Mile High Monday: The Broncos go all-in on building around Drew Lock

I have a twinge of sadness because the NFL Draft has come and gone. My favorite time of year is over, but what a fun ride it was!

This was an interesting pre-draft process, to say the least. It all began like it does every year at the Shrine Bowl in Tampa, followed up by trips to the Senior Bowl, the Scouting Combine and two pro days (Wyoming and Colorado). During that time, I got to catch up with my friends in the scouting community and see what kind of talent was out there for the 2020 NFL Draft.

I like what we learn during the draft. Teams show exactly what they feel about the players on the roster by who they select and who they don’t. Certainly, we learned a lot about what the Broncos think of their roster as they try to get back into the playoff hunt.

I also like contemplating life and sports when driving around with the top down on my old Jeep TJ – and please all Jeep drivers make sure to wave! The following is a result of those trips during the week.

Buckle up, let’s take a ride through my thoughts.

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Lock is the Key

This entire draft was about one player – Broncos quarterback Drew Lock. You saw that intention right from the beginning with the addition of Alabama superstar receiver Jerry Jeudy. He’s the best wide receiver in the greatest wide receiver class in NFL history. Jeudy has a game that is reminiscent of Odell Beckham Jr. (Browns) and he should have an instant impact on the Broncos offense. Jeudy is not a No. 2 receiver, but instead he is another No. 1 receiver for the Broncos to start opposite of Courtland Sutton.

After Jeudy, the Broncos went back to the wide receiver position in a move that shocked everybody when they selected K.J. Hamler out of Penn State. Another weapon for Lock, this time with incredible speed to get down the field on the outside or from the slot.

The next player I think was added specifically for Lock is LSU center Lloyd Cushenberry. The offensive line is a work in progress, but with the addition of Cushenberry, the team has a really solid interior. The tackles are still a problem that position wasn’t addressed, so it’s clear the team thinks higher of Garett Bolles and Ja’Wuan James than others do.

Finally, the Broncos made their plan incredibly obvious when they drafted one of Lock’s favorite targets from college in tight end Albert Okwuegbunam from Missouri. He’s called “Albert O” because his last name in nigh impossible to spell or pronounce, and he is a force in the red zone. In his last two years with Lock as his quarterback, Albert O caught a whopping 17 touchdowns. He’s fast and has a basketball skill set that Lock will take advantage of.

No matter how you slice it, one thing is obvious – Lock is the key for what the Broncos want to do in 2020 and beyond.

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You Can Do It!

Every year after the draft, some people with microphones – even some on our station – say you cannot grade a draft. Nothing could be further from the truth. You can look at the players they selected, what kind of grade these players had from draft experts before the draft and look at the players the team passed on to make these picks. That puts together a grade.

Now, it’s not a final grade as we need about three years to see how these players work out. However, you can grade how a team does during the process to see how they measure up to the rest of the league. It’s not hard to understand how you can do this, yet every year in the “sports radio handbook,” there is someone (who doesn’t understand the easy principle) who rails against a grade as folly.

I’m giving the Broncos a solid B in this draft.

That letter grade could go up or down depending on a couple of players. Jeudy and Cushberry are two outstanding picks, and they both get high grades from me. If they would have started out the draft with these two picks in a row, it would have made a lot of sense.

Instead, they selected Hamler in the second round going back-to-back wide receivers in the first two rounds. This has happened before but rarely do both receivers work out in the expected way. The closest we have to seeing both receivers turn in quality play is when the Cardinals added Bryant Johnson in the first round and Anquan Boldin in the second back in 2003. Other than that, there are a few examples of only one – or none – of these receivers making the proper impact.

Hamler is a fine player, certainly quick and fast, but he drops too many passes. He had 12 drops last year, leading all of the FBS (major college football). The players after Hamler feature role players, sleepers and players who were banged up but have huge upside. I’ll write up all these players over the next week or so, and in those reports, you’ll see why I like most of what the Broncos did on day two and day three of the draft.

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No Trade

Entering the draft, the Broncos had 10 picks. I had said multiple times on the air that I did not expect them to use all of those picks. Instead, I felt the Broncos would use their draft capital to move around in the draft to get the players they wanted.

That didn’t happen.

In a move (non-move?) that shocked me, the Broncos did not trade in the draft. They stayed where they were supposed to pick, and they got the players they mostly wanted during that time. It was a surprising occurrence given how hot and heavy things get during the draft, especially when a player you like is falling to within your range.

The Broncos did try to trade at least twice that we know of. They were working to get back into the end of the first round for LSU linebacker Patrick Queen, but were unable to do so before the Ravens took him off the board at No. 28 overall. In the third round, the Broncos were trying to trade up for Temple center Matt Hennessy. They couldn’t get a deal done and he was selected by the Falcons.

It would have been interesting to see what the draft board looked like for the Broncos had they been able to pull off at least one of those deals. I wanted the team to trade, but they didn’t and that shows they weren’t going to overpay to get players they desired and instead stuck to their draft value board.

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Dancing Machine

It was cool to see the way they pulled off the draft. Since the draft was not on location in Las Vegas, we instead had to do a virtual draft due to the coronavirus pandemic. We had cameras in players’ homes, but we also had cameras in the homes of coaches and general managers.

It was cool to see families gathered around during this whirlwind occasion. It was also cool to see how NFL coaches and executives were set up in their homes.

Bill Belichick had his dog sitting at the table (while he was nowhere to be seen), Jerry Jones was set up on his yacht and Kliff Kingsbury was set up in his beautiful home that social media thought was the biggest “flex” of the night.

One of my favorite behind-the-scenes moments caught on camera is when Elway was “raising the roof” while sitting at his desk. It’s a fun process, although a stressful one, and who doesn’t want to have a little fun when a pick falls your way.

When you're crushing the #BroncosDraft. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/M8HcL81vyS

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) April 25, 2020

If Elway is dancing from his desk, then you know things must be going good for the Broncos. Let’s hope these picks keep him in the dancing mood when they start playing football.

What was your favorite moment from the draft? Hit me up on social media and let me know.

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