Obviously we at Mile High Report had the Denver Broncos pegged immediately as a winner on Day 2 of the NFL Draft, but it is nice to have this bias backed up by those in the national media. Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN dropped his winners and head scratchers post last night and the Broncos were at the top of his list of winners.
The picks: Dalton Risner, OT, Kansas State (No. 41); Drew Lock, QB, Missouri (No. 42); Dre’Mont Jones, DT, Ohio State (No. 71)
How about John Elway taking a stab at another quarterback? Lock fell out of the first round -- he got caught up in the quarterback musical chairs and couldn’t find a seat. He’s a first-round talent, though, an inconsistent thrower with a huge arm. Unlike Kyler Murray and Dwayne Haskins, Lock has a ton of college experience. We have seen him at his best and his worst. He just didn’t have a ton of NFL talent around him at Missouri. If he can clean up his footwork and dig into an NFL playbook, he can be a starter at the next level.
Of course, Elway and the Broncos haven’t had much luck drafting quarterbacks lately, but this is good value, even if they had to trade up. They gave up pick Nos. 125 and 182 to move up 10 spots from No. 52. Elway won’t mind that if he got his franchise quarterback. As for Joe Flacco, there is zero guaranteed money left on his contract. If Lock shows he’s the guy, Denver can easily move on from Flacco.
Risner could be a plug-and-play right tackle in Denver, but he could also play center and guard. Jones has some pass-rush upside for a 281-pound tackle, and he could play end in Vic Fangio’s 3-4 defense.
Heading into that first pick, I told Joe Rowles on MHR Live that I was really hoping to see Dalton Risner selected in the second round. At the time, it looked like Chris Harris Jr. was going to be traded and I thought they should try to get Greedy Williams at 41, then target Risner at 52.
Instead, Risner was at the top of their list. The Broncos then immediately jumped from 52 to 42 to get ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals and grabbed their potential quarterback of the future in Drew Lock.
Lock was long predicted a Bronco with the tenth overall pick, so for John Elway to be able to grab him in the second round is a huge win for a team everyone felt needed to address the quarterback position long-term.
The last move of the day came with their third round pick in Dre’Mont Jones. In many ways, he could develop into a Malik Jackson like player inside. A guy who can generate pressure up the middle with Von Miller and Bradley Chubb crashing from the outside. Overall, the Broncos pretty much nailed it on Day 2 of the NFL Draft.