Broncos Cautioned About Drafting Arizona State RB by NFL.com Expert

With only a month left before the NFL draft in Green Bay, the whispers surrounding the Denver Broncos potentially adding another tight end are getting ever louder. The Broncos have also been linked to practically nearly every running back in the deep class, in one form or another.

Denver doing its due diligence on potential mid-to-late-round steals will be essential. The draftniks are also fueling the fire with their opinions on the talented crop of running backs and tight ends.

Notably, NFL.com's Chad Reuter has reinforced his bold prediction that the Broncos will draft Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo in the fourth round, but it comes with a noteworthy caveat. Reuter spilled the Skattebo beans to Denver Sports' Cecil Lammey and Andrew Mason, perhaps giving the Broncos pause before running a card up to the podium for the former Sun Devils star.

"Well, he's certainly going to step in and contribute immediately. I mean, I think that's what the expectation is of any running back—rookie running back nowadays. The issue with him is, he's had conditioning issues in his career. He had to work on it a lot before his senior year," Reuter told Orange and Blue Today. "Coaches had to kind of prod him a little bit and say, 'Hey, if you want to be an NFL back, you gotta do this.' And even when he's blowing up in the playoffs with Arizona State and he's making all these plays, he's looking great, in the fourth quarter, he's on the sideline because he is gassed, right? And you can't have that if you're going to be a 25-carry-a-game back in the NFL. And I don't think they need him to be that. So, if you're able to get a guy like that and give him 15 carries and let him do his thing and run over people—it's more difficult to do that in the NFL than it is in college, and that's part of the thing he'll have to work on. But yes, he'll step in immediately. He's going to be a big back."

What happens next on the Broncos beat? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!

Those conditioning issues are probably why Skattebo is expected to be available in Round 4, but Broncos GM George Paton doesn't have to chase a riskier type of runner in the later rounds. Adding tight end Evan Engram could foreshadow the Broncos using the 20th overall pick to address the pressing need they have at running back.

Depending on the overall grades the Broncos have on the individuals of the running back class, things might get interesting if they think they can get much the same skill set for much better value on Day 3 in a prospect like Skattebo.

After all, if head coach Sean Payton trades up to draft Penn State tight end Tyler Warren, as Reuter predicts in his latest mock draft, pairing another powerback with Audric Estime in the Broncos backfield might be an attractive proposition to pivot toward.

"And the thing is, with Estime already in the mix, I don't know how that necessarily works," Reuter told Lammey and Mason. "But look, if you want to pound the ball, you have two guys that will just pound the ball and that's fine. Defenses won't like it very much in the third and fourth quarter. They'll be getting tired. They'll be tired of these guys running through contact. So maybe they go for that one-two punch and just really, really lay it down against defenses."

Wearing down defenses is a throwback approach that can bear fruit late in games, especially as the gruelling 17-game campaign unfolds. But the powerfully built North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton also ticks that particular box, if he's still available at pick 20, and without the same conditioning concerns attached to Skattebo.

Doubling down at tight end position could be a strategy that Payton feels opposing defenses might have no answer for. Even so, without an effective running game to count upon, the blue-sky thinking begins to get seriously tested against elite opponents, and the Broncos will want to set Bo Nix up to succeed in Year 2.

Weighing the risk against the reward will occupy the minds of Paton and Payton right up until the very last moment, so Broncos Country can fully expect a few curveballs along the way.

Recommended Articles