Denver Broncos most pressing needs entering 2021 NFL Draft
The Denver Broncos had aims on picking up where they had left off at the end of the 2019 season when they finished 4-1 with Drew Lock as the starting quarterback and a 7-9 overall record.
Unfortunately, the Denver Broncos’ decision to move on from incumbent offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello and hire Pat Shurmur in his place proved to be a massive hurdle for everyone on that side of the ball. Not that Shurmur was at fault for all of the Broncos’ struggles in 2020, but the pandemic combined with the youth and changes offensively led to a number of struggles for this Broncos team.
Only the San Francisco 49ers had a comparable season to the Denver Broncos in 2020 when it comes to battling the injury bug, and the Broncos even had a game where they started a practice squad wide receiver (rookie Kendall Hinton) at the quarterback position.
To say it was an ugly year in Denver would be an understatement. John Elway stepped down from his post as general manager and the Broncos hired highly coveted candidate George Paton in his place. Paton called the Broncos’ roster he inherited a “sleeping giant” at his introductory presser, so what will that mean for this team’s strategy ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft?
Let’s take a look through the most pressing needs he has on the roster leading up to the 2021 Draft.
1. Cornerback
The Denver Broncos made this an obvious area of need with their recent decision to release veteran AJ Bouye less than a year after trading for him. Bouye played just seven games for the Broncos in 2020 and was limited in the nine others by injuries and a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s PED policy.
Since Bouye was pretty much non-existent for the Denver Broncos in 2020 anyway, the team’s top three corners will be back, but all with question marks.
Bryce Callahan has struggled for three straight seasons with a foot injury and has ended each of the last three seasons on injured reserve.
Michael Ojemudia had an up-and-down rookie season but he has the look of a strong starter in Vic Fangio’s defense.
After being benched against the New York Jets (Jamison Crowder got the best of him) rookie free agent Essang Bassey bounced back to win the starting nickel position (twice) before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Duke Dawson will also be back in 2021 but he suffered a season-ending injury as well.
There is no question the Denver Broncos will need to address the cornerback position in the 2021 offseason through both free agency and the 2021 NFL Draft, and the smart money right now is on either Caleb Farley (Virginia Tech) or Patrick Surtain II (Alabama) with their top overall selection, barring a move down the board.