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3 Players the Broncos Need to Avoid With Their First-Round Pick

By michael obermuller

Xavier McKinney is one player the Broncos should avoid if he's still available with the No. 15 overall pick.
Xavier McKinney is one player the Broncos should avoid if he's still available with the No. 15 overall pick. / Michael Hickey/Getty Images
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The Denver Broncos need a wide receiver in this year's NFL Draft, in fact, they might even need multiple wide receivers. Outside of Courtland Sutton, no Broncos WR that's still on the team reached even 300 receiving yards last season, and Drew Lock is going to need more help than that in 2020.

In some mock drafts, however, analysts have the Broncos spending their first-round pick elsewhere. Denver needs to avoid these three players in the first round of the draft and select either a wide receiver or defensive lineman.

3. Jordan Love, QB, Utah State

Jordan Love has risen in the quarterback ranks, but is all the hype leading us to a future bust?
Jordan Love has risen in the quarterback ranks, but is all the hype leading us to a future bust? / Grant Halverson/Getty Images

John Elway has continuously sought after a franchise quarterback since returning to Denver as the Broncos' general manager. Drew Lock has the potential to be just that, and played well considering he had an average offensive line and very few weapons downfield in 2019. Utah State quarterback Jordan Love has been getting a ton of hype and even some comparisons to Patrick Mahomes, but if the Broncos do decide to bring in some QB competition for the second-year pro, the first round is not the time to do it. They have too many glaring needs and the more fruitful strategy would be to develop the talent they already have. They can do this by surrounding Lock with long-term pieces.

2. Xavier McKinney, S, Alabama

Alabama safety Xavier McKinney is a better fit with another franchise.
Alabama safety Xavier McKinney is a better fit with another franchise. / Joe Robbins/Getty Images

The talented Alabama safety has been all over the map in mock drafts. I mean what team doesn't need secondary help, right? The Broncos just franchise tagged one of the best up-and-coming safeties in the league in Justin Simmons. They also have veteran Kareem Jackson as his partner on the back-end. The duo was one of the top pairs in the NFL last season, and even though the Broncos may need another corner at some point in the draft, they do not need secondary in the first round, especially safety Xavier McKinney.

1. Avoid Trading Up for Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia

Trading up for a tackle like Andrew Thomas, would be short-sighted by a team hurting for depth.
Trading up for a tackle like Andrew Thomas, would be short-sighted by a team hurting for depth. / Silas Walker/Getty Images

This goes for any offensive tackle the Broncos might have their sights on, Andrew Thomas just seems like the likeliest to be available for Denver. The Broncos have a boatload of picks in this years draft, and there have been some grumblings that the team should trade up in the first round. With the plethora of WR talent available in the first round, why would the Broncos need to trade up? One might wonder. Then the rumors included that they could do so to grab the last offensive tackle still out there. I don't think it is a bad idea to draft O-Line, but Denver has been hurting at the skill positions for a long time. Denver should address offensive line in the draft, just not at pick No. 15, and definitely not by trading up even earlier.

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Michael Obermuller is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Michael Obermuller also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username king_mizzard. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.