The Broncos Country Vote Mock Draft V.2.0

Now that the dust has settled on the Broncos’ embarrassing loss to the Buffalo Bills, it’s time to look ahead.

Last week J.T. Olson, Jeff Essary, and I made the picks to give you the chance to vote on the Broncos’ first round pick. The decision came down to Alex Leatherwood, or a quarterback with Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa splitting the second and third place votes. This time around Locked On Broncos’ Cody Roark joins in on the fun and each one of us GMed one of the four teams ahead of Denver.

1. Cincinnati Bengals- QB, Joe Burrow, LSU

Cody Roark: This almost certainly seems like the move we will see come Draft Day. The Bengals are undergoing a massive rebuild under first year Head Coach Zac Taylor. The Bengals and Burrow make the most sense for Zac Taylor’s offensive scheme because of his ability to make the throws short-intermediate in the pocket, and the ability to strike deep off of the play-action. Burrow’s intangibles would be an instant upgrade over what they’ve experienced the last 5 seasons. Andy Dalton’s benching mid-year solidifies this reasoning even further. Burrow is arguably the more ready NFL passer than counterparts like Justin Herbert, Tua before his injury. The Bengals are looking for the guy to be their leader against the strong presence of Lamar Jackson within the division and Ben Roethlisberger’s timeclock set to expire in the NFL.

3. New York Giants- ED, Chase Young, OSU

Jeff Essary: With Olivier Vernon and most of the Giants defensive talent from the last few years in the rearview mirror, coupled with the Daniel Jones pick last year, the G-men are in the perfect spot to grab the best player in college football and a freakish level talent on par with a Jadaveon Clowney or Myles Garrett. For a team who has needs all over, getting a defensive building block at a key position is never a bad thing. Plus, it snatches him away from division rival Washington who would be looking to pick him next.

3. Miami Dolphins- LT, Tristan Wirfs, Iowa

J.T. Olson: Two weeks ago this pick would have been Tua Tagovailoa. Now with his injury risk higher than ever, the Dolphins look elsewhere to fill one of their many needs. Whoever the quarterback of the future will be in Miami won’t last long behind this offensive line. Wirfs is incredibly powerful and fluid. He projects as a potentially elite pass blocker in the NFL and will only continue to improve. It might not be the quarterback that Dolphins fans had been hoping for, but this a cornerstone type of piece who plays the next most important position on the field behind the QB.

4. Washington - LT, Andrew Thomas, Georgia

JoRo: Taking Thomas has as much to do with what Washington has as much as what it doesn’t. Terry McLaurin looks like one of the bigger steals from last year’s rookie crop and the trade up to take Montez Sweat cost the team a 2020 2nd round pick, so opportunity cost has to be a factor here.

Lost amid the ugly way the Trent Williams situation played out is Dan Snyder was so desperate for a left tackle he signed Donald Penn in late July. He’s managed to play more than 500 snaps for the team, but at 36-years young is hardly the answer going forward. With a deep receiver class and some intriguing defensive backs, my hope is grabbing the other top tier left tackle prospect leaves me in position to mine the third round for a value grab.

5. Vote for who you would draft in this scenario Broncos Country!

Your Broncos’ Links

Brittany Bowlen rejoins Denver Broncos as V.P. of Strategic Initiatives - Mile High Report

The Denver Broncos will bring Brittany Bowlen in as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives starting Monday, December 2, 2019.

Starting Drew Lock may be only option to quiet Mile High boo birds - Mile High Report

With nothing to show the home crowd, Denver has little choice but to start Drew Lock.

The Big Takeaway: The Broncos seemed to quit early against the Bills - Mile High Report

It sure felt like a different football team playing for the Broncos in Buffalo.

Terrible offense in 20-3 loss to Bills means the time for Drew Lock has arrived - Mile High Report

The Broncos offseason evaluations need to begin.

Lamar Jackson would solve the Broncos quarterback woes - Mile High Report

The 2017 Denver Broncos season is done. They’re currently 3-7, on the verge of starting their third quarterback this season and currently hold the 4th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. It’s time to look ahead to the offseason and how they plan to address their quarterback position. I have one name for them. That name being none other than Lamar Jackson.

NFL Links

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“You can look in some people’s eyes and some people react differently to getting punched in the mouth,” Carr said, via comments distributed by the Jets. “Sadly enough, I’ve been on some teams where we’ve had our fair share of getting hit in the mouth. As frustrating as it is, let’s be honest, these six games that we’ve won, no one thought we could do that with who we have. We’re still good at football. We’re still a good football team, but it is what it is. We’re still building that foundation. Hopefully today is one of those moments that wakes everybody up and we rally back together like we have this season and we keep playing.”

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The Chiefs had Week 12 off, which meant that wide receiver Tyreek Hill didn’t have to miss a game due to the hamstring injury he suffered in Mexico City last Monday night.

NFL suspends free agent Max McCaffrey 10 games – ProFootballTalk

The NFL suspended free agent Max McCaffrey for 10 weeks of this season. The league announced the suspension, which runs from Week Eight to Week 17 of this season, on its Saturday transactions report, Howard Balzer reports.

Sean Payton makes another call for involving multiple people on PI reviews – ProFootballTalk

“I don’t know that it’s a Competition Committee [decision],” Payton said in a conference call. “It’s just something we’ve discussed. It’s not new relative to anyone making decisions, all the way to, we don’t have one Supreme Court justice. That’s obviously the most important, or the highest. [But] I think it merits three experts. I think it’ll help immensely. And Al’s outstanding. I think he’s got a tough job and I think when you have a group of three, I think you’re going to arrive at more consistent calls.”

Jason Garrett and the Cowboys Are at a Crossroads - The Ringer

Dallas has one of the best rosters in the NFL, and yet after a loss to the Patriots, the team is sitting at 6-5. Sunday’s performance reinforced everything that’s wrong with this group—and posed plenty of questions about the future.

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The Niners are in the running to have the best defensive DVOA of all time.