Darius Slay or Byron Jones: Who should the Broncos chase?

If the Broncos let Chris Harris Jr. leave as a free agent, they’re going to have a rather large hole in the secondary. Even if Bryce Callahan, Duke Dawson, DaVante Bausby, Isaac Yiadom,and Davontae Harris return they’re counting on two corners who wound up on Injured Reserve and three that were benched at different points in 2019.

Fortunately, there’s a few premier cornerbacks who could become available. For this week’s episode of Cover 2 Broncos we debated Darius Slay and Byron Jones.

Joe’s argument for Darius Slay revolved around the fact that he played the same role Chris Harris did in Detroit. He was a matchup piece that Matt Patricia moved around the defense to make life difficult for opposing WR1s. His ability to bait quarterbacks into bad throws is a skill that could be valuable with players like Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson behind him. There’s a case to be made that he may lead the league in interceptions with Bradley Chubb and Von Miller creating pressure in front of him.

Jeff’s argument for Byron Jones centered on the fact that he’s on the shortest of lists of corners who can shutdown the opposition. He’s already a premiere lock down corner who can stifle #1 targets, he’s physical and dominates receivers at the line, and is still only two years into playing the position full-time so has potential for even more growth. Vic Fangio could leave him on an island in one on one coverage to rotate the safeties to help the rest of cornerbacks without a lot of fear. He also brings the skills necessary to build a defense around erasing Travis Kelce from the Kansas City Chiefs offense, which could prove vital to Denver’s chances in the playoffs.

Listen to the episode to find out more about the fit, strengths, and weaknesses of each corner!