Good morning, Broncos Country!
Less than one week from the NFL Draft.
And the Denver Broncos are in familiar territory. George Paton and Sean Payton are accustomed to not having a first-round pick. Unless something truly abnormal happens, that’s the case for this NFL Draft.
The Broncos will currently select at the No. 62 pick in the second round. And that pick will be selected by former Denver safety T.J. Ward.
“I think our first draft, we
had five picks,” Paton said to the media on Thursday for the pre-draft news conference. “Our expectations are the same. They’re high. We think there are good players in this draft. We think there are good players where we’re picking at 62.
“We have two picks up in the top of the fourth (round), and we feel good (about) what’s going to be there. We like it. We don’t mind it, and we know we still have flexibility with the seven picks to move up or move back and get more picks. We have experience with this. We’ve gotten good players with lesser picks, so we feel good.”
Given the success Paton and Payton have had with their second-round picks, you understand why Paton feels that way.
“We’re going to go through our process,” Paton said to the media. “Our process has worked, and it continues to evolve. I think it’s better. I feel more prepared for this draft than I was for last year’s and the prior draft. We’ve done well in that realm. It doesn’t mean anything. We still go through our process. We feel like we have six players we’re kind of focused on that could be there at (pick) 62. We feel good about those players. We’re going to keep working through them.
“We’ve been down in the dungeons since the Wednesday after the Owners Meeting, just watching tape, had our meetings, now going through all these different scenarios. We feel good about 62. We feel good about the fourth round as well. That’s harder to predict, obviously. We like our process, we like how it’s worked, and we feel good with where we’re at.”
As for the position of those six players whom Paton mentioned, here’s a good breakdown. When Payton was asked about the versatility of mid-round offensive linemen, he said this:
“I think versatility is a plus. It would be almost like the asset of other defensive players that can play on special teams. When a player has swing ability, you guys know we’re taking eight (active offensive linemen) to the game. That doesn’t mean he couldn’t be just a real good tackle prospect, and you love him.
“But when you get into the rounds you’re discussing, if he does have swing flex, it helps when you’re creating the vision, no different than if you’re taking a linebacker, defensive back, or defensive player and there’s special teams value. That creates a vision as well. I think when it comes to developmental offensive linemen, certainly it’s a plus. It’s not a mandate, but it helps you especially on gameday.”
Since the Paton and Payton duo are familiar with this and have had success in similar situations, they can lean on that when they make their selection at No. 62 in about a week.
“It’s very similar to what we have done,” Paton said to the media. “We are really honed in, let’s say from 45 to 75. Just really honed in on that group of players. Not that we haven’t gone through the process in the first round like we always do, but now this just gives us time to really focus on the players there and go through every scenario possible.
“If you are left with five of these players or six of these players or none of these players left. Going through every possible scenario, so on draft day, you aren’t surprised. We haven’t been surprised yet, and we’ve been happy with the results.”
