Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel posts his Broncos Mailbag weekly during the season and periodically during the offseason. Click here to submit a question.
While I think it would be a cool story to draft Bo Nix‘s adopted brother Tez Johnson, do you think that it would be a beneficial move for the Broncos? He seems to be a much smaller version of Marvin Mims Jr., and I think Troy Franklin is due for a lot more targets next year. I just don’t know how much he would add to the offense.
— Owen, Fort Collins
Hey Owen, thanks for writing and for getting us going this week. The Broncos drafting Tez Johnson would be, unequivocally, a really cool story. The Nix family considers him one of their own. They call him their adopted son and brother. He and Nix are inseparable. Nix was up there last month for Oregon’s pro day to watch Johnson and several other former teammates.
Johnson’s a fun watch, too. He’s electric in the open field. But… yeah, he’s really small. He checked into the combine at 5-foot-10 and 154 pounds. And he ran 4.51 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Mims, by comparison, was 5-11 but 183 pounds — 29 pounds heavier! — and ran 4.38 in the 40. Interestingly, Johnson’s 10-yard split was quicker than Mims’ despite the slower overall time. Franklin was 6-2 and 176 and ran 4.41 in the 40.
We know Payton prefers big wide receivers as a baseline. He likes to say that it’s not that he dislikes small receivers, just that small receivers have to walk on water. A receiver Johnson’s size would have to be really, truly special to be an impact player in the NFL. Someone will give him a shot. It would make for quite a story if that someone was the Broncos.
We’re talking about needing additional tight ends or running backs or wide receivers. Do we have a strong enough backup QB in case Bo Nix goes down?
— Tilman Adair, Denver
Hey Tilman, thanks for writing in. The Broncos really like what Jarrett Stidham brings to the table. That’s why they signed him for another two years after he played through his previous two-year deal. Would the Broncos be in trouble if Nix missed a big swath of the season? Most likely — though the defense believes it can carry the team regardless of situation. But that’s not unique in the NFL.
In the interim since you submitted this question, the Broncos have also agreed to sign Sam Ehlinger to a one-year deal. Payton’s talked about wanting to constantly be in the quarterback development business, both with his starter and with the reserves. Ehlinger will get a chance to work with Payton, quarterbacks coach Davis Webb and a room that got along really well last year. The way the rules work now with being able to have the emergency third quarterback not count against your gameday active list, there’s more incentive to keep three quarterbacks on your 53-man roster.
If the Broncos coaches watched ASU nearly pull off an upset of Texas in their bowl game due to Cam Skattebo‘s terrific play (he single-handedly nearly won the game) when he wasn’t vomiting on the sidelines they would see the tailback that they seek, don’t you think?
— Gary Mason, Aztec, N.M.
Hey Gary, I wrote in last week’s mailbag about how Skattebo checks a lot of boxes the Broncos look for at running back. This week at the owners meetings in Florida, we heard Payton and Paton draw a clear delineation between first- and second-down backs and guys that can play all three downs. Skattebo’s got the receiving ability to play on third down and he’s also got the kind of toughness and demeanor coaches love.
The flip side, if you want to call it that, is he reportedly ran in the mid-4.6s for the 40-yard dash at his pro day. Probably not a big surprise, but that kind of number might keep him from being a true premium prospect. It might even give some teams pause about whether he can really carry a week-in, week-out load and create enough big plays for an NFL team. But the tape is the tape. He’s hard to tackle, he plays with an edge and he’s got real versatility.
I’d love to see the Broncos be aggressive and draft all offense to start off with in this year’s draft, North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton, Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson and LSU’s Mason Taylor getting the call, heck, throw in Utah State’s Jalen Royals or the Sun Devils’ Cam Skattebo!
What are the chances Denver adopts such an idea? This year’s draft is so deep you’d think they’d trade back once or twice to acquire a few more picks to round out the roster. I’d be happy with Ollie Gordon II or Devin Neal, too! It’s crazy how many great backs there are this year. Despite that, picking up JK Dobbins on a one-year prove-it deal makes sense.
We all know they need a new center. What about moving over Quinn Meinerz to center and bringing back Dalton Risner? If not that, maybe draft Tate Ratledge or Jared Wilson out of Georgia to solidify that O-line. I think our defense is set, but we need more depth on the line (Omarr Norman-Lott or Deone Walker?).
