Broncos Select Virginia Tech CB Caleb Farley in Lance Zierlein's First Mock Draft of 2021

It’s mock draft season. Many of the media's big-time draftniks are dropping their first mocks of the 2021 NFL draft.

Fans should keep in mind this important note; some mocks you'll read are what the draftnik would do if they were making the pick, whereas other mocks are based on what the draftnik is projecting (predicting) to happen given the information gleaned from sources to date.

Given the circumstances surrounding the Denver Broncos' offseason, the prognosticators may vary from one to the other more than ever before due to the lack of crossover events such as big college matchups, the NFL Scouting Combine, and pro days this year. These pre-draft events have historically been where many media draftniks rub elbows with their league sources and get scoops on the direction teams are leaning in both free agency and the draft.

With this being another unprecedented offseason, the group-think and homogeneity that tends to influence much of the mock draft cycle will be less. This is a good thing overall but likely will lead to some mock draft selections that seem outlandish at first.

Do not be surprised to see one mock differ greatly from another and the draft itself having a few head-scratching decisions based on the perception of a prospect, created in media, that teams may or may not share. An independent thinker’s draft season is upon us.

One such independent thinker is that of NFL Network’s Lance Zierlein, who dropped his first mock draft (placing players where he expects they'll go as opposed to where he believes they should go) of the offseason cycle. Opinions will vary and, of course, many of his picks won’t be right come April.

However, the point of a mock draft isn't to get every pick exactly right, but rather to discuss value, fits, and the endless possibilities. With the No. 9overall pick in the 2021 draft, Zierlein projects Broncos GM George Paton to select Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley. Lance writes about his mock selection for the Broncos:

”My guess is that we may see the Broncos address linebacker and maybe pass rush in free agency, which would give them the opening to add a big, talented CB like Farley to contend with the division's explosive, young QBs.”

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Cornerback Needs Galore

There is little doubt that the Broncos’ most pressing roster need for the 2021 season is cornerback. Despite Michael Ojemudia’s improved play (and tackling) down the stretch last season and Bryce Callahan’s awesome season prior to his season-ending foot injury, the end of the 2020 season revealed the Broncos don't need just one additional option at cornerback, but a few.

This is even more true considering the division of track stars and bombs-away passing offenses in the AFC West. With the Kansas City Chiefs having Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and Mecole Hardman, the Las Vegas Raiders rostering Darren Waller and Henry Ruggs, and the Los Angeles Chargers boasting Mike Williams and Keenan Allen, the Broncos simply need more horses at cornerback to contend on a week-to-week basis.

With the only other cornerback worth considering at No. 9 overall in Alabama’s Patrick Surtain II already off the board (at No. 4 to Atlanta), the Broncos taking Farley makes a load of sense. While Farley is two years older than Surtain, which is a worthy point when considering the cornerback position and the 'cliff' they tend to fall off at or around age 30, Farley also appears to be the better athlete and scheme fit of the two top players at the position this year.

Farley has special movement skills for a corner of his size. Typically a cornerback at 6-foot-2 with Farley's length doesn’t possess great click-and-close nor hip fluidity in coverage. This is why many cornerbacks of size are purely Cover 3 or press-man corner — they simply do not possess the twitch nor oily hips to play off-coverage as needed. This is not true for Farley which makes him an extremely intriguing prospect.

Farley is able to stick in the hips of quicker receivers through routes (better than Surtain) while not being overly grabby at the top of stems (unlike South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn who is likely to be flagged a lot early on given how reliant he is on grabbing receivers down the field). Farley has good ball skills and sniffs out plays in front of him, exploding to receivers on the flat.

Being able to close space on the boundary against short passes and screens while also being able to carry speed receivers vertically are traits that fit Vic Fangio's defense and can help negate the talent at receiver in the AFC West.

Farley does come with some questions, though. He will turn 23 years old in November, making him just a bit older than your typical early first-round talent. For being 'older', Farley is rather raw at the position. He has the athletic traits and frame to figure it out while he grows and not be an issue, but his rawness will undoubtedly show at times.

That said even if Farley has some ups and downs while learning the NFL game, he shows the ability to recover and close space if he does lose, a very important trait not every corner possesses. While Farley is also considered an intelligent player (as a former quarterback in high school) his rawness and mental development at cornerback is still a consideration given he only recently switched to the position from wide receiver.

Farley without question has the coverage skills to fit the off-coverage demands Fangio has implemented with his corners historically. As Next Gen Stats show, Denver's boundary corners played one of the lowest percentages of press-coverage in the NFL last season as displayed in the graphic below.

Be that as it may, Farley needs to show better work in the run game and tackling in the open field. His angles can be a bit inconsistent pursuing the ball-carrier and his tackling technique has been suspect which is not a surprise for someone a bit raw to the position, but also notable given how Fangio values tackling ability from his defensive backs.

A First Time for Everything

Some may point to Fangio’s history to date in avoiding cornerbacks early in the draft as reason to doubt Denver takes one at pick 9. However, much like ex-GM John Elway never drafting players from Alabama prior to 2020, all it takes is the right guy to break that trend.

Furthermore, given what was arguably Fangio’s best defense ever in the 2018 Chicago Bears and the coach's disciple Brandon Staley who served as defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams this past season, perhaps having a bonafide boundary corner isn’t simply a luxury.

While Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald were the ‘stars’ of those respective defenses, Kyle Fuller and Jalen Ramsey helped Chicago and L.A. become elite without a doubt. Farley brings rare athletic ability, ball skills, and twitch to a team desperate for boundary corner ability now and going forward.

With it being a near-foregone conclusion that A.J. Bouye will be released, Denver likely won’t be able to find another corner that has the traits and upside of Farley. Perhaps as interesting as the selection of Farley himself in Zierlein’s mock are the notable names he had the Broncos passing on at pick 9.

Intriguing Options Still on Table

Going just one pick after Denver was notable mauler and media darling Penei Sewell — the Oregon left tackle. Sewell will certainly go early in the draft, but he isn’t the no-doubt grand slam selection many in media have built him up to be according to Zeirlein, who has Northwestern’s Rashawn Slater going before the former Duck.

Adding intrigue, Zierlein has two quarterbacks sliding past the Broncos in North Dakota State’s Trey Lance landing at pick 12 to the San Francisco 49ers and Ohio State’s Justin Fields falling to the New England Patriots at 15. It would be shocking to see any of the 'Big Four' (also including Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and BYU's Zach Wilson who went No. 1 and 2 in Zierlein's mock) quarterbacks slide out of the top-8 given the ubiquitousness of quarterback-desperate teams this year.

However, I've been covering the draft long enough to know anything is possible. If both Lance and Fields fall to pick 9, Denver will have to think long-and-hard about selecting a rookie quarterback to reset the clock on the position because landing such a player would come with up to five years of cost-control and youth.

If not, the newly-minted GM Paton could field calls from the high volume of teams looking to move up to land such a quarterback. However, Farley would be far from a consolation prize because cornerback is one of the most valuable positions in football, and the ex-Hokie has a chance to be a special one in his career.

Follow Nick on Twitter @NickKendellMHH and @MileHighHuddle.

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