The Lead
Folks, there's no going back now — it's officially draft season.
Mock drafts are flooding the streets and, for the most part, they say the Broncos are going to draft a wide receiver or should draft a wide receiver with the 15th-overall pick. Usually it's Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III or CeeDee Lamb — it doesn't really matter at this point; the agreed-upon consensus is that Denver absolutely must take a wideout with that first pick.
But in the past few days, two of the bigger-name NFL analysts have written that they see the Broncos taking players at other positions.
ESPN's Todd McShay picked former Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas to the Broncos in his most recent mock on Monday, and NFL.com's Peter Schrager had Denver taking former Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray in his mock draft that was published on Wednesday.
"I had an NFL GM tell me at the combine that Murray was the best interview subject he's had in years," Schrager wrote. "Teams love what they see on film, but Murray might be an even better leader and person. The Broncos obviously already have two absolute studs on defense in Von Miller and Bradley Chubb. Make it three with Murray."
As for McShay's forecast, by the time the Broncos were on the clock, none of that top WR triumvirate (Jeudy, Ruggs and Lamb) were left on the board. It certainly stands to reason that one of the reasons the Broncos may have to look at a different position with the 15th-overall pick is that those guys simply aren't there.
But he sees Denver taking advantage of the depth at receiver in the second round, coming away with former Colorado Buffalo Laviska Shenault Jr., who not so long ago was considered a first-round talent. The chance to grab a player like that in the second round could afford them some flexibility in the first.
Below the Fold
As I wrote above, it's possible that the Broncos would have to trade up to have the chance to draft one of the top receivers in the class. That's why NFL.com's Chad Reuter believes Denver should make a deal to get the 10th-overall pick from the Browns.
But even if the Broncos don't draft a wide receiver in the first round, that doesn't mean it's not an area of focus as they approach the 2020 season. As ESPN’s Jeff Legwold writes, finding "additional pop on offense" is still their biggest question to be answered.
The 2020 NFL Draft hats are here! Every year, New Era unveils the official draft-day hats for each team, and this year's theme was inspired by Las Vegas' neon signs. To each their own, but I like the streamlined outline look of the Broncos logo against the all-black hat.
Oh, yes, we have another current or former Broncos player on a podcast! On Wednesday, Ring of Famer Karl Mecklenburg joined the finest Broncos-centric show from across the pond, the Denver Broncos UK Podcast. It was a wide-spanning conversation that included Mecklenburg's recollection of his career and his thoughts on the current team, including why he thinks he sees a little John Elway in Drew Lock.
The Unclassifieds
In this section, we dove into the social media world to find some of the most interesting, funny or otherwise entertaining posts from our players or other people about the Broncos.
