The Broncos have been one of the teams most commonly assigned a RB in Round 1 of NFL mock drafts. GM George Paton obviously won't give away what his team plans to do on the first night, but he did confirm that we should expect Denver to select a RB ... at some point.
Paton: "It's a strong class. There are different flavors throughout the draft. I think you can get a good back in the second round up and all the way to the sixth round. That's how it is. There's just so many of them. ... We'll get a back in this draft."
HC Sean Payton, when asked if the team passed on free-agent RBs because of the draft class' strength: "I think that factors into it. I also think we felt like it was a pretty lean year in regards to free agency at that position, just relatively speaking. There is depth in the draft."
ESPN's Jeff Legwold: "Backs like Ohio State's TreVeyon Henderson, Tennessee's Dylan Sampson, Georgia's Trevor Etienne, Syracuse's LeQuint Allen and Arizona State's Cam Skattebo are on the Broncos' radar. Denver had one of its staff members spend some additional time on the field at the scouting combine with Sampson and Etienne after the backs had finished their workouts."
Denver already let Javonte Williams walk for a small one-year deal in Dallas. That leaves the Broncos with just this current RB depth chart (in some order):
That would pretty clearly be a weak group to take into the regular season. It wouldn't stand much chance of improving Denver's No. 18 ranking in RB PPR points last season -- a finish boosted significantly by 95 backfield receptions. (That tied for fourth-most in the league.)
Shane's current seven-round mock draft sends UNC RB Omarion Hampton to Denver in Round 1.
Ohio State RBs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins could be in play for Round 1 or 2. And Shane also has RBs Trevor Etienne, Kaleb Johnson, and Dylan Sampson currently going shortly after Denver's Round 3 turn.
Given the backfield need, you can bet the Broncos will be among the most closely watched teams for fantasy managers (and us) -- at least until they get their back.
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