in the fourth round, and everybody was just getting absolutely hyped because they're surrounding this young quarterback after an exciting finish to 2019. Now you're doing everything in your power to surround this quarterback with talent, that's the level of excitement times however much you want to multiply it by with Bo Nix now because you have proof of concept that Bo Nix had a historic rookie season, obviously.

And then, you know, you're talking about a team that just made the playoffs. And you have this kind of blank canvas offensively on which to paint in the NFL draft. And if you go out and get a wide receiver in round one, a running back who has three down potential in round two, and then a potential Joker candidate at tight end in round three. And Harold Fannan, who just caught an FBS record, by the way, once again, 117 passes last year at Bowling Green. That doesn't all just happen by accident. He's a playmaker.

And he would be one of the ideal third round picks, in my opinion, for this Denver Broncos team. So I think Orange crushing it absolutely just destroyed this draft in the best possible way. But they weren't done there. fourth round, Jeffrey Bassa, linebacker out of Oregon. Again, I don't think you can take too many Oregon ducks or Ohio State Buckeyes in this particular draft. Jeffrey Bassa is one of those guys.

A lot of Broncos country already really likes him. I like the idea of adding depth at linebacker early on day three. That seems to be the sweet spot of where some of the better linebackers in today's league are coming from, quite honestly. And the linebacker position defensively has kind of gotten devalued. in a similar way to where running back was previously. So I think you take advantage of what seems to be a relatively weak offball linebacker class, at least in the eyes of the NFL draft pundits out there.

I don't know how teams are going to perceive this class, but it seems like the meat of the value at linebacker is going to be in rounds three to five. So Jeffrey Bassa out of Oregon in round four would kind of be an ideal selection. Then with the three sixth round selections that the Broncos have, Orange crushing it had us closing things out with Jalen Smith, a cornerback out of USC in the sixth round. I love that. I think that it's obvious that the Broncos are going to select a defensive back in this class. There's no question in my mind that they're going to do that.

So it's just a matter of when. I think the sixth round is kind of a sweet spot for that. And then Jordan James, the running back out of Oregon. I mentioned how much I love the potential and possibility of doubling up at running back. and I think in the sixth round, like Jordan James would be a ridiculous value. I've seen some people have him all the way up in terms of maybe like a third round projection. So getting him in the sixth would be absolutely insane. And then Patrick Jenkins, a defensive lineman out of Tulane rounding out this class.

Now, to me, top to bottom, this is about as ideal as you can get for a draft class for the Denver Broncos. And maybe the team doesn't double up at running back. I know I want to get a little greedy. and I want to see them do that, but there's been talk, you know, that they will go offensive line at some point to just add some depth to that room in this draft class. And that wouldn't surprise me because you've got Luke Wattenberg coming up on a contract year. Alex Forsyth will be in a contract here next year. And then there's not a ton at the guard positions right now for the Broncos in terms of their depth. Ben Powers could be an interesting situation to watch next year.

So maybe just kind of hedging their bets a little bit. I also wouldn't you never you can never have too many good offensive linemen I mean Nick Garjulo who was a seventh round pick in last year's class like we didn't see anything from him yet so it's not a necessity I don't think that the Broncos take an interior alignment in this year's draft they also haven't drafted a tackle at all since Garrett Bowles back in 2017 so that's kind of a crazy streak that not a lot of people talk about or know about but it's out there and it's bizarre and I don't know that it's I don't know how what's the longest that any team has ever gone without drafting a tackle,

but the Broncos probably are pretty close to the NFL record if they haven't broken that already. And so never opposed to taking flyers on offensive linemen, especially guys that you believe can add depth to your unit right away. That's one of the reasons why, you know, you're kind of a little bit frustrated sometimes when you see offensive linemen picked late. It's like those guys rarely kind of make it, right? And so you're like, why don't you take a shot on somebody that could actually help you this year,

whether it's on special teams, et cetera, and draft your offensive linemen higher. I get the thinking behind that. And so I wouldn't be opposed either way. The Broncos want to go interior offensive line or even, you know, take a guy who can play tackle and guard earlier on. That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. But Broncos country, I think this mock draft kind of nails it from orange crushing it. So absolutely nailed these selections.

