Horse Tracks: Mayock suggests that the Broncos should take a wide receiver in the first round

NFL Network's Mike Mayock held a nearly two and a half hour conference call with reporters ahead of the NFL Combine this week. He touched on many subjects including what he believes the Denver Broncos will do at pick 20. He said if the Broncos do not go offensive line at 20, they could surprise people and go wide receiver.

Mayock says if Broncos don't go OT at No. 20, WR makes sense. "I think they could use some depth behind those first 2 guys."

— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) February 27, 2017

This might not be the most popular pick among Broncos fans, but it would make some sense. The Broncos really only have two weapons in the passing game, and if any of them went down the Broncos lack depth behind them to replace their production.

Cody Latimer appears to be a bust, Bennie Fowler never has stepped up, and Jordan Taylor has yet to prove that he can consistently gain separation from corners. So the Broncos could be in the market for an explosive slot receiver who would give whoever is quarterbacking the Broncos another weapon.

So who could be available at 20 who fits that profile? Washington's speedster John Ross should be on the board for the Broncos at 20 and is the best slot receiver in this year's draft.

If you don't know anything about Ross, think about Houston Texans wide receiver Will Fuller but with better hands. Fuller went in the first-round of the 2016 NFL Draft and Ross could give the Broncos a similar impact that Fuller did the Texans.

He's a homerun threat in the passing game, return game, and can be used in screen passes and jet sweeps. It would just give the stale Broncos offense an explosive dynamic that it has been lacking the past few years. It also could open up the passing game more for Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.

So I went to Fanspeak.com and did a quick mock draft for the Broncos with this scenario in mind. Here is what I came up with.

Not my favorite draft by any means, but would be interesting the Broncos went receiver in the first round. I still think tight end, inside linebacker or nose tackle is more likely the pick at 20.

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