Broncos Have a Terrifying Lack of Depth at Cornerback Heading Into 2020
With the expectation of losing Chris Harris, Jr. via free agency, the injury concerns with Bryce Callahan, and the lack of development from Isaac Yiadom, the Denver Broncos badly need cornerback reinforcements.
Denver has plenty of options on how to go get that help. It's a strong free-agent cornerback class, and even the pool of players that may hit the mark as a result of being cap casualties or via trade is deep. That's before taking the 2020 NFL Draft class into consideration, which is also deep at corner.
Dallas' Byron Jones is the headliner of the free-agent class, a very good NFL corner. He has a concerning lack of ball production (two career interceptions), but he is scheme-versatile and can be used in a variety of ways, which adds to his value.
Jacksonville's A.J. Bouye is a corner the Broncos have had interest in previously, and he may be cut or traded from the cap space-starved Jaguars. He is still a good corner, and fits what the Broncos want from their corners and could come at a lower cost.
Kansas City's Bashaud Breeland had a really good year and was one of the better corners in the NFL. For some reason, he just isn’t getting discussed as such. His teammate, Kendall Fuller, is another option for the Broncos, though he wasn’t as good last year as Breeland was.
Detroit's Darius Slay has been mentioned as a potential trade target. Denver nearly had a trade done last fall, sending Harris, Jr. to Detroit in exchange for Slay prior to the trade deadline. So there has been interest, and with Vic Fangio having spent four years in the NFC North makes him very familiar with Slay and his game.
Other free agents/cap casualties that can interest the Broncos are Chicago's Prince Amukamara, Washington's Josh Norman, Carolina's James Bradberry, and Cincinnati's Darqueze Dennard, among others.
As for the draft, it all starts with Ohio State's Jeffery Okudah but he is expected to be long gone by the time the Broncos pick at No. 15 overall. After him, LSU's Kristian Fulton, Alabama's Trevon Diggs, TCU's Jeff Gladney, Clemson's A.J. Terrell, Virginia's Bryce Hall, Florida State's Stanford Samuels, Notre Dame's Troy Pride Jr, Wake Forest's Essang Bassey, Utah's Jaylon Johnson, and UCLA's Darnay Holmes, along with many, many more, all are options for the Broncos.
While the cornerback position doesn’t have the importance it did under Wade Phillips and even Joe Woods, Denver still needs to upgrade the group and get more consistency. That will be a focus this offseason.
Check out the video above for the full story and sound off in the comment section below with your take on which route the Broncos should take.
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