The Lead
While most of the attention on draft night — and in the days, weeks and months that follow — is heaped on first-round picks, there are always a slew of players from the later rounds who make strong contributions.
In a recent article on ESPN.com, Matt Miller and Jordan Reid looked to identify which of those unheralded players were the biggest steals of the last decade.
Miller and Reid combined to create a list of the top 50 biggest draft steals since 2013, and one of the Broncos' best defensive players made the list.
Safety Justin Simmons, whom the Broncos drafted with the 98th-overall pick in 2016, came in at No. 33 on ESPN's list.
"A 4.53-second run in the 40-yard dash dropped the sudden, explosive Simmons to the end of Round 3, where the Broncos made the wise decision to end his wait," Miller wrote. "Simmons was the seventh safety drafted in 2016 but has been a seven-year starter with three second-team All-Pro selections to his credit. Finding him at No. 98 overall -- and keeping him in town -- has been a brilliant move for the Broncos. He has at least five interceptions in each of the past three seasons."
A compensatory selection in 2016, Simmons has become arguably the best safety in the NFL. As ESPN suggests, it's hard to find much better value than that.
Below the Fold
Sticking with the draft theme, NFL.com’s Chad Reuter examined where players would be drafted if teams could select any NFL players in a win-now mock draft. There are multiple Broncos on his list — can you find them all?
