KUSA – There are times to take charge and times when taking charge means delegating authority.
I learned a long time ago the draft and all it consumes is a time to delegate. It is an exercise in futility to 100 percent of those who try, including NFL general managers, scouts and coaches.
As for the mocksters and draftniks, bloggers and talking heads who think they know? They don’t know.
Richard Hesse knows. A lifelong Broncos fan who admits to a demented passion for evaluating prospects in the annual draft ever since Floyd Little was the local pick in 1967, Hesse is right often enough for notice.
Here are his selections for each of the Broncos’ eight draft picks as they sit today:
1. (5) Quenton Nelson, guard, Notre Dame
If Broncos’ general manager John Elway doesn’t take one of the Big 4 quarterbacks with this pick, he would have done a wonderful job of subterfuge. In no previous draft has Elway spent so much time evaluating a position. Before he is through with the process, he will have personally attended Pro Days, workouts and practices, while also engaging in multiple in-person meetings with each of the Big Four quarterbacks: Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen.
But Hesse is like me. Why would the Broncos have signed quarterback Case Keenum to a two-year, $36 million contract if they were going to take a quarterback at No. 5? The Broncos were not 5-11 last season on poor quarterback play alone. They need players.
Hesse believes the Broncos should take the best, non-QB player available. He adds that Penn State running back Saquon Barkley is his first choice, but he doesn’t think he will be there at No. 5.
Nelson may be a guard – a position ordinarily not considered worthy of a top 5 pick – but the Broncos can’t afford to miss with another high-round selection. Nelson is considered the No. 1 can’t-miss prospect in this draft. A projected 10-year starter and multiple Pro Bowler.
Again, if Barkley is there, Barkley is the pick.
2. (40) Sony Michel, running back, Georgia
Given the uncertainty of their own 1,000-yard rusher C.J. Anderson, it seems Elway is planning to draft a running back within the first three rounds. If they don’t get Barkley in the first, Michel is among the several quality backs who figure to be available in rounds two or three.
This is considered a deep class for running backs – although it will be difficult to match the class of 2017 when Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey were taken in the top 8, Dalvin Cook was selected in the second round and Alvin Kamara and Kareem Hunt became steals in the third.
Michel rushed for 3,203 yards and 28 touchdowns his final three seasons at Georgia even though he split tailback carries with Nick Chubb.
If the Broncos do take Barkley in the first or Michel is gone by pick No. 40, Hesse would like the Broncos to take either Dallas Goedert, a 6-4, 255-pound tight end from South Dakota State, or Will Hernandez, a guard who played at UTEP for Broncos’ new offensive line coach Sean Kugler. Hernandez would not be under consideration if the Broncos took Nelson in the first.
3. (71) Josey Jewell, linebacker, Iowa
This is the round where Hesse earn respect over the mock pretenders. He had the Broncos taking the 6-2, 236-pound Jewell with this pick two days before 9News reported Wednesday the team was visiting with Jewell.
The Broncos are clearly planning on taking an inside linebacker in the draft as they are also visiting this week with Ohio State’s Jerome Baker and Washington’s Keishawn Bierria.
The preference is a three-down linebacker who can possibly replace Brandon Marshall in 2019 while also filling in for Corey Nelson this year. (Marshall is under contract in 2019 and 2020 but with far less guaranteed money than the $5 million that was locked in on March 18).
Corey Nelson, who had been the Broncos’ No. 3 linebacker, left for free agency and the Eagles.
3. (99) Michael Gallup, receiver, Colorado State
In my opinion, receiver is the Broncos’ No. 1 need going into the draft. The two starters, Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, are coming off three consecutive years of declining yards production and both have their 30th birthday behind them.
The team also lost its top two backups in Cody Latimer and Bennie Fowler III to free agency.
Jordan Taylor is the leading candidate for the No. 3 receiver role but he won’t be ready until training camp because of hip surgery.
Carlos Henderson, a third-round draft pick a year ago, is coming off a wasted rookie season on injured reserve.
This is not considered a strong receiver draft class, although there is some strong, second- and third-round talent like Gallup, who had 176 catches for 2,685 yards and 21 touchdowns in his two seasons for the Rams.
Hesse has Oklahoma State receiver James Washington as his backup choice. Gallup and Washington, the NCAA’s receiving yards leader with 1,549 in 2017, were both coached by Broncos new receivers coach Zach Azzanni at the Senior Bowl.
4. (106) Kyle Lauletta, quarterback, Richmond
The Senior Bowl MVP averaged 3,380 passing yards, 26 touchdown passes against just 10 interceptions in his final two seasons for the Spiders.
The Broncos need a fourth quarterback to join Case Keenum, Paxton Lynch and Chad Kelly, although their fourth guy could be anywhere from the No. 5 pick in the first round to undrafted free agent.
If Lauletta is gone, Hesse would like Mississippi State offensive tackle Martinas Rankin in this spot.
4. (113) Ian Thomas, tight end, Indiana
The Broncos could use hitting on two of these three picks in a 15-spot stretch in the middle of the draft.
The Thomas selection assumes the Broncos would not land Goedert in the second round. Thomas is a 6-5, 250-pound raw talent who was a junior college transfer and one-year starter for the Hoosiers.
Thomas played for the South team against the Broncos’ staff in the Senior Bowl. I was more impressed with another South-side tight end, Jordan Akins of Central Florida.
But, hey, I got to learn to let go. This is Hesse’s show.
If somehow Rashaad Penny is still around by the start of the fourth round and the Broncos haven’t been able to pick up a running back by then, Hesse believes Denver should do what it takes to go get the NCAA’s leading rusher from San Diego State.
Hesse listed this before the Broncos had Penny in for a visit on Tuesday.
5. (149) D.J. Reed, cornerback, Kansas State
Only 5-foot-9, 188, but he’s quick and a good tackler – which makes him a nice slot corner. And the Broncos need a young nickelback.
This is also the round where a team supplements the depth of its roster with special teamers. Again, Reed is a gamer.
As for the long-and-lean cornerbacks who are all the rage in today’s NFL, Hesse likes the 6-1, 190-pound Isaac Yiadom of Boston College.
5. (160) Lowell Lotulelei, defensive tackle, Utah
The younger brother of Star Lotulelei, who the No. 1 overall draft pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2013 who just signed a five-year, $50 million contract with the Buffalo Bills.
Lowell isn’t as good as his big brother, but at 320 pounds, he could develop into a run-stuffer.
Sleeper pick: Michael Dickson, punter, Texas
Had the Broncos stayed with 11 picks, which was their tally after the Aqib Talib trade, and selections in the sixth and seventh rounds, a punter would have been more likely.
If the Broncos don’t make a bid for veterans Marquette King or Donnie Jones -- contact has , who recently became available, they could try to make a trade back into the final two rounds if Dickson, an Australian who has a strong leg but also a master at the pooch kick, or Alabama’s J.K. Scott of Mullen High is available.
