The Broncos will have some tough decisions to make when the season ends. The contracts of Derek Wolfe, Shelby Harris, Mike Purcell, and Adam Gotsis are all up, and the Broncos are unlikely to retain them all.
Wolfe is in the middle of a career year, and even though he’s on the wrong side of 30, it’ll be hard for the Broncos to get rid of him.
Harris had a slow start to the season at nose tackle, but since moving back to defensive end, he’s been a game-wrecker for the Broncos. They can’t let him walk out the door.
Purcell appears to be a gem of a find, but he only has one year of starter-level production in his career.
Meanwhile, Gotsis appeared to be an up-and-comer at defensive end but was made inactive following Purcell’s addition to the active roster. That doesn’t make Gotsis a bad player, just one the Broncos don’t need now, which would quickly change if Wolfe, Harris or Purcell left.
The most likely scenario sees the Broncos re-sign Harris while keeping one of either Gotsis or Wolfe and potentially Purcell.
No matter what, the Broncos will have to turn the draft for reinforcements along the defensive line. Let’s look at who fits:
1. Derrick Brown, DE/DT, Auburn
Derrick Brown is the no-brainer No. 1 defensive line prospect in this class with a bullet. Brown was considered a lock for the top-10 of last year’s draft before he opted to return to Auburn for his senior year, where he only helped his stock.
However, the unreal level of talent at the top of the draft still has Brown hovering around that tenth spot, putting him squarely in the range of where the Broncos should be drafting after this season.
Brown is an athletic, quick and powerful defensive lineman of the Chris Jones or Fletcher Cox breed. He’s incredibly disruptive and uses his rare combination of size, speed and power to bully interior offensive linemen. He also has a quick first step taken right from Von Miller’s game.
His height can limit his leverage and you’d like to see more production, as the stat sheet often doesn’t reflect how good he is on film, but Brown is still a top-notch prospect.
The thought of him and Harris bookending the Broncos’ defensive line with Chubb and Miller coming off the edge is one that should scare quarterbacks, running backs, guards and tackles throughout the AFC.
2. Javon Kinlaw, DE, South Carolina
Outside of quarterback Joe Burrow, no player in college football has improved their stock more this season than Javon Kinlaw.
Much like Brown, Kinlaw could’ve entered last year’s draft but returned to school in order to refine his game and improve his draft stock. That move has been a huge success, as Kinlaw went from being a Day 3 pick, to a player that could hear his name called towards the end of the first round.
While the Senior Bowl should only further improve Kinlaw’s stock, if he drops to the second round the Broncos should make it a point to scoop him up, just like they did with Dalton Risner.
Kinlaw possesses one of the best motors in the class. He’s a monster against the run and has the agility to work laterally to quickly fill holes before the running back can slice through them. That being said, his size is a little less than ideal and he is nowhere near as good rushing the passer as he is stopping the run.
3. Raekwon Davis, DT, Alabama
Yet again we turn to a senior who was a highly-touted defensive line prospect for last year’s draft.
Although Quinnen Williams stole the spotlight last season, Davis is a monster in the middle for Alabama. Davis is huge and powerful and is as long as the day is. He swallows up blockers and gaps like Tic Tacs, making it nearly impossible to run up the gut.
He is the picture perfect run-stopping nose tackle and likely wouldn’t go until the middle of the second round at the earliest. That being said, he wouldn’t offer the Broncos a ton in terms of pass rush, and he doesn’t have a lot of room for development.
After spending four seasons under Nick Saban, there’s only so much left to get out of Davis as a player. His floor is a lot higher than most players in this draft, but his ceiling is also a good bit lower.
