MOBILE, ALA. – Broncos general manager John Elway was busy during last year’s draft, making a trade in six of the seven rounds, toggling that allowed him to select tight end Noah Fant, left guard Dalton Risner and quarterback Drew Lock (good) and acquire quarterback Joe Flacco and linebacker Dekoda Watson (didn’t work out).
Elway could be similarly active this year.
The Broncos currently have nine picks — one each in rounds 1-2 and 6-7, three third-round selections and two fourth-round picks.
Earlier this month, the industry website Over The Cap projected three compensatory selections for the Broncos: A fifth-rounder (guard Billy Turner signing with Green Bay) and two sevenths (guard Max Garcia and cornerback Tramaine Brock both signed with Arizona).
RELATED: Broncos 2020 NFL mock draft tracker: What the national experts predict Denver will do as of Jan. 23
Chances are, the Broncos won’t select 12 players, but it does give Elway chips to move up after the first round. The smart play for him would be to select as many players in rounds 1-4 as possible who can help end the team’s four-year playoff drought. This is no time to move down … and down … and down, to stockpile late Day 3 picks.
“You never say, “Never,” to anything,” Elway said at the Senior Bowl. “You never lock into anything. We’re fortunate enough to have a lot of draft capital. Once we get through free agency and see where that is and get into the month of the draft, that’s when all of that starts.”
Since taking over the Broncos’ draft board in 2011, Elway has not been shy to trade. Some of his notable moves …
2011: Moved down nine spots (No. 36 to No. 45) in the second round with San Francisco, which chose quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
2012: Moved down 11 spots (No. 25 to No. 36) through two trades and used the initial pick on defensive end Derek Wolfe.
2014: Moved up seven spots (No. 56 to No. 63) to draft receiver Cody Latimer.
2015: Traded guard Manny Ramirez and fifth- and sixth-round picks (plus pick No. 28) to move up five spots to select outside linebacker Shane Ray at No. 23.
2016: Moved up five spots (No. 31 to No. 26) to draft quarterback Paxton Lynch.
2019: Traded down 10 spots with Pittsburgh (No. 10 to No. 20) and drafted Fant and then moved up 10 spots (No. 52 to No. 42) to take Lock.
If Elway can end Day 2 of the draft (rounds 1-3) with multiple rookie starters like last year, it will be a win for the Broncos.
Elway speaks
Other notes from Elway’s media availability here.
- On Lock: “He just has to continue to play. He’ll keep working on different things. The more things he sees, the better he’s going to get.”
- On offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur finding ways to implement fullback Andy Janovich: “The good thing is that Pat’s been around. He’s got so much experience. He’ll do a good job taking advantage of what we have.”
- On the Pro Bowl using the fourth-and-15 option instead of an onside kick, which Elway led the charge for at last year’s league meeting: “Not many onside kicks were recovered this year (eight) so we’ve got to try and do something where you have a chance to catch up.”
- On serving on the NFL’s Competition Committee, which Elway said first meets next month in New York: “I look forward to that so I can at least give my opinion on it and then they do what they want.”
Around the league
Dolphins shuffling. Broncos coach Vic Fangio wasn’t the only first-year big whistle to turf his offensive coordinator. Miami’s Brian Flores fired Chad O’Shea (whom he brought with him from New England) and lured Chan Gailey out of retirement.
Finding the right fit at coordinator is critical because the Dolphins, with three first-round picks, are expected to draft a quarterback (they need to).
“We’d like to find the right guy to be the quarterback,” general manager Chris Grier told reporters. “You see how important it is around the league.”
An easy mock draft connection is Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa to the Dolphins.
“We know as much as you do right now,” Grier said of Tagovailoa’s health. “Looking forward to meeting him, just like a lot of players.”
Eli Manning retires. With a 117-117 regular-season record, two Super Bowl titles (MVP in both wins) and seven years of at least 25 touchdown passes, Giants quarterback Eli Manning officially retired Friday.
Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi swung the draft-day trade for Manning, who was drafted first overall by the Chargers.
“He won championships and he was always there giving us a chance to win,” Accorsi said. “I don’t know how you can ask more from a quarterback.”
Why I would make Manning a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame choice: The playoffs. Period. Manning was 8-4 in the postseason (18 touchdowns and nine interceptions). All eight wins came in the two title-winning years of 2007 and ’11. Manning was 5-2 in road playoff games, including NFC title game wins at Green Bay and San Francisco.
Footnotes. Might the Redskins be open to trading down from second overall even if it means not drafting Ohio State defensive end Chase Young? New coach Ron Rivera, who will spear-heard the operation (no general manager in place yet), should consider it. The Redskins don’t have a second-round pick and need help all over the depth chart. … Two big losses on Tennessee’s coaching staff: Defensive coordinator Dean Pees retired and secondary coach Kerry Coombs returned to Ohio State to become a defensive coordinator. Coach Mike Vrabel could stay in-house with Tyrone McKenzie or Shane Bowen or go the veteran route with Romeo Crennel, his former colleague in Houston. … Does Philip Rivers-to-Tampa Bay really make sense? If Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians believes so, he’ll move on from Jameis Winston, but he also needs to draft a quarterback in the first three rounds since Rivers is entering his age-39 season.
