We here at MHR spend a lot of time discussing who the Broncos should take at X pick in the draft. I want to map out and discuss how the positional rankings can or will affect how teams pick players at certain positions along the draft.

I want to preface that these are my rankings based on mocks and rankings from the "experts". Certain players may have multiple positions that they could play in the pros. I will try to put them in which position makes most sense to me, I'm sure it will be discussed.
The positions I'm focusing on are DE, DT, OLB, ILB, S and CB. These are the positions that the Broncos will be looking to draft in order to improve the overall talent on the defense.

DE Rankings (lumping 4-3 and 3-4 together)
Round 1
  Da'Quan Bowers (Clemson)
  Cameron Jordan (California)
  Aldon Smith (Missouri)
  JJ Watt (Wisconsin)
  Ryan Kerrigan (Purdue)
  Adrian Clayborn (Iowa)
Round 1 or 2
  Cameron Heyward (Ohio State)
Round 2 or 3
  Allen Bailey (Miami)
Round 3 or 4
  Brooks Reed (Arizona)
  Pernell McPhee (Mississippi State)
  Sam Acho (Texas)
  Jeremy Beal (Oklahoma)
  Greg Romeus (Pittsburgh)
  Cliff Matthews (South Carolina)

DT Rankings
Round 1
    Nick Fairley (Auburn)
    Marcel Dareus (Alabama)
Round 1 or 2
    Corey Liuget (Illinois)
    Muhammad Wilkerson (Temple)
    Phil Taylor (Baylor)
Round 2
    Stephan Paea (Oregon)
    Marvin Austin (North Carolina)
    Jarvis Jenkins (Clemson)
    Drake Nevis (LSU)
Round 2 or 3
    Jurrell Casey (USC)   
Terrell McClain (South Florida)
    Christian Ballard (Iowa)
    Kenrick Ellis (Hampton)
Round 3 or 4
    Jerrell Powe (Mississippi)
    Lawrence Guy (Arizona State)
    Sione Fua (Stanford)
    Ian Williams (Notre Dame)

ILB Rankings
Round 1 or 2
    Martez Wilson (Illinois)
Round 2
    Quan Sturdivant (North Carolina)
Round 2 or 3
    Greg Jones (Michigan State)
    Kelvin Sheppard (LSU)
Round 3 or 4
    Casey Matthews (Oregon)
    Nate Irving (North Carolina State)
    Colin McCarthy (Miami)

OLB Rankings
Round 1
    Von Miller (Texas A&M)
    Akeem Ayers (UCLA)
Round 2 or 3
    Justin Houston (Georgia)
    Bruce Carter (North Carolina)
    Mason Foster (Washington)
Round 3 or 4
    KJ Wright (Mississippi State)

S Rankings
Round 1 or 2 (being generous here)
    Rahim Moore (UCLA)
Round 2
    Quinton Carter (Oklahoma)
Round 2 or 3
    DeAndre McDaniel (Clemson)
    Robert Sands (West Virginia)
    Tyler Sash (Iowa)
Round 3 or 4
    Deunta Williams (North Carolina)
    Jaiquawn Jarrett (Temple)
    Ahmad Black (Florida)
    Jerrard Tarrant (Georgia Tech)

CB Rankings
Round 1
    Patrick Peterson (LSU)
    Prince Amukarmara (Nebraska)
    Jimmy Smith (Colorado)
Round 1 or 2
    Brandon Harris (Miami)
    Aaron Williams (Texas)
Round 2
    Ras-I Dowling (Virginia)
Round 2 or 3
    Brandon Burton (Utah)
    Curtis Brown (Texas)
    Rashad Carmichael (Virginia Tech)
    Johnny Patrick (Louisville)
Chimdi Chekwa  (Ohio State)
Round 3 or 4
    Kendric Burney (North Carolina)
    Davon House (New Mexico State)
    Chykie Brown (Texas)
Marcus Gilchrist (Clemson)
    Shareece Wright (USC)
    Richard Sherman (Stanford)
    Darryl Skrine (UT-Chattanooga)
    DeMarcus Van Dyke (Miami)

My Conclusions:
The DE position is strong in the 1st and then again in the 3rd round. Tackle if very deep in the first 3 rounds. If you don’t jump on Martez Wilson you can easily wait until the 3rd to pick up a ILB. OLB is pretty thin in this draft and there’s not a lot to look at in the first 3 rounds. Safety is weak at the top, but there are some options in the 2nd through 4th rounds. CB looks to be pretty deep with great options everywhere.

What does this mean to me? Without getting into a prospect debate and only looking at the texture of the draft and Broncos’ needs, it comes down to how strongly we feel about addressing the DE position. If EFX think we are good at DE, we either draft Peterson or Fairley/Dareus. Let out line some options we have:

1 – Peterson CB
2 – DT/S/ILB
2 – DT/S/ILB/OLB
3 - S/ILB/OLB/DE

1 – DT
2 – CB/S/ILB
2 – CB/S/ILB/OLB
3 – DE/S/CB/LB

1 – DE
2 – DT/CB/S/ILB
2 – DT/CB/S/LB
3 – CB/S/LB

Take your pick. I believe we have to draft DE or DT in the first because D-line is a bigger need and there are plenty of CB options in the 2nd and 3rd.

My 2 cents.