Would be thrilled if the draft went this way for the Denver Broncos. And we've got plenty of other. mock draft submissions to discuss that you all sent in the listeners of the show. We've got some fascinating defensive players that you picked in round one for the Denver Broncos. A, in all Oregon Ducks mock draft was submitted. So we're going to break all that down at some of your most fun picks, in my opinion, that were submitted for Denver Broncos mock draft on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos coming up next.

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What if the Broncos went all Oregon ducks for an NFL mock draft? What if the Broncos went all Ohio State Buckeyes? Well, Broncos Country, you submitted some really fun potential selections for this team. We're going to continue breaking down some of your ideas here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. But once again, just want to say thank you so much to all of you that make us your first listen of the day.

Every single day, we appreciate all of you for rocking with us every day here at Lockdown Broncos. And we love talking about the NFL draft. Can't wait for the draft to get here at this point. It's kind of a slower period in between free agency and the draft where, hey, it's fun to dream up the possibility. So this is kind of the ideal time for mock drafts. But look, if you've got your ideas, I mean, don't get married to the ideas.

That's what I've learned over the years. Don't get married to your own ideas when it comes to the NFL draft because oftentimes things are not going to fall the way they do in the mock draft machines. Things are not going to always fall the way that people say they're going to fall. And so you're setting yourself up for some disappointment at times by assuming that guys are going to be taken in a certain range. And then they're, you know, they go way higher or way lower. Don't get married to any ideas at this point.

time. But look, if the draft does fall the way that we talked about with orange crushing it mock draft, that would be absolutely sweet and that would be perfect for the Broncos. But I found it interesting going through some of your submissions to these mock drafts that a lot of the mock drafts that you put together started off with Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden. And I do think that Matthew Golden would be a sort of ideal player to fit that wide receiver three role that Sean Payton talked about. Again, we talk about that triangle of the middle of the field offensive weapons at wide receiver three, tight end running back.

Matthew Golden played a lot of the slot at Texas. And he could be a perfect fit for that role for the Denver Broncos to continue playing in the slot. Now, folks are getting really up in arms over. Well, he didn't play at a 439 or 438 or whatever he ran at the combine. He doesn't play like that on tape. And to me, I'm like, shoot. I mean, you add that kind of a threat of speed at any point in your offense.

That's good with me. And Matthew Golden, what he brings to the table, toughness, strong hands. Obviously, he's got maybe untapped potential based on what we've seen from him at Texas and how many other mouths there were to feed in that offense. I love that idea at 20 overall because he might be the wide receiver one of this draft. I think Emeka Egg Bucca would be tremendous. Matthew Golden would be tremendous. incidentally, I did see a few submissions with Tetraea McMillan, though Arizona, and I apologize

if I butchered his name. I need to really learn his name. I haven't got up to speed on every draft prospect's name pronunciation. So maybe somebody can give me the phonetics in the comments section. But McMillan from Arizona, a number of submissions had his name on there in the first round. And while I would be good with that, I feel like he's sort of a carbon copy of Cortland Sutton. And if the Broncos are going to extend Cortland Sutton, does he provide enough variance to the offense? Does he fit that position that they're looking for that can play in the slot? I don't necessarily know that to be the case. It would be good value from a perception standpoint, but saw a few mock drafts with him submitted,

but way more, honestly, with Matthew Golden at the top. The most popular defensive pick that was submitted by all of you who threw in suggestions for mock drafts, The most popular defensive pick for the Broncos by a wide margin was actually Derek Harmon, the defensive lineman out of Oregon. And he's a good run stopper. He's been making plays behind the line of scrimmage, whether he's at Oregon, whether he's at Michigan State. I feel like he's got that type of size, length, and just upper body strength to be able to contribute

right away to an NFL defensive line rotation. To me, if you're taking a player like Derek Harmon in round one, that would probably indicate that you're not going to keep John Franklin Myers long term. And I could see that being the case as much as I'd love the Broncos to keep the band together. And I think they will try. I don't think it's impossible that Franklin Myers is the odd man out after this season and could be replaced by somebody like Derek Harmon, who was, again, your most popular defensive pick in the first round. But another guy that was right behind, I mean, it was a decently wide margin, but right behind him was Jihad Campbell, the linebacker out of Alabama.

