Chiefs and the AFC West:
A Look at the Broncos Draft Picks
· by Paul Pulley
The Denver Broncos 2018 NFL Draft Selections
I don’t intend to go into any in-depth analysis of the Denver Broncos draft, I just wanted to let everyone know who they picked and who the Kansas City Chiefs might be competing against twice a year for the next few seasons.
Round 1, pick 5: DE Bradley Chubb- GM John Elway had the best player in the 2018 draft fall into his lap in Bradley Chubb, DE from NC St. All because John Dorsey decided to select a DB at pick number 4 for the Cleveland Browns. The 6-foot-4 and 269 lb. Chubb is likely to be a disruptor on Denvers D-line for years. It will be interesting if Elway hangs onto Derek Wolfe. While Wolfe is only 28, it would save the Broncos over $8M cap space to let him go post June 1. This draft selection by Denver could be the impetus Chiefs GM Brett Veach needs to upgrade the Chiefs left tackle position.
Round 2, pick 40: WR Courtland Sutton- wide receiver from SMU, a large body-WR at 6-foot-3 and 218 lbs., Sutton was very productive in college but did seem to struggle against top corners or when double teamed. Not exceptionally fast, running a 4.54-40 at the NFL Combine, Sutton will fight for contested balls and isn’t afraid of contact, but then again, he has yet to catch a ball on a crossing route and get hit by Eric Berry. With the departure of both Bennie Fowler and Cody Latimer, Sutton has a good chance to see plenty of playing time. I’m sure Denver is hoping Sutton can replace Demaryius Thomas in 2019 as Thomas’ contract will become unsustainable.
Round 3, pick 71: RB Royce Freeman, from Oregon. A big kid at 6-foot-0 and 230 lbs., Freeman could end up as the starting RB ahead of DeVontae Booker. Averaging almost 6 yards per carry at Oregon, Freeman will be an upgrade over the departed C.J. Anderson. Freeman didn’t seem to be used much in the passing game at Oregon, so it might be a ‘wait and see’ if his receiving skills are a difference maker. I do think with the Chiefs new ILB duo, Freeman will find that a 6-yard per carry average hard to obtain playing against Kansas City.
Round 3, pick 99: CB Isaac Yiadom- 6-foot-1 and 190 lbs. this long armed young man had a decent career at Boston College. He will likely be relegated to special teams play as long as Chris Harris and Bradley Roby are healthy. He might be seen as a replacement for Harris a couple years down the road.
Round 4, pick 106: ILB Josey Jewell- a slower LB, running a 4.82-40, the slightly undersized 6-foot-1 and 235 lbs. Jewell plays very instinctive and made a ton of plays at Iowa. After starting for 3 years, he finished his career with 433 tackles with 28 for a loss, 10 sacks and 6 interceptions. Jewell will probably have to earn a spot on special teams because playing time will be hard to come by with Denver’s loaded linebacking corp. However, LB Brandon Marshall’s cap hit for 2019 will be $9M, so Jewell might find himself taking over as a starting ILB next year.
Round 4, pick 113: WR Daesean Hamilton- from Penn State, this 6-foot-1 and 205 lb. wide receiver, is a good route runner but not exceptionally fast running a 4.52- 40-yard dash. His style is compares to Emmanuel Sanders, who he could be replacing in 2019 as Sanders cap hit will make it tough for Denver to keep him.
Round 5, pick 156: TE Troy Fumagalli- from Wisconsin. This 6-foot-5 and 247 lbs. tight end is a decent blocker and has good hands. Fumagalli didn’t run at the combine or his pro day. The only timed 40 that I could find for him was a somewhat sluggish 4.84. His junior and senior seasons combined at Wisconsin had him catching 93 passes for 1,127 yards. Denver’s top 2 receiving TE’s last year had 224 and 191 yards respectively and neither are still with the team. Fumagalli’s competition for a starting role will be Jeff Heuerman and Jake Butt. Heuerman was the third TE last year and Butt was recovering from a torn ACL sustained in college. It seems that Denver’s TE group will remain below average.
Round 6, pick 183: OG Sam Jones- from Arizona St. A 6-foot-5 and 305 lbs. guard project that needs to add strength. Doesn’t handle big guys well one-on-one, but he’s quick enough to get to the second level. Would probably be a practice squad player on most teams with a good O-line, but he could end up as depth for Denver.
Round 6, pick 217: ILB Keishawn Bierria- from Washington, stands 6-foot-0 and 230 lbs., is not athletically gifted but is a hard worker. He will likely be a career reserve linebacker and special teams player.
Round 7 pick 226: RB David Williams- from Arkansas. Not wanting Veach to corner the market on RB’s named Williams, Elway picked David, a 6-foot-1 and 229 pound power back that didn’t test well and hasn’t been overly productive collegiately. He spent 4 years in South Carolina — redshirting one — then moved to Arkansas as a Grad Transfer. His last season was by far his most productive rushing for 656 yards.
Projections and Jersey Numbers
Undoubtably we will see a lot of Bradley Chubb (who selected jersey # 55) this season. Likely a day one starter, Chubb will only make the Denver defense stronger. WR Courtland Sutton, jersey # 14, will be behind Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, but will get worked into the lineup a lot as the season progresses. Daeseasn Hamilton, jersey # 17, will be a depth WR and need to make his living on special teams in the beginning. I would expect Freeman, jersey # 37, to win the starting role ahead of Booker. Williams, jersey # 36, could make the team as a backup and special teamer. Fumigalli, jersey #84, could end up as Denver’s starting tight end. I would expect to see quite a bit of him this season. Jewell, jersey # 47; Yiadom, jersey # 41; Jones, jersey # 70 and Bierria, jersey # 40, will be reserve players at their respective positions and will likely need to play on special teams in order to get playing time.
Denver Broncos Cap Situation
For the 2018 season, the Broncos had just over $10M cap carryover from 2017, therefore their total cap is roughly $187.4M. They reportedly had ~$14M of cap space prior to the draft.The effective cap hit for the 2018 draftees to the top 51 will be about $5.25M, leaving them with about $8.5M to $9M of cap space after their draftees are signed.
2019 will most likely bring some major changes to the Broncos. Assuming all 10 of the 2018 draft picks are still with the team in ’19, the combined cap hit of the draftees will be about $13.27M. This will put Denver very tight against the cap and with their top 5 players counting over $87M against the cap, changes are bound to happen.
Von Miller isn’t going anywhere and Case Keenum will likely play through 2019. That leaves Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and Derek Wolfe probably looking for work elsewhere. Moving on from those three will give Denver a cap savings of $32.8M for 2019. While Denver’s defense is still looking formidable, their offense doesn’t look like they will be improving anytime soon.
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