I’d love to see at least a couple of fresh new faces at linebacker (Jack Kaiser) or Kobe King? Sebastian Castro or Caleb Ransaw in the late rounds addressing the safety position would be ideal!
— Dennis Moore, Fruita
Dennis has been grinding the tape and is so, so ready for the draft. Love the excitement. It is indeed a fun time of year. Don’t even know where to start with this.
It does seem like there’s the potential for the Broncos to make a run on offensive players in the draft. That’s because of the depth at tight end and running back in the draft class plus the interesting set of mid-round receivers and offensive linemen but also because of the attention the Broncos gave the middle of their defense in free agency. We’ll see if Henderson’s there at No. 51 and Taylor at No. 85. I’d be a bit surprised if both of those happened.
Speeding through the rest: No on Risner returning or Meinerz moving to center. The Broncos have Luke Wattenberg and Alex Forsyth in the middle and if they’re going to do anything, they’ll probably try to get some young talent in the pipeline. That’s good planning in case this is Wattenberg’s final year in Denver or they decide to move on from Ben Powers after 2025.
Agree with you about mining linebacker and safety, too, though we’ll see if the Broncos think they’re getting good value there. Maybe the running back class is so good that they take one on Day 2 and another flavor on Day 3. Not impossible they find a veteran running back still, but Payton made it pretty clear this week that wasn’t a priority, calling the free agent crop “pretty lean” from a talent perspective.
Hey Parker! With the draft right around the corner, it’s an exciting time to see what the pundits are predicting the Broncos do with the 20th pick. I know that the RB class is quite deep in this year’s draft but I’m personally hoping the Broncos don’t mess around and just take North Carolina back Omarion Hampton with the 20th pick as opposed to taking a back in the later rounds. What’s your take on what the Broncos might do at this point in the game?
— Rick Tout, Wilmington, N.C.
Hey Rick, thanks for the note. Very interesting this week in Florida to hear Paton, quite specifically, say he thinks there are running backs to be found in this draft from the second through the sixth rounds. Conspicuously absent: The first round. Now, the draft is only a few weeks away and that means it’s smokescreenin’, subterfugin’, lyin’ season for every team in the league. Maybe the Broncos are trying to coax Hampton down to No. 20. Maybe they like Ohio State’s TreyVeon Henderson, who has some late first-round buzz, enough to take him there or enough to trade back a few spots and hope he’s there in the mid-20s. .
What’s interesting is there are three spots I keep coming back to as it pertains to the first round: Running back, tight end and defensive line. But those three positions also have depth, so they could address any of them on Day 2 as well. I still think if the right tight end or defensive lineman is there at No. 20, that would be difficult to pass up.
Now watch them take a corner or an edge or something.
If you’re the Broncos, you’re hoping Ole Miss quarterback Jaxon Dart goes in the top 19 picks in addition to Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders and, probably, that several offensive linemen and corners get picked. Push the talent at other spots toward No. 20.
In your opinion, which AFC West team has done the best job so far in signing free agents, extending its own players and overall roster management? And if not the best, where do the Broncos rank?
— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.
Hey Ed, thanks as always for the question. It’s a good one. It strikes me that Denver and Vegas have probably been the most active overall. Kansas City’s had to rework its offensive line and has set about doing that. The Chargers had some tough decisions to make but are still in good shape.
Denver on paper has done a really nice job of addressing needs in free agency and retaining D.J. Jones. They lost a couple guys they wanted to keep and were in the mix for a handful of free agents who went elsewhere like tight end Juwan Johnson, but that’s part of life this time of year.
All that said, I do think the Raiders have done a good job this offseason and not just on the roster front. Hiring Pete Carroll brings instant credibility and then pairing him with GM John Spytek and having the Tom Brady influence, too, makes for an interesting front office. Then trading for Geno Smith and getting Maxx Crosby to commit to a big extension are both solid moves.
At the beginning of the offseason, it felt like they were teetering. But the waters are calmer now, they’ve got their quarterback and a cornerstone defensive player and a Super Bowl champion coach. Oh, and Brock Bowers. They’ve got a ways to go, but the bet here is they won’t be a pushover with Carroll at the helm.
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