After two major trades during the last calendar year, the Denver Broncos do not have a ton of draft capital heading into the 2023 NFL Draft. As much as Broncos’ General Manager George Paton likes his draft capital, he’s got very little in 2023.
Trading for Russell Wilson in 2022 and Sean Payton in 2023 were winning moves, but clearly put a massive dent in their cupboard of picks. The Broncos could trade a player or two to try and replenish their capital, but part of me thinks they’ll lean into their now strong coaching staff to try and bring some production out of players picked in the mid and later rounds.
Denver Broncos Mock Draft: Doing what we can in ’23
67th overall: Calijah Kancey, DT, Pittsburgh
Somehow Calijah Kancey fell all the way to the 67th overall pick in this mock draft, which is being done using PFN’s Mock Draft Simulator.
Because of the size, school, and combine performance, Kancey has already been lightly compared to Aaron Donald. With the departure of Dre’Mont Jones and DeShawn Williams in free agency, Kancey tries to fill the last remaining starting spot along the defensive line.
68th overall: Joe Tippmann, OC, Wisconsin
Denver takes a chance in the third round and hopefully finds their starting center in Joe Tippmann. The Broncos heavily addressed their offensive line in free agency with the additions of Ben Powers and Mike McGlinchey, and Tippmann can hopefully serve as the icing on the cake for what could be an elite unit.
108th overall: Kendre Miller, RB, TCU
The Denver Broncos should continue to address their running back position until Javonte Williams returns from a nasty injury he suffered back at the beginning of the 2022 season. Miller is a talented back from TCU who could form a nice combination with new Broncos’ RB Samaje Perine.
139th overall: Myles Brooks, CB, Louisiana Tech
The Broncos should bolster their secondary since they decided to cut Ronald Darby earlier this offseason. We’ll see how second year man Damarri Mathis does in 2023, but adding another body to this unit is a no-brainer.
195th overall: Payne Durham, TE, Purdue
The Broncos’ TE room is a huge question mark going into 2023. Rookie Greg Dulcich played very well in 2022 and quickly took over Albert Okwuegbunam on the depth chart. However, I’m not totally convinced that this room can be as effective as some think in 2023, so adding a late rounder in Payne Durham to the room might end up paying off.