The Broncos Country Vote Mock Draft V.5.0

As we barrel into the offseason, one of my goals is to try and create a myriad of Mock Draft scenarios for you to think through dear reader. In an effort to achieve that, I’ve reached out to a number of the NFL writing community to help me GM the first 14 selections. Our draft started on Friday night and concluded about 3 PM on Monday, so keep that in mind with a couple of the picks as the situation with a few top guys was clouded in mystery for the better part of the weekend.

1. Cincinnati Bengals - QB, Joe Burrow, LSU

We know this is going to happen unless Zac Taylor and Burrow have some sort of falling out at the Senior Bowl or they find a body in his trunk.

2. Washington - ED, Chase Young, OSU

Dan Snyder’s Alabama Buckeyes continues.

3. Detroit Lions - DL, Derrick Brown, Auburn

Walker Kelly: Damon Harrison seems likely to retire and both A’Shawn Robinson and Mike Daniels are free agents. Detroit needs a star in the middle of their defense. Derrick Brown is that man.

4. New York Giants - CB, Jeffrey Okudah, OSU

By DVOA, only Miami had a worse pass defense in 2019. The Eagles and Cowboys are going to bring back scary aerial attacks in 2020, so patching the secondary is a high priority.

5. Cleveland Browns (from Miami) - OT, Andrew Thomas, Georgia

Jeff Essary: Cleveland is in desperate need of a top tackle and I didn’t want to risk Thomas and Wirfs both being off the board at #10, so when the Giants passed on Thomas at #4 and the #5 came open, I saw an opportunity to get the top tackle in the class and shore up a major weakness on offense.

6. Los Angeles Chargers - QB, Justin Herbert, Oregon

Taylor Kothe: The 2019-2020 period will go down in NFL history as one of the most significant changes of the guard at QB to ever happen. The Chargers get in on the action as Philip Rivers’ play and career both sputter, seizing the opportunity to draft a talented young QB who should be a great fit for their system.

7. Carolina Panthers - QB, Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama

Nick Kendell: As is obvious in the NFL, if your team doesn’t have ‘their guy’ at quarterback, the team is going nowhere fast. The future of Cam Newton in Carolina is questionable, but what is very obvious is that Will Grier and Kyle Allen are ‘not it’. Tua Tagovailoa is a risk, no doubt, but there is risk in any quarterback or pick ever. Tua has better overall tools than Burrow and can be brought about slowly year one behind Newton. With new coaching staff in play, and ownership seemingly pushing offense and analytics, the chance at a franchise quarterback was too much to pass up, injury be damned.

8. Arizona Cardinals - WR, CeeDee Lamb, Oklahoma

JoRo: Larry Fitzgerald is a surefire Hall of Famer, but if he doesn’t retire he will be 37 before the opening day of the 2020 season. It’s time to grab the next number one target for Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray to take their offense to another level.

T-9. Jacksonville Jaguars - LB/S, Isaiah Simmons, Clemson

Scotty Payne: The absence of Telvin Smith was evident this past year as the Jags defense struggled. Adding Simmons to the mix with Myles Jack will help the Jags defense get back to their 2017 ways.

10. Miami Dolphins (from Cleveland) - OT, Jedrick Wills, Alabama

Chris Spooner: It’s nearly a foregone conclusion that, if Tua is available at 5, he’ll be the selection for the Miami Dolphins. But where’s the fun in that? What would the Dolphins do if someone manages to leap them and select Tua before them? This pick was made with that in mind. The way this board falls is just about a nightmare scenario for the Dolphins. To my knowledge, neither of the Iowa guys have declared yet, so in keeping with the theme of not selecting guys who may not be there, the pick would be Jedrick Wills with the hope that Love is still there at 18.

11. New York Jets - OT, Tristan Wirfs, Iowa

Cody Roark: Need some first round help on the OL to protect your first round QB from 2018.

12. Las Vegas Raiders - WR, Jerry Jeudy, Alabama

Cyril Penn: The first-ever Las Vegas draft pick is Jerry Jeudy. Gruden gets a prototypical WR1 to bolster what was sneakily the ninth best offense by DVOA in 2019.

13. Indianapolis Colts - DL, Javon Kinlaw, South Carolina

Joe Mahoney: 2018 2nd rounder Parris Campbell should be back and play in more than the 7 games he saw in 2019 before going on the IR. Hilton and Campbell should be a good duo at WR in 2020, so Indy goes defense and bolsters their very aged DL group by selecting Javon Kinlaw. They had six players play significant snaps at DE/DT/NT in 2019. Their ages are 30, 24, 29, 30, 32 and 26. They need some young blood on the DL.

T-14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - ED, K’Lavon Chaisson, LSU

Shaq Barrett broke the team record for sacks after signing a one year prove-it deal. He also led the team with more than 50 pressures per Sports Info Solutions’ charting. Even still, the Bucs had issues defending the pass and Ndamukong Suh and Jason Pierre Paul are free agent. Adding a talent like this former Tiger would give Todd Bowles a dynamic edge threat across from Barrett and free up interior rushers like Vita Vea.

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

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