Broncos Finish With Top-Valued Draft Class of 2023

After the NFL draft, analysts love to hand out grades to show how each team did. The Denver Broncos have been grading mostly from a B to an A- for how they did.

That is impressive, considering the Broncos only had five picks and none in the first two rounds entering the draft, though they traded up to make the final pick in Round 2. This article will look at how the Broncos did against a couple of public big boards.

It's looking at where the players were ranked compared to where they were ultimately selected, so a player ranked 20th that was selected 30th has a positive value of 10, while a player ranked 30th taken 20th would be negative 10.

Trades aren't factored in, as it strictly looks at the value of the picks made in a vacuum. Positional value, medicals, and character aren't factored in beyond how they influenced placement on the big boards.

The two boards I'll be going off are my board, which you can view here, and the consensus big board, which you can find here.

The consensus board had 300 players. Anyone selected that wasn't on the board was valued at 301 for the first one, then 302 for the next, and so on.

My board had nearly twice as many players, so the few drafted players who were not on the board were valued the same way, starting at 585 and following the same process. With my board being nearly twice as many players as the consensus board, the value difference can be significant.

There are also some players I was higher/lower on than the consensus. You can find the valuation for each pick and compare my board and the consensus board here.

Broncos Value Ranking

Last year, the Broncos' draft class did not hold up against either of the boards. Denver had a total pick value of 1,298, but their pick value was 2,060 against my board and 1,798 against the consensus board. The value difference, with Denver reaching on multiple picks, saw the team rank 31st against both boards. This year, the Broncos did significantly better.

The Broncos' pick value for where they made their five picks was a total of 653. Remember, though, this does not include trades, and the Broncos' second trade-up is a big reason. There are multiple ways to value future draft picks, and trading away a future third-rounder hurts the overall value, but there isn't a set way to specify how much.

Against my board, the value of the players the Broncos selected was 449, which means they let players fall to them more than reach for them, at least with how my board ended up. So it was a positive value of 204 points, the highest value in the draft this year.

As for the consensus board, the value of the players was 555 points, a positive value of 98 points. So while that wasn't the most valuable draft against the consensus board, it was fourth.

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Value of Each Pick

The five picks the Broncos made saw them get some good value and led to one of the best-valued classes in this simplistic measurement. So let's look at it player by player.

Marvin Mims | WR | Pick 63

With the Broncos trading up for Mims, it hurt their value some. It is believed Denver couldn't sit and wait for him, which makes moving up for him smart.

However, he was my 71st overall player, which made him a slight reach with a -8 value against my board. The consensus board was even worse, with him being the 77th overall player, leading to a -14 value.

Mims was the player that was closest in value to where he was picked for both boards. He was a reach against the boards, but only slightly.

Drew Sanders | LB | Pick 67

As for Sanders, both boards had him highly valued as a top-40 pick. He was the 18th overall graded player against my board, and his versatility and wide range of skill sets, despite being raw, are a big reason for it. However, for the consensus board, they were a little lower as the 36th overall player.

That would put his value at a +49 against my board and +31 against the consensus board. So he was good value against both boards.

Riley Moss | DB | Pick 83

The trade-up, again, isn't factored in, which would change things. However, Moss is still the lowest-valued pick for the Broncos against both boards, being a reach on both.

He was the 109th overall player on the consensus board, while being the 125th player on my board. That leads to value of -26 and -42 against the respective big boards.

J.L. Skinner | S | Pick 183

Skinner was the best value pick for the Broncos against the consensus board, where he ranked 91st, with a value of +92 points. However, he was still a value pick against my board, being graded the 124th overall player, leading to a +59 positive point value.

Skinner's torn pectoral, suffered two days before the NFL Combine, is a big reason for his fall, but everything sounds good to see him back at some point during training camp.

Alex Forsyth | IOL | Pick 257

Forsyth's fall has been credited to a mishandling of his draft process, with many offensive line guys saying he should've heard his name called in the top 150 at the very least. He was the most valuable pick against my board, as the 111th overall player, being a value of +146 points.

The consensus board wasn't as favorable as the 242nd overall player, for a value of +15 points.

AFC West Opponents

Let's take a quick look at the divisional foes of the Broncos and where they ranked.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs had a decent class with attacking the holes they have on a pretty stacked roster. At least, that is what it looks like on paper. However, they were ranked 24th in value against my board and 27th against the consensus board.

Only one pick was a positive value on the consensus board, and that was nose tackle Keondre Coburn with a value of +18 points. DB Nic Jones was the lone value pick against my board, being a point value of +22.

Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders found themselves ranked 25th overall against both boards. However, against the consensus board, they had two reaches of over 100 points in Tre Tucker and Amari Burney. The same is the case with my board and being a lot lower on interior defensive linemen Byron Young out of Alabama.

Los Angeles Chargers

With the Chargers, they ranked 26th against my board and 24th against the consensus board. Daiyan Henley was the only positive value on my board, with Quentin Johnston and Jordan McFadden being -10 and -8 points in value.

The consensus board had Johnston, Henley, and Max Duggan as positive values. Both boards were low on Derius Davis and Scott Matlock, nothing being over 100 negative value points.

Top-5 & Bottom-5 Teams

Going against my board, the Broncos were the top team, with the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Baltimore Ravens rounding out the top-5.

The least valued class was the Jacksonville Jaguars, who made 13 selections. Then the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots were 31st and 30th, making 13 and 12 picks, respectively. Finally, rounding out the bottom-5 are the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys.

Now against the consensus board, the Eagles were No. 1, the Cleveland Browns No. 2, the Steelers No. 3, and the Broncos at No. 2, before rounding out with the Miami Dolphins at No. 1.

As for the bottom-5 against the consensus board, the Patriots had the least value, then the Jaguars, before the Lions, San Francisco 49ers, and the Cowboys.

It will take a few years to see how things stack up for the draft classes against the big boards, but one thing is sure: at least the Broncos have a better-viewed draft class this year than last year's. Finishing top-5 against both boards is much better than 31st, like the Broncos were a year ago.

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