Broncos Select Minnesota OT Daniel Faalele in Todd McShay's Two-Round Mock Draft
The 2022 NFL draft is less than a month away, and Denver Broncos fan interest has likely not been lower in over a half-decade. For fans, shifting from sitting on a top-10 pick for the fourth time in five seasons to no longer holding picks No. 9 and 40 in the 2022 draft, nor a first or second-round pick in 2023, makes paying attention to the talent in the draft a little less interesting than in recent years.
However, with the draft getting closer by the day, the mock drafts from those in NFL draft media that go beyond the first round are giving fans the morsels of draft content many crave. Just because the Broncos don’t have top draft picks this season doesn’t mean fans should tune out from the draft.
With questions still on the roster, the Broncos hold eight total draft picks, five of which are in the top-120 selections. There's also the impending contract extension in the near future for Russell Wilson to reckon with so finding cheap, cost-controlled talent that can contribute to this team in the middle and late rounds of the next few drafts will make-or-break the team's chances at a Super Bowl run in the years to come.
ESPN’s Todd McShay just released his first two-round mock draft of 2022. While Denver sent its own second-round pick over to the Seattle Seahawks in the Wilson trade, the Broncos still own a second-rounder thanks to last fall's Von Miller trade.
With the No. 64 selection, McShay selected a position many in Broncos Country have been clamoring for: a long-term right tackle prospect.
64. Daniel Faalele, Offensive Tackle, University of Minnesota
To cap off the second round, how about a 6-foot-8, 384-pound offensive tackle? Russell Wilson dealt with protection issues in Seattle, but it’s a long way around Faalele for pass-rushers.
On the surface, the selection of Faalele would make some sense. The Broncos certainly have a need to find a long-term solution to play right tackle.
Since letting Orland Franklin depart way back in the 2015 offseason, the Broncos have been searching for a solution at right tackle. While none to date have ‘stuck,’ the Broncos do go into this season relatively safe at the position.
After retaining Calvin Anderson on a one-year deal, signing former San Francisco 49er Tom Compton (and pairing him back with the Broncos’ new offensive line coach Butch Barry), and signing Billy Turner, the team has multiple options at right tackle. None of them offer a tremendous ceiling which likely concerns many due to the talent at edge rusher currently prowling in the AFC West.
However, the Broncos’ right tackle situation is improved from last season when Bobby Massie and Cameron Fleming manning the spot, and that duo did not sink Denver last season. The issue with the three-headed option at right tackle is that it is not a long-term solution.
The Broncos went with the short-term stop-gap solution at the position this year. Given what was available, this isn't a bad plan on the surface, but it does open up the door once again to be concerned at right tackle next offseason. The trio of tackles does give Denver flexibility to draft a tackle that the team can put on ice and develop over their rookie season, though, an important caveat given that any tackle the Broncos take at pick 64 or later will ideally be given a developmental year before seeing the field.
While tackle on the surface is an obvious need for the Broncos, the specific selection of Faalele is head-scratching. Bigger isn’t always better on the offensive line and while Faalele is an absolute monster of a player even amongst giants at the offensive tackle spot, his size can sometimes be an issue for him on tape.
Faalele currently does not possess the foot speed at the position to handle counter rushes at tackle. Time and time again at the Senior Bowl, he was set up outside only to have a rusher scream across his face and beat him inside with Faalele losing the rep.
Faalele with his size and length can probably correct this flaw somewhat by correcting his urge to overset versus speed rushers on the outside and trusting his length, but it is a fatal flaw on his tape currently. He also is a somewhat difficult projection in the outside zone run-blocking scheme.
While at Minnesota. there were some reps of Faalele combo blocking and climbing, they did not look like the fleet-of-foot tackle prospects that are the prototype for this specific blocking scheme. His best attributes are his size and power which seemingly make him a better fit for a more gap/power run blocking scheme.
Faalele appears to lack the burst and fluidity to seal the edge. However, given his size, his movement skills are not horrific, and he probably can live in a scheme that uses some outside zone.
Another concern with Faalele is his 6-foot-8 height, specifically with his fit in Denver. No one wants to talk about it, but given Wilson’s heat maps and distribution of targets historically, it seems worthy to state the obvious: his height likely makes it tougher for him to see over his offensive linemen so he doesn’t throw the ball as much over the middle of the field.
Now add in a 6-foot-8 offensive tackle and these concerns are only exacerbated. Further casting doubt, there are some that believe that Faalele’s struggles versus speed and lack of foot quickness while still playing relatively low given his height might have him transition to guard if he fails at tackle.
That might work for some teams but with Wilson under center, a 6-foot-8 starting guard is likely something that isn’t in the cards for Denver. The Broncos could certainly go with an offensive tackle at pick 64.
However, given a litany of concerns listed above, perhaps Faalele isn’t the direction the Broncos should go with the selection all things considered.
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