Broncos' 'Best-Case Scenario' for Pick 64 is Landing Wyoming LB Chad Muma per PFF
The Denver Broncos no longer possess a first-round pick in the 2022 (nor 2023) NFL draft after acquiring Russell Wison from the Seattle Seahawks. While the lack of top draft selections might take a bit of the wind out of the sails when it comes to fan excitement for the upcoming draft, the hype and legitimate excitement have not been higher since Peyton Manning played under center in the Mile High City more than a half-decade ago.
Even though the Broncos no longer possess the No. 9 overall pick, nor their own second-round pick at No. 40, fans should still be excited by the prospect of the team acquiring talent later this month. While fans should not expect GM George Paton to completely replicate the success of the 2021 draft class, the first-year returns on his first haul should have fans optimistic that even without top picks, the Broncos will be able to find some exciting talent with nine total selections, five of which are in the top-120.
With the Broncos’ first pick in the 2022 draft coming at No. 64 overall, a selection acquired from the Los Angeles Rams from the Von Miller trade, what would be the best-case scenario for Paton? Pro Football Focus' Ben Linsey outlined what he believed would be ideal for Denver without a first-round selection.
The answer? It would be Wyoming linebacker Chad Muma sliding to the Broncos at the last selection in the second round.
Broncos general manager George Paton spoke about the difficulties of bringing back all of Denver’s free-agent linebackers — Josey Jewell, Alexander Johnson and Kenny Young — at the 2022 NFL combine: “We’d love to bring them all back. We can’t.”
Denver re-signed Jewell and added Alex Singleton from the Philadelphia Eagles, but it’s still a positional group that could use some more talent.
Muma grew up in Colorado, and profiles as one of the more well-rounded linebacker prospects in this year’s class. The 6-foot-3, 239-pound linebacker out of Wyoming cleared the 90th percentile at the position in the vertical jump, board jump and bench press. He’s a plus athlete who has good size and put up PFF run-defense, coverage and tackling grades above 75.0 in 2021.
Tight end and offensive tackle are the other positions thrown around as potential targets for Denver with this pick, but Muma should be under serious consideration if he falls here. He currently has an expected draft position of 59.7 on Grinding the Mocks.
Linebacker is a devalued position in today’s NFL in comparison to that of edge rusher, interior defensive line, and cornerback. Simply put, if a team can play a defensive back to help in the passing game instead of a linebacker that won’t completely destroy a defense in its ability to stop the run, it's going to play the defensive back.
If you don’t like the sound of that philosophy, you as a fan are probably not going to enjoy Denver’s new defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, who is coming from a few systems that greatly deemphasized the overall value of the linebacker position. Evero hails from the Los Angeles rams, who traded starting linebacker Kenny Young to Denver the same season they won a Super Bowl.
There are a multitude of reasons for the dropping value of the linebacker position on the whole, but if a team has a good one that is solid against the run, a sideline-to-sideline athlete, and both fluid and smart enough to play in coverage, that player is rare and exceptionally valuable. One player who just might fit this bill is Muma.
Coming out of Wyoming, Muma is one of the best zone coverage linebackers in the entire draft class. A high school safety, Muma displays great instincts and smoothness while dropping into zone coverage.
While he is a good athlete, Muma is not the type of linebacker a team should be lining up against elite players in man coverage situations in the slot (and honestly, that type of linebacker might not exist since the retirement of Luke Kuechly).
While Muma accumulated a lot of tackles at Wyoming, he isn’t the most physical downhill player for the linebacker position. He will need to continue to improve upon his ability to take on and discard opposing blockers when coming downhill against the run at the point of attack.
Much of his tackle accumulation was more due to running down plays than making plays while coming down to meet the ball-carrier or make plays behind the line of scrimmage. Given the Broncos’ long-term questions at the right tackle position and the concerns about the durability and availability of starting edge defenders Bradley Chubb and Randy Gregory (on top of Chubb entering the final year of his contract), I’m not sure I would categorize Muma falling to 64 and the Broncos drafting him as the “best-case scenario” for Denver in the draft.
An edge rusher such as Minnesota's Boye Mafe or Penn State's Arnold Ebeikete falling, or perhaps the Broncos loving and drafting Washington State offensive tackle Abraham Lucas or Tulsa's Tyler Smith might be more ideal scenarios. However, there are far worse options than drafting a linebacker with Muma's coverage chops in the middle of Day 2 of the draft.
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