KUSA – Five days till No. 5.
By virtue of their poor 5-11 record last season, the Denver Broncos will have the No. 5 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft that will begin Thursday evening (6 p.m.) with first-round selections.
Here’s how it could go down for Broncos general manager John Elway, who will listen to Vance Joseph and his coaches, will listen to Matt Russell, Gary Kubiak and his front-office personnel assistants, but will ultimately make the final decision:
Option 1: Sam Darnold, Saquon Barkley, Bradley Chubb
If one of these three players are available when the Broncos are on the clock at No. 5, I would be surprised if they didn’t stay put and take one.
Darnold is a quarterback, Barkley is a running back, and Chubb is a defensive end/edge rusher.
Now for some warning: The majority of mock drafts have these players taken before the Broncos are on the clock at No. 5.
Which wouldn’t be the worst thing for the Broncos. Darnold may or may not be the No. 1 QB on their draft board, but they already have a starting quarterback in veteran Case Keenum and a young, first-round talent in Paxton Lynch as a backup.
Barkley is considered a difference-making, franchise running back, but this draft will provide great value in the second and third rounds at his position. The Broncos have the No. 40 overall pick in the second round, and No. 71 and 99 selections in the third round.
Chubb is arguably the best player in this draft, much less the best defensive player, but there is question as to where he would fit in the Broncos’ 3-4 system.
And so if these players are taken, it would bring the Broncos to:
Option 2: Trade back, take Denzel Ward, Quenton Nelson, Roquan Smith, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Tremaine Edmunds, or Vita Vea
Two quarterbacks will be taken before the Broncos’ No. 5 pick. Cleveland, which has the No. 1 and 4 picks, will take one as will the New York Jets at No. 3. One will be Darnold. The other will be either Baker Mayfield, Josh Rosen or Josh Allen.
The question is whether the New York Giants take a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick, or trade back with Miami (No. 11 overall), Buffalo (No. 12 and 22) or Arizona (No. 15), teams that want a quarterback.
The Broncos will have one, and possibly two quarterbacks available at No. 5 for trade. In return for moving back to between the 11 and 15 spots, the Broncos would have the right to ask for an additional second-round draft pick this year and a first-round selection in 2019 as a starting point.
Remember, the Broncos were 5-11 last year. They need not only quality talent but in quantity.
The problem is, they probably can’t trade outside the top 10 and get Ward, a cornerback from Ohio State; Nelson, a guard from Notre Dame; or Fitzpatrick, a cornerback-safety from Alabama. But there’s a chance one of two inside linebackers -- Smith, from Georgia, or Edmunds from Virginia Tech – and Vea, a defensive tackle from Washington, can fall outside the top 10.
Option 3: Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield, Josh Rosen
Elway can’t be accused of not doing his homework on the Big 4 quarterbacks. Elway had four extended visits with Mayfield, three with Allen and Rosen and two with Darnold, who is considered the consensus top choice.
The question is whether Elway would take who he views as the second- or third-best quarterback.
Given Keenum is entrenched as the starter, Allen would make the most sense from what we will call the next-best group for the Broncos because while he has a Hall of Fame ceiling, he also could use a season of refining and developing his fundamentals.
It may be only five more days till No. 5, but the first player the Broncos select could be any one of a dozen players.
