After losing to the Chiefs on Sunday, the Broncos once again find themselves with a top 10 pick in the upcoming draft.
That being said, with the Lions and Raiders taking trips to Denver for the last two games of the season, the Broncos will likely end up 7-9 and picking in the mid-teens, pushing them out of range of the year’s best prospects.
However, every single year, players slide down the board that you would never expect to. Here are the dream prospects that Denver will be hoping and praying somehow slip come draft day:
Tristan Wirfs, OT, Iowa & Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia
Offensive tackle is a glaring hole on the Broncos’ roster and addressing it should be their top priority, especially considering they now have a young quarterback behind center they’re trying to develop.
The best solution to Denver’s offensive tackle woes may very well be to trade up into the top 10 of this year’s draft, where two prototypical tackles, Tristan Wirfs and Andrew Thomas, are likely to go.
Choosing between the two is really a matter of preference, as both are immensely talented, Day 1 NFL starters.
Wirfs appears to be a more solid anchor in pass protection, while Thomas appears to be a little better in the run game, but neither really struggles in the run game or pass game.
That being said, they both have their question marks. Despite being the better run blocker of the two, Thomas occasionally struggles with his mobility when it comes to pull blocks or swing blocks.
Wirfs, on the other hand, is a little more raw in terms of technique and has never played left tackle, starting at right tackle for his entire collegiate career. Flipping to the left shouldn’t be much of a problem though, and one would assume the Broncos might prefer a rawer offensive lineman considering Mike Munchak is their offensive line coach.
Jeffery Okudah, CB, Ohio State
If the Broncos could have any player they wanted from this draft class, it would likely be Jeffery Okudah out of Ohio State.
Okudah is the best cornerback prospect to come out of Ohio State during the Urban Meyer era, which saw several first-round cornerbacks, including Denzel Ward and Marshon Lattimore.
Okudah has all the physical traits you’d want in a corner, from prototypical size to excellent speed, acceleration, and strength. He’s also excellent in coverage, with unrivaled man-to-man coverage skills and superb ball skills.
Also, unlike most star cornerbacks, Okudah doesn’t fear contact, he relishes in it. He’ll quickly shed his receiver to come up and lay a hit on a running back, which is sure to give him a boost in the eyes of Vic Fangio.
The biggest concern around Okudah is his struggles and lack of experience in zone coverage. You can occasionally see him get mixed up on which person he should be covering or what his responsibility is. Though, almost every single defensive coach in the league would take a man-to-man coverage stud, who can lock half the field down but struggles in zone, over a zone coverage Svengali that can’t perform in man.
Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama
Courtland Sutton has arrived as one of the game’s elite receivers playing today, putting up 1,000 yards through 14 games in just his second season, playing with three different quarterbacks, two of which had never started an NFL game.
That being said, the Broncos still need to find him a running mate on the other side of the offense, and Jerry Jeudy appears to have been constructed in a lab specifically to fill that role.
Jeudy specializes in yards after catch thanks to his elite speed, and his route-running ability which is the best in the class, and probably the most important trait for a receiver to have at the NFL level. He also has fantastic hands, earning him Odell Beckham Jr. comparisons from Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller.
The one and only concern with Jeudy is that he doesn’t look like a prototypical No. 1 receiver, standing at just 6’ tall. However, with the Broncos, he wouldn’t need to be. He would be asked to fill Emmanuel Sanders’ role, where he wouldn’t just be taller than Sanders, but an upgrade on the whole.