I like this more and more, the closer that we get to the draft. And again, keeping an open mind Broncos country is very important because the way this team is being built by Sean Payton and George Payton, they have a very specific vision for guys with toughness, instincts, football character, all these sorts of things that you're looking for in players more so than just like, hey, let's fill these positions here and there. they're looking for guys that they believe can contribute to this team, this locker room, the culture, all these sorts of things. And linebacker is still a need.

Like, we know Drey Greenlaw is going to be Michael Jordan. He's no longer Scotty Pippen like he was in San Francisco. He's going to be the Michael Jordan of the linebacker group. But what you have there is now avoid next to him. That is it going to be filled by Alex Singleton again? Is it going to be filled by Justin Sernod? Could Drew Sanders step up? Does a player like Jihad Campbell, is he redundant because of Drew Sanders?

I think that those are all valid questions. But Campbell is one of those guys that, man, he's only scratching the surface. He's elite athletically. He can rush the passer off the edge, was only playing off ball linebacker at Alabama, you know, similarly to why Drew Sanders transferred away because they had so many good players off the edge that they're like, we need to get everybody on the field. So they throw Campbell at inside linebacker and let him go, plays and still be a pressure player in pass rush situation. So he's a guy that I would not be opposed

to at all in round one for the Denver Broncos. Even though he does play that off ball linebacker position, he's not traditional in any sense of the word. We had a couple of submissions with Colston Loveland still in the first. I wonder, is he still an option for the Denver Broncos there? Would they view him as a, okay, he's too good to pass on? Like he's one of our top 10 players in the class potentially or top 12 guys in the class potentially, is he too good to pass on at 20 overall? And so I don't know that to be the case. I don't think that there's necessarily a, you know, here one way or the other. I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen there at tight end, but it does sound like, according to some of the reports that we've been hearing that the Broncos

are going to pass on tight ends in round one. So we will see what ends up happening there, Broncos country. I also thought it was funny. There was an all Oregon mock draft submitted by That's Trey on Twitter. And honestly, like, would it be that bad if the Broncos went, you know, with Derek Harmon in round one? And then they got somebody like Jordan Birch in round two and Terrence Ferguson in round three. And then Jamari Caldwell in round four, Jordan James later on. Like there's a lot of guys out of the Oregon Ducks program. Tess Johnson, obviously, the wide receiver. or like could you put together and all Oregon Ducks mock draft and be good with what the Broncos added in this year's class? I think so.

I think you really legitimately could. I think the same could be said for Ohio State. I think the same could be said for even Texas, the Texas Longhorns. I think if you took any one of those schools and said, hey, we're limiting ourselves to players from these schools in the entire draft. I feel like in the position the Broncos are in, like you could put together a darn good draft class, with any of those individual schools. So certainly combining them in mock drafts is going to be favorable. And I think that, look, there's no, there's no like formula that says,

hey, you have to take these guys from these schools. But those schools do, they've cranked out some really talented guys in this particular class that fit the Broncos needs incidentally. So I think that's kind of a fun exercise to say, hey, let's limit it to Texas Longhorns guys and see what the draft would look like in that case. And I think teams do run projections like that. So Broncos country, keep on being creative with your submissions for our mock drafts. As long as we got them, right?

We'll take mock drafts as long as we can get them. We're getting closer and closer every day to the 2025 NFL draft. And you know that we got you covered here, locked on Broncos, every single step of the way. On tomorrow's episode of the show, we're going to break down some of the comments made by Broncos general manager, George Payton, draft strategy, what he thought about the free agents they added and what they're trying to to this team going forward. We'll break that down on tomorrow's episode, Locked on Broncos.