Pritchard: Broncos front office, coaches, players at ends on ‘draft position’

As the Denver Broncos head into the final stretch of its season having been officially eliminated on Sunday from the postseason, debate grabbing Broncos Country surrounds draft position and whether or not the team should “tank” the final three games.

On Wednesday, “Schlereth & Evans” co-host Mark Schlereth said that “no player, no coach” would ever purposefully lose, especially for the sake of the franchise’s future.

“You think (Vance Joseph is) going, ‘You know, I know that I’m probably going to get fired, but what’s best for this organization right now is for me just to lose these games, get fired, so they can get a better draft position. Because doggonit that’s what I want for them,’” Schlereth said.

“No, you’re trying to win a game, man. This is your record. This goes down on your coaching legacy. So, yeah, nobody in their right mind is going to do that.”

Sandy Clough championed a similar argument Wednesday, saying the Broncos head coach “doesn’t care where the Broncos draft.”

“It’s somebody else’s job — whether you’re picking fourth, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th — to pick the right player in the first round, something the Broncos have not always done. That’s not his job,” Clough said. “His job is not to enhance their draft position.

“In fact, it could be said his job is to make their draft position as poor as possible.”

However, Mike Pritchard, co-host of “Pritchard & Cecil,” said the strategy of losing for better draft position does put the Broncos front office at ends with its players and coaches, saying all three groups are on “different pages.”

The front office, they want the Broncos to lose because they want to secure a high draft selection. They want to secure a top-five pick,” Pritchard said on Wednesday. “The coaching staff, who’s on a different page, they want to win because their record is depending on wins and losses. And certainly, if they keep their job, their job security is dependent on wins and losses.

“And then, as a player, you never want to accept losing. Once you accept losing, then you’re a loser. You have to hate losing, and you have to be uncomfortable just being average. So, to me, everybody’s on a different page.”

In any case, the draft implications are on the line Thursday for the Broncos (4-9) as they head to Indianapolis to take on the Colts (3-10), with the winner likely cementing a lower pick due to a tiebreaker.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.