Potential 2023 NFL Draft prospect names to know for the Broncos in the third round: Defense
Get to know some of the NFL prospects who might be options for the Broncos on the offensive side of the ball when they approach their first selections in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Prospects were selected from the No. 60-80 range of overall prospect rankings by ESPN, NFL.com's Eric Edholm, The Athletic's Dane Brugler and Pro Football Focus' Michael Renner.
Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 63 ESPN: No. 65 Dane Brugler, The Athletic: No. 69
"Stevenson is a nicely built man corner who can get physical off the line with receivers, but he appears to struggle with short-area quickness." – Edholm
(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus: No. 63 Dane Brugler, The Athletic: No. 73 ESPN: No. 76
"Ika is your 358-pounder who can still somehow make centers and guards miss one on one. He tallied a career-high 33 pressures in 2021 before seeing his play become a little more inconsistent this past fall." – Renner
(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Dane Brugler, The Athletic: No. 64 Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 70 ESPN: No. 75
"Henley was the only Pac-12 player with at least 100 tackles, 12.0 TFLs and an interception last season." – Brugler
(AP Photo/Young Kwak)
Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 73 Dane Brugler, The Athletic: No. 74
"Multiple offensive linemen at the NFL Scouting Combine singled out Harrison as one of their tougher college matchups. This ranking might be too low, frankly." – Edholm
(AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 62 Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus: No. 62
"Foskey is a body-beautiful, traits-heavy prospect with impressive length. He just stalls out too much as a pass rusher and could use more development, enabling him to harness his quality skill set." – Edholm
(AP Photo/Chris Seward)
Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 65 Dane Brugler, The Athletic: No. 71
"Adebawore had a team-high 31 QB pressures last season including multiple pressures in 10 of Northwestern's 13 games." – Brugler
(AP Photo/Matt Marton
Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus: No. 65 Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 80
"My pick for the highest-drafted non-combine player. Brooks likely fits best inside, where he held his own at the Senior Bowl." – Edholm
(AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 66 ESPN: No. 73
"The question now is whether Brown's subpar athletic testing numbers will hurt him, because his intangibles are really strong." – Edholm
(AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
ESPN: No. 61 Dane Brugler, The Athletic: No. 68
"Tuipulotu led the FBS with 13.5 sacks last season, the most by a USC defender since 2003." – Brugler
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 60 ESPN: No. 68 Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus: No. 79
"Hall is built like a Greek god, and he has reps that make him look like one, too. We just haven't seen him develop a full array of pass-rushing moves just yet, as his pass-rushing grade plateaued after his sophomore year in 2020 (81.9, 82.1, 82.6)." – Renner
(AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Dane Brugler, The Athletic: No. 77 Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 79
"Herbig has a pass-rush specialist profile with a high rate of disruptive plays on tape, but he also has clear positional and role limitations." – Edholm
(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus: No. 77
"Simpson is the kind of rangy, fluid athlete everyone is looking for at linebacker. He even played the slot role in Clemson's defense back in 2021. He allowed only 406 yards in his career on 612 coverage snaps." – Renner
(AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus: No. 71 Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 77
"Battle may not be a special athlete, but he plays such a steady brand of football that it rarely gets exposed. He earned 80.0-plus coverage grades while playing more than 800 snaps in each of the past three seasons." – Renner
(AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 72
"I see boom-or-bust potential in Ricks, who hasn't played much or reprised the playmaking knack he displayed as a freshman at LSU in 2020." – Edholm
(AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 76
"Not sure where he'll be drafted after disappointing testing at the combine, but Morris' high points suggest he has good rotational potential." – Edholm
(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus: No. 68 ESPN: No. 79
"Brown started for the Illini ever since his freshman year in 2018, with 3,168 career snaps to his name. It wasn't until this past fall, though, that we saw his prodigious physical gifts turn into elite production on the football field. He picked off six passes and broke up six more in primarily a box role this past season." – Renner
(AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 71
"Brents is a long-levered zone corner who had a solid Senior Bowl and showed surprising quickness in the three-cone drill (6.63 seconds) at the combine." – Edholm
(AP Photo/Kathleen Batten)
Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus: No. 61
"Carter is a unique 6-foot-7, 260-pound edge rusher with the kind of length that can give tackles problems. He earned a 93.4 pass-rushing grade with 59 pressures in 2021 before every school he faced came with a game plan to limit him this past fall. It's scary to think where his frame can go with year-round time in a weight room." – Renner
(AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus: No. 74
"Robinson is arguably the most complete safety in the draft class. He's a solid all-around athlete who's also a tremendous tackler. He's an easy projection to the NFL with how many hats he's worn in his career. Across four seasons as a starter, Robinson played 633 snaps in the box, 759 deep and 1,348 from the slot." – Renner
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Dane Brugler, The Athletic: No. 70
"Smith allowed a 47.4 percent completion percentage as the primary defender last season, fifth best among SEC cornerbacks." – Brugler
(AP Photo/Artie Walker Jr.)
Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus: No. 73
"McGuire is a long, powerful defensive end who came on strong as a senior in 2022. The 6-foot-4, 275-pounder earned an 81.9 pass-rushing grade on the season." – Renner
(AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus: No. 72
"Ringo is a mammoth cornerback at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds. He's built to play in a press-heavy defense on the outside. He's just a touch inconsistent on his breaks and allowed 552 yards this past fall." – Renner
(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Dane Brugler, The Athletic: No. 76
"Johnson led SEC defensive backs with three forced fumbles last season despite playing in only nine games." – Brugler
(AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Dane Brugler, The Athletic: No. 66
"Rush allowed a target as the primary defender every 8.4 coverage snaps last season, sixth most among SEC CBs (min. 250 snaps)." – Brugler
(AP Photo/Artie Walker Jr.)
Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 69
"A strong showing in Senior Bowl one-on-ones appeared to raise his profile as a heavy-handed interior rusher." – Edholm
(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Dane Brugler, The Athletic: No. 79
"Diaby had an ACC-high eight games with at least half a sack last season, fourth most in the FBS." – Brugler
(AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
ESPN: No. 70
(AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
