Broncos Country’s 2023 NFL Draft Desires

Welcome to draft week, Broncos Country. Even though Denver is without a first and second round pick, there is still plenty to be excited about and plenty of holes that need to be filled on the roster. Much of the anticipation also rides on seeing how Sean Payton handles his first draft with his new team, and we all want to see if George Paton can have three successful drafts in a row.

Via a question on our Instagram story, I was able to hear from you all, and you clearly made it known who you want to draft and the positions that should be the top priority for Payton & Paton Co. Check out the podcast where I talked about this and a few other questions regarding Broncos Country’s draft hopes:

A position group that you highlighted as a need, but not the need, is the linebacking corp. Specifically ILB. If I’m being honest, I think this is one of the last position groups that Denver should consider addressing in the draft. While Denver doesn’t have the best depth at the position, their starting players are stout. Josey Jewell is a tackling machine, when healthy. And Alex Singleton is coming off of a career season where he had 163 total tackles.

The next most-requested position was cornerback/ defensive back. This is something that I can get behind. We all know that Denver has one of the best starting defensive backfields in the league, headlined by Pat Surtain II and Justin Simmons. But we also know that their depth is extremely limited. And when I say “extremely limited”, I pretty much just mean non-existent. Depth is severely needed at this spot, and snagging Kansas State CB Julius Brents in the 3rd round would make me, and most of you, very happy.

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The position most of you are clamoring for is at the offensive and defensive line. While parts of the offensive line were bolstered in free agency, there is still a glaring hole at the center position. A hole that would be filled perfectly by Wisconsin's Joe Tippmann. Lloyd Cushenberry hasn’t worked out the way we were hoping he would, and I don’t think Luke Wattenburg is the answer either. Let’s just hope the All-Big 10 lineman somehow falls to the 3rd round.

The defensive line has some pretty good talent, but losing Dre’Mont Jones to the Seahawks obviously hurts. My, and your, biggest worry on the defensive side of things concerns the EDGE. Randy Gregory is great and proved that early last season, but his injuries limited him to just six games played in 2022. Baron Browning and Nik Bonitto may end up being great at rushing the passer, but their inability to set an edge in the run game consistently hurt the Broncos. One man that could help alleviate this issue is Kansas State’s Felix Anudike-Uzomah. He has the ability to be a key player from the first snap of the season.

Is there a position group that wasn’t mentioned but you think it needs to be addressed in the draft? Let us know in the comments!