The Denver Broncos held their annual pre-draft press conference today at the Centura Training Center as George Paton and Sean Payton prepare for their second draft together. What is the thought process by the Broncos brain trust heading into next week’s NFL Draft?
Denver Broncos hold their pre-draft press conference on Thursday
Nobody knows where the Denver Broncos are planning to go next week with the 12th overall pick. Is it quarterback, offensive tackle, or edge rusher? What about cornerback?
Only Sean Payton and George Paton know the path they plan on taking and they are keeping their cards close to the vest as the team tries to get back to competing for post-season contention.
Next week’s draft will determine the course of action Denver’s brain trust takes based on how the board falls. Despite outside speculation about what everybody thinks they can or should do, they’ll patiently await to see how the first few picks fall before understanding where they may be leaning.
“The business we are in at the beginning—we have all of the tape, and then you are gathering as much information as you can,” Payton said on Thursday. “You are gathering all the metrics and all the stuff you can measure. Then you are gathering the interactions, personalities and learning, which is very important. [You are gathering] all of that so you can make the best decision relative to how you grade them. Historically speaking, you would say it’s not a perfect science. We met last night with—we have a great analytics department, and you are going to see in the next five to ten years A.I., artificial intelligence, begin to help in this process. You have to provide it with what you think is important. There have been a lot of flights and a lot of miles traveled, but for good reason. Back to what [General Manager] George [Paton] said, the process has gone really well. It hasn’t been easy all of the time, and yet we have had really good discussions down there.”
Could that be the quarterback position? Both Payton and Paton acknowledged that there are various teams ahead of them or behind them that may be in the quarterback market themselves. Certainly, for Payton, if he wants somebody specific at any position and they won’t be there when Denver picks at 12, they’ll do whatever it takes to get that player if that specific player can help change the landscape of the franchise even if that means trading away future assets or players.
“I would just say if it’s a player that you think can change the landscape of your organization moving forward, like quarterback, then you do whatever it takes to get him,” Paton said. “If there’s consensus in the building, a love in the building, you’re aggressive and you try to get him. It doesn’t mean you’re going to get him, but you try. So we’re open to everything. We’re wide open.”
In a perfect world, the Broncos would know what every team ahead of them is going to do, but the draft never works out that way. From Denver’s perspective, they are prepared for every possible scenario and appear as if they’ll likely let things play out early on throughout the first few picks.
“Do we have to draft a quarterback? You would say, ‘Man, it sure looks like we have to draft a quarterback.’ And yet, it has to be the right fit and the right one,” Payton said on Thursday. “If we had the tip sheets as to who everyone else was taking, it would be easier to answer that question. That’s the puzzle here.”
That puzzle includes 11 other teams ahead of the Broncos, which makes it even more difficult to navigate the waters of the draft, but Payton and Paton are aligned on the notion that whoever they choose, whether that be at 12th overall, trading up, or trading back, that player has to be an impact player.
“What you don’t want to do here is force it,” Paton said. “Otherwise, we will be in this position next year and the years after. You want to get the right player at No. 12. Our first pick we have to hit on, whether it’s a quarterback, whether it’s a tackle, a receiver or you name it. We need to get an impact player.”
#Broncos awaiting to see how the board will fall next week before determining where they plan to go in the #NFLDraft
My @MileHighSports report pic.twitter.com/ai1MM170X9
— Cody Roark (@CodyRoarkNFL) April 18, 2024
Patience in the NFL world is a difficult concept to embrace because the landscape of the league changes by the minute with the moves that 31 other teams make. Denver has taken the Moneyball approach this offseason and have quietly assembled a solid nucleus of core players they feel can help them take the next step forward.
The fanbase is in wait-and-see mode, and that’s entirely fair, but internally, Denver feels strongly about the direction in which they are heading.
Enjoy the mock drafts while you can, because next Thursday everything gets real and we’ll have a better idea on the direction the Broncos are heading.
