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Broncos Reveal How Many QBs They 'Like' in the 2024 NFL Draft
The question is, which of these quarterbacks do the Denver Broncos love?
On Thursday, Denver Broncos GM George Paton and head coach Sean Payton held their annual pre-draft press conference. While both men spoke quite a bit, neither revealed anything that would identify which quarterback(s) the Broncos like, or impact the team's draft plans.
However, the team's dire need at quarterback has somewhat stripped the Broncos of their cover, rendering them transparent. Holding the No. 12 overall pick, the NFL expects Denver to draft a quarterback, but it all depends on how many signal-callers hear their names called in the top 10.
As many as six quarterbacks could go in the first round of this year's draft. According to Paton, the Broncos like "seven or eight" QBs in this draft class, though he stopped well short of revealing any names or hints on the team's board or rankings.
“I’m not going to talk about our board right now," Paton said. "I do think that it’s a good quarterback class. [There are] seven, eight quarterbacks that we like [and] that we think can play in the league one day. I’m not going to get into how we have them rated or the Top 10. I’m not going to go there, but it is a good quarterback class. It’s been fun getting to know them, seven or eight of them. We think that we can take a quarterback early; we think [we can get one in] the mid-rounds. We think that there are going to be quarterbacks throughout the draft that are interesting to us."
Paton closed that particular remark by hinting that there's at least one quarterback the Broncos find "interesting" who won't be drafted in Round 1. The most likely candidate is South Carolina's Spencer Rattler, but Tulane's Michael Pratt and Tennessee's Joe Milton III are among that next cluster of quarterbacks currently viewed as Day 2 prospects.
It could be that the board doesn't fall fortuitously, and the Broncos opt to draft a "value" position at No. 12, like edge rusher, offensive tackle, or cornerback. In such an event, Rattler, Pratt, and Milton would become the top candidates for Denver to target with its next selection in Round 3.
If the Broncos didn't take a QB at No. 12, and Rattler was the apple of Payton and Paton's eye on Day 2, it wouldn't be surprising to see them trade up into the second round to ensure landing him. Payton's history in the draft is replete with trade-ups.
It's also possible that Oregon's Bo Nix and/or Washington's Michael Penix Jr. fall out of the first round, at which point, I could see the Broncos also trying to maneuver up from pick No. 76 to land them. For now, the only safe bet is that USC's Caleb Williams, LSU's Jayden Daniels, UNC's Drake Maye, and Michigan's J.J. McCarthy will not make it out of Round 1, let alone the top 10.
Alas, sitting at No. 12, Denver is just outside the comfortable striking distance of any of the 'Big 4' QBs. That doesn't preclude the Broncos from orchestrating a trade-up, and depending on how they have Nix and Penix graded, it could result in the team moving back, if they got the right offer.
The Las Vegas Raiders are picking at No. 13, and they're very much in the QB market, so if Denver doesn't have a first-round grade on Nix or Penix, it's easy to imagine a team calling Denver to trade up in front of the Raiders to get one of the two QBs before Vegas can take one off the board.
In a trade-back scenario in the first round, the Broncos would almost certainly take an offensive tackle, edge rusher, or cornerback, and hope to parlay the No. 76 overall pick in Round 3 into landing a Rattler, Pratt, or Milton.
Stay tuned.
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