Polumbus: The Broncos should move up for QB Zach Wilson

My flag is planted. I’ve found my guy.

Assuming George Paton is unable to land Deshaun Watson in a trade before the NFL Draft, I want the Broncos to do whatever it takes to land BYU quarterback Zach Wilson. And I mean whatever it takes.

If the Broncos need to move all the way up to the Jets pick at No. 2, despite the enormous cost that would take, I would do it without thinking twice. If you’ve found your guy at the quarterback position, and you believe he’s your guy, then there’s no cost too great. Wilson should be the Broncos guy.

One of my former coaches at CU, Jeff Grimes, was Wilson’s offensive coordinator at BYU the past few seasons. Talking to Coach Grimes about Wilson has only reinforced my assessment that he should be the Broncos top target. Wilson can be the generational quarterback we have all been looking for to succeed John Elway and Peyton Manning in Broncos lore.

When you watch Wilson’s film from BYU, you won’t see him throwing to wide open receivers as is so common in college football. He’s not running a particularly gimmicky offense that doesn’t translate to the NFL. You see a guy drop back, read the field, process information quickly and make accurate throws to often covered receivers. That’s big boy football right there.

I’m on record that the Broncos need to move on from Drew Lock, and it’s not really Lock’s fault. But once that seed of organizational doubt has been placed in the minds of the players in the locker room, there’s no turning back.

That said, my endorsement for Wilson has nothing to do with Lock’s potential or lack thereof. It has everything to do what I see in Wilson, a generational talent to create a decade-long rivalry with Patrick Mahomes in the AFC West.

Now moving up from the ninth pick to the second pick will cost a lot, nearly as much as it’d cost to acquire Watson. Looking at the NFL Draft value chart, the second pick is worth 2,200 points while the ninth pick is valued at 1,350. So how does Paton make up the 850-point difference? Well, you can start with the Broncos second round pick (No. 40) which is worth 500 points, and of course their first round pick in 2022. It may take one more high-value pick, possibly their second rounder in 2022 as well to get the deal done.

Boy, that’d be a lot to give up. But if it means Zach Wilson, I’m doing it.

For me, the “W” in Wilson stands for “worth it.”