Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel shares his Broncos Mailbag regularly during the season and occasionally during the offseason. Click here to ask a question.
We all know the draft is not precise but more like an at-bat, and the best at it only succeed three out of 10 times. In your opinion, what’s our best option: Move up to get “the QB”? Stay put and select the best player available? Or trade down and collect draft capital and pick a lower-tier QB later on?
— Gabriel Tamayo, Brownsville, Texas
Great name, Gabriel. And a good place to start this week’s mailbag.
To continue the baseball comparison, most of the time in the first round you’re looking for doubles. Swing for the fences and you might hit a grand slam or you might miss, send the bat flying into the stands, and then retreat to the clubhouse to start updating your resume.
Of course, it’s easier to be comfortable taking the best player on the board and counting on him to make an impact if you’re not also looking for a quarterback.
Here’s how I look at Denver’s situation currently: This is not a one-draft roster fix. They need to stack a couple of good classes together to really inject enough young, inexpensive talent into the mix to really start to turn things around.
Look at some of the young, talented teams around the NFL. Detroit’s drafted 16 players the past two years, including four first-rounders and 10 total in the top 100 picks. Green Bay? 24 picks the past two years, three first-rounders and eight top-100 picks. Houston: 18, four first-rounders and nine top-100s.
Denver: 14 picks, no first-rounders, five in the top 100. The next two drafts would do well to look more like those other teams. Except you also have to find a quarterback. The sooner the better.
I’m in Camp Trade Down but for one big caveat:
If the quarterback you really feel strongly about makes it out of the top three then figure out how to get him. Sean Payton said he’s looking to fall in love. Trading up is a love move, not a like move. Not an “I-can-squint-and-see-J.J.-McCarthy-working-out-fine” move. You love him? Make sure you get him. If it’s not there, don’t force it and instead trade back. Take the extra capital and find as many good players as you can. That makes it easier to be aggressive a year from now to find a quarterback.
Bottom line: Trade down or answer the quarterback question. Don’t stay at No. 12 unless something fully unexpected happens like WR Rome Odunze or LT Joe Alt remaining on the board.
To honor WrestleMania 40, which current Denver players or coaches could easily transition into babyface or heel pro wrestlers?
— Ed Helsinki, Auburn, N.Y.
Great question, Ed. First guy that comes to mind is Quinn Meinerz. He’s got the whole package — hair, belly, agility, on-field demeanor and a pretty good scowl when he wants it. A tag team with fellow guard Ben Powers, perhaps, or a young up-and-comer like tackle Demontrey Jacobs.
Like Meinerz, outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper is a really friendly guy, but seems like he could turn heel as a wrestler.
There are probably more. Pound-for-pound, Ja’Quan McMillian should be in the discussion.
Hey Parker, thanks for taking the time to respond to questions. I keep seeing Sean Payton adding former Saints players to his team. Is this sort of thing common for a successful coach? Do other coaches tend to rehire players they are familiar with? In a way, I guess it's not surprising, or is Payton trying to recreate the same team he had in NOLA?
— Ann, Boulder
It’s not only players, Ann. This offseason two of Payton’s major hires have been longtime Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. as a senior offensive assistant and longtime Saints scout Cody Rager as the vice president of player personnel. Carmichael makes 10 coaches on Payton’s staff who worked for or played for him in New Orleans, joining senior defensive assistant Joe Vitt, outside linebackers coach Michael Wilhoite, offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, passing game coordinator John Morton, offensive line coach Zach Strief, tight ends coach Declan Doyle, assistant head coach Mike Westhoff, special teams assistant Chris Banjo and offensive quality control coach Logan Kilgore. Throw in head strength coach Dan Dalrymple and VP of player health and performance Beau Lowery as well.
Last year during the offseason Payton dismissed the idea that he was adding New Orleans players for cultural reasons. He said Mike McGlinchey, Ben Powers and Zach Allen were about culture. His stance on the Saints players was and continues to be that the familiarity means he knows exactly how he’s going to use a player or what he envisions the role is going to be. So, it could be something that’s just as simple as, all things being roughly equal between two players, Payton’s going to pick one he’s familiar with.
At times, necessity and familiarity match up. Defensive tackle Malcolm Roach, for example, rated as one of the better run defenders in the NFL last year. He would have been a good target for the Broncos no matter where he played his first four years.
That being said, it certainly doesn’t go unnoticed in the locker room and around the building that almost every level of the operation has been infused with people Payton’s worked with in the past.
Hi Parker, I was curious about our inside linebacker situation. Obviously Alex Singleton is still a starter, but who takes that spot next to him with Josey Jewell gone? I know we signed Cody Barton, but is he the answer? Or are we going to have a competition with the other ILBs on the roster? And where does Drew Sanders fit in with our team next year? I read somewhere that he might be moving to the edge.
— J. Juarez, Denver
Good questions, JJ. Singleton is the starting point in the inside linebackers room, as you mentioned. One of the more underrated stats from the 2023 season: Singleton played every defensive snap from Week 4 onward. The team left Miami after that 70-20 drubbing and didn’t take him off the field again the rest of the year. He ended up credited with 1,090 defensive snaps (97%). Obviously, you like players who don’t need to be subbed out but also probably don’t want your inside linebacker to have to do that.
Barton is expected to be an improvement over Jewell in coverage and has made a lot of tackles in the last two seasons in Washington and Seattle. However, he doesn't have the impressive big-play numbers that Jewell had in recent seasons. The Broncos are hoping to have Jonas Griffith back in good health and on the field for an extended period. Griffith missed the final nine games of 2022 due to a foot injury, and then tore his ACL in camp last summer. Standing at 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, he brings a different set of skills to the table if he can make a comeback. However, there's uncertainty after missing 26 games in a row.
The main question is where Sanders will end up in the long term. When he was drafted, Payton described him as a prototype inside linebacker with pass-rush ability. Eventually in 2023, they felt they had to get him on the field and played him outside. By the end of the season, DC Vance Joseph and GM George Paton both predicted a future on the edge. At the moment, it's unclear what will happen. It seems they would prefer him to become a strong player in the middle of the field, but it's yet to be determined.
Is there any update on Greg Dulcich's recovery? It seems like we've seen glimpses of his potential, but his injuries have been a problem. Should we pursue Brock Bowers with the No. 12 pick? The guy is very talented.
— Mike, Denver
There's nothing very recent, Mike, but Dulcich felt better by the end of the season and was frustrated that he couldn't return to the field towards the end. He strongly believed that the foot problem was unusual and that his problematic right hamstring had been improving for some time.
Of course, only time will tell. When I asked about a couple of young players who have shown promise but also been injured, Payton made an interesting comment on him in Orlando, referring to Greg and safety Caden Sterns.
“In evaluating them, I think this is an important year, take for example Greg,” Payton said. “You wouldn't say it's a critical year, but he feels the urgency to put this behind him and hopefully we can do that.”
Payton and Denver were optimistic about Dulcich being a versatile offensive weapon in 2023, but that didn't happen. It's a crucial part of the plan. If a quarterback isn't chosen in the first round of the draft, the Broncos could opt for a cornerback, tackle, edge, or defensive line. They have multiple needs. However, it's likely that they would also be interested in someone like Bowers, who could pose a matchup challenge for Payton's offense.
