Denver Broncos 7-round 2020 NFL mock draft after free agency splurge

Courtland Sutton carried the Broncos receiving core on his shoulder pads last season, earning 550 more receiving yards than the next leading weapon. Emmanuel Sanders has now departed and Daesean Hamilton and Tim Patrick have struggled to remain consistent in his place. It’s essential that the Denver Broncos build around the development of Drew Lock by providing him more toys.

Henry Ruggs III proved to be the fastest player in the class with his combine-best 4.27 forty-yard-dash time. Ruggs possesses exhilarating speed to combo with his stellar route-running and ball skills. His skill set should help dictate coverage in the secondary as he showed to be a tremendous big-play threat on deep routes. He averaged 18.6 yards per catch last season.

Additionally, his quickness warrants opposing defenses to perform more passive coverages with nickel and dime sub-packages to keep up with him downfield. This should warrant less double-coverage and more open looks for Courtland Sutton and company. Just his on-field presence would make the offense more dynamic.

Many have argued that Ruggs is more than just a speed guy. They aren’t wrong. There are logical reasons to why he’s commonly listed in the top-tier of this class alongside Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb. The receiver utilizes his explosiveness off the line to beat press with ease and acquires trustworthy hands. Flawless at tracking the deep throw and is dangerous once he gets the ball.

He would fit well in Pat Shurmur’s West Coast spread offense. Toss Ruggs the rock and let him make plays with his swift legs in space. If they wanted to open up shorter routes then Shurmur would send Ruggs vertically to free up coverage. The Denver Broncos receiving group lacks in straight-line speed and this addition will no doubt add diversity to their passing attack.

Getting Ruggs at No. 15 would be quite the task due to team needs in front of the Broncos. If the war room desperately desires the player, then perhaps creating a safety valve by moving up a few spots would be ideal. Trading up to get the speedster could be an option for Denver considering the amount of 2020 NFL Draft capital they own.