Mock Draft 'Godfather' has Broncos Making Curious First-Round Pick
There are innumerous mock drafts to keep up with over the timeframe from the end of the regular season to when Roger Goodell takes the stage and announces the first team is now on the clock. Mocks are hardly ever right, given how many variables go into each selection.
Not every mock is made equal, but with the first official mock of 2023 coming from the 'Godfather' of the NFL draft himself, Mel Kiper Jr. has the Denver Broncos taking Notre Dame edge rusher Isaiah Foskey at pick No. 31.
Denver traded away prime picks to get quarterback Russell Wilson last offseason, and it got back this one after dealing Bradley Chubb to the Dolphins before the deadline at midseason. Suddenly, when you look at this depth chart, there's no Chubb or Von Miller exploding off the edge, even though defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero did a great job with what he had this season. Because it's a little too late in Round 1 to find a surefire offensive line starter, I like what Foskey would bring to the Broncos. He had 22 sacks and five forced fumbles over the past two seasons, and at 265 pounds, he could play in a 3-4 or 4-3 scheme at the next level.
Containing some absolutely eye-popping selections in his first mock, such as Pitt’s 6-foot, 280-pound defensive tackle Calijah Kancey at 10th overall, or the soon-to-be 25-year-old edge rusher Byron Young from Tennessee at 20th overall, as well as some head-scratching omissions like Clemson's Bryan Bresee, Kiper's first mock is always fun to stack up against where others in the media currently have players slotted in their mocks.
Unfortunately, Kiper only had three offensive linemen off the board in his first mock of 2023, and all went well before the Broncos’ selection. With Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski going pick No. 7, Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr at No. 11, and Georgia’s Broderick Jones at No. 16, Kiper seemed to indicate that no other offensive lineman was worth a first-rounder in this year’s draft cycle.
Instead, Kiper has the Broncos adding to an area that dramatically fell off as the 2022 season progressed for Denver: Pass rusher. The Broncos certainly need to add to their defensive front this offseason.
As long-time Broncos reporter Jeff Legwold recently highlighted as the team’s “under-the-radar offseason priority,” stating the Broncos “couldn’t generate enough pressure with the pass rush… Denver needs more presence on the edge.”
The Broncos could certainly use more talent along the defensive line but is Foskey worthy of the pick? While he accumulated a lot of sacks during his career at Notre Dame, he might not possess the top-end traits one associates with a first-round edge rusher. He does possess a solid frame for a hand-in-the-dirt edge at a listed 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, but he played a majority of his career in a two-point stance.
Foskey deploys a long-arm technique (reported 36-inch arm length) to win a large portion of his pass rush reps and must continue to work on his rush arsenal to win at the next level. Given his limitations in bend and flexibility, how he wins with his hands will likely be a huge factor in his ability to become a solid starter in the NFL.
Foskey is surprisingly nimble, dropping into space and playing zone coverage, a feather in his cap in today’s NFL that so heavily utilizes simulated pressures to create assignment problems for offensive linemen. He is not an elite prospect and could just as likely fall to early Round 3 or the back end of the first round as Mel projects in his first mock.
Given how much athleticism and testing metrics correlate to success for an edge rusher and the depth of talent at the position this season, how class stacks up and how it will be sorted will likely shake up a bit following the NFL Combine. Regardless, EDGE seems to becoming a trendy pick for the Broncos with their current first-round selection.
Follow Mile High Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.
Subscribe to Mile High Huddle on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!
