Clayton: Mocking the Broncos at No. 9 has become a guessing game

It’s April and a number of mock drafts continue to hit the market.

I finished my second mock draft for the Washington Post earlier this week and had the Broncos taking offensive lineman Rashawn Slater from Northwestern with the ninth pick. In my first mock draft, I gave them Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain.

After the Broncos signed cornerbacks Ronald Darby and Kyle Fuller, I came off the defensive backfield and went for the best player available, Slater.

What’s interesting is that some of the mock drafts that came out Wednesday still have George Paton taking a cornerback. The argument was that Fuller and Bryce Callahan are in the last year of their contracts and will be free agents next year. Some even suggested the Broncos were rebuilding the cornerback position.

I don’t see it. With the ninth pick in the draft, do you take a player who might not play as a rookie? That’s something that works in the 20s of the first round, but not at No. 9. Still, there may be debates about selecting a cornerback with that position.

It’s a different story if linebacker Micah Parsons drops to the ninth pick. I currently have him going to the Lions at No. 7, but it’s not out of the question that the Lions take Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields or Alabama quarterback Mac Jones if the 49ers don’t take him with the third pick.

Parsons would be a great fit for a Bronco defense that is getting rave reviews to be one of the five best defenses in the league. He’d look great in Vic Fangio’s system and would start from day one.

What’s so weird about this draft is how few defenders will go in the first 12 picks. In most mocks, Parson, Surtain and Caleb Farley are considered to be the best defenders, but only two might go in the top 12.

We’ll have to see how George Paton envisions this draft. Is he drafting for 2021? Or is he worried about 2022 and beyond?