ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The cornerback position to the Broncos is becoming like relief pitchers to all Major League Baseball teams.
Every offseason, there is a priority to find new and improved upgrades.
Entering this season, the Broncos desperately needed cornerback help to pair with Chris Harris Jr. and they seemed to address it on the first day of free agency with the signings of Kareem Jackson and Bryce Callahan.
But then Jackson became a safety and Callahan was damaged goods.
Look ahead to 2020. Harris, by far the team’s top corner, will be a free agent. While there is some chance he will re-sign with the team, at this point it appears he will reach the market. Callahan will try to come back from another foot surgery, but even if he does return to health, how effective will he be after sitting a year?
Jackson has been a terrific safety and as he’ll turn 32 in the spring, he should stay in the back end that’s not the age for a return to cornerback.
The Broncos had hopes for 2018 third-round pick Isaac Yiadom this season, but he was benched early this season in favor of late pickups Davontae Harris and Duke Dawson Jr. Davontae Harris was benched in favor of Yiadom late in the Broncos’ second-half collapse Sunday against the Vikings.
“He had a tough day so we put Ike in there to see if he could play a little better, give him his opportunity,’’ said Broncos head coach Vic Fangio. “We’ll stick with Davontae to start this week.”
The Broncos will have other needs this offseason, but cornerback may well be priority No. 1. The position is a long ways from 2014-16, when general manager John Elway put together arguably the league's best cornerback trio in Chris Harris, Aqib Talib and Bradley Roby.
The top-rated cornerbacks in the next draft figure to be Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah, LSU’s Kristian Fulton, Alabama’s Trevon Diggs and Virginia’s Bryce Hall.
Chris Harris, Baltimore’s Marcus Peters, Dallas’ Byron Jones, the Chiefs’ Kendall Fuller and the Eagles’ oft-injured Ron Darby will be the top cornerbacks in free agency.
The Broncos may have to sign one or two from free agency (maybe Chris Harris as one), draft one within the first two rounds, and cross their fingers Callahan can be healthy and Davontae Harris, Dawson or Yiadom can continue to develop.
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