John Elway and the Denver Broncos put on a show in the first two rounds

Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhiteMile High Reporta Denver Broncos communityLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpFanpostsFanshotsSectionsBroncosOddsShopAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Broncos NewsBroncos 2019 Draft ClassBroncos PodcastsBroncos 2019 ScheduleKey Offseason DatesCommunity RulesFull ArchiveBroncos StoriesScheduleRosterStatsOdds Shop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕Filed under:Denver Broncos 2019 DraftWhat NFL insiders said about the Broncos draftNew Joe Flacco Jersey ,73commentsJohn Elway and the Denver Broncos put on a show in the first two rounds of the 2019 NFL Draft by being both patient and aggressive at the right times. What NFL insiders said about the Broncos draftRon Chenoy-USA TODAY SportsFor John Elway, finding consistent success in the NFL Draft has been difficult. However, after stringing together what looks like two solid draft classes last year and this year, it looks as if he and the Denver Broncos have finally found the right formula. In 2018, the right formula was to take the best player on their board in Bradley Chubb who surprisingly fell to them with the fifth overall pick. While this year, it was to trade down from the tenth overall pick to the 20th in order to stockpile Day 2 picks. None of this would have been possible had Elway not made the trade for quarterback Joe Flacco. That fourth round pick they gave up allowed them to be patient in the first round and with the top quarterback on their board, Drew Lock.In a recent ESPN piece, NFL insiders were asked to evaluate the Broncos decision making in the first two rounds. Shoring up the talent around Flacco was clearly priority number one for Elway. The focus might be on the move for Lock, but the fact that the Broncos selected what looks like two offensive starters in their first two picks shows a tremendous focus on surrounding Flacco with the talent he needs to succeed immediately. Immediately after the first round, Elway noted the importance of getting offensive weapons around Flacco, “We obviously want to get him as many weapons as we can. With weapons sitting like that on the board, we felt fortunate that he was there. Joe likes the tight ends and stretching the field and specially with what we’re going to do offensively, it’s a good fill all around.”In tight end Noah Fant, the Broncos landed the kind of weapon that could open things up in the passing game in many different ways. As for the defense, this evaluator must assume that Chris Harris Jr. won’t be with the Broncos this year, but the silence on those extension talks likely means progress is being made behind the scenes. The need for public positioning from either side has subsided and real work is being done. At least, that is my hope. The cupboard was also a bit bare on offense, but over the last several free agencies and drafts it does seem like the Broncos have completely remade their offensive talent. They have young talent at all three skill positions at running back, wide receiver, and tight end now and have an offensive line that Mike Munchak can work with. There will always be more needs, but it is clear offense was the focus in 2019 and Elway’s post-draft comments all but confirm it.“I think that, first of all Phillip Lindsay Jersey , we improved in the offseason with the addition of Joe Flacco and bringing him in, and Ju’Wuan James at the right tackle,” Elway said after the draft. “I’m probably forgetting somebody, but there’s been a lot of names at this point in time. Those two obviously coming in have helped us offensively. Then going with Noah [Fant] and Dalton [Risner] with the first two picks, we feel like they can come in and help us also. I think we’re a lot better on the offensive line. I think we continue to get better there, but I think we got better on the offensive line. Obviously, Noah can stretch the field. Joe’s going to—to me, we still believe he has tremendous upside in his career—so we feel a lot better about that. Then Drew [Lock] coming in and competing for the backup spot, it gives us some depth there. We feel much better sitting here now today than we did coming out of last season with where we are and the additions that we’ve made—not only as the players, but also with Vic and his staff. I think that it’s a good spot to be in, as we were talking about earlier. If we were to say before the draft that we’d come out with these six players, we’d be overjoyed with that, and we were able to get that. We feel like it was a good draft for us.”The trade up in the second round for Drew Lock was probably the most interesting pick the Broncos made. It showed they are also eyeing towards the future as Flacco is nearing the end of his career in the NFL. The value they got by waiting for Lock’s fall out of the first round was tremendous. New Broncos offensive coordinator, Rich Scangarello, clearly has his marching orders now. He was brought in to resurrect the Broncos offense and work on developing Drew Lock into an NFL starter. By him sitting on the bench, he’ll be able to work on all of the things NFL evaluators said were of concern with Lock. It’s also important to point out that the success rate in the NFL for second round quarterbacks is 50/50 at best. And, really, only a handful of those ever become long-term starters in the NFL. Lock will need to beat both of those odds, which is probably why Elway and the Broncos are sold on Joe Flacco being “the guy” for the foreseeable future. Overall, the Broncos first three picks showed the franchise is both concerns about the immediate future and where they hope to be in 3-4 years. It was a good balance between the two.Paxton Lynch: ‘I’m never going to quit and I’m working hard’ Paxton Lynch has regressed badly since coming into the NFL as the Denver Broncos first-round draft pick in 2016. He came into a terrible situation of being a first-round pick to potentially replace one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time in Peyton Manning.Then came along the media-created frenzy of Trevor Siemian whose ‘arm of the gods’ one the starting job and the hearts and minds of Broncos Country. It didn’t help that Lynch lacked the student of the game mentality that all good quarterbacks have. It all led to this predictable result, with fans booing him as he took the field in a preseason game.Lynch is still maturing, though Emmanuel Sanders Jersey , and now he is realizing his time is running out.“When I first got the news, I was pretty upset about it because I know how hard I work, I know how bad I want to play and I know how much this means to me,” Lynch said of his demotion. “Sometimes you go through tough tests just to take you to a whole other level. I’m taking it that way and working my butt off. I’m just working hard and trying to get that opportunity and just play well. You come out here and sometimes it doesn’t go your way and you get frustrated, but you can’t because you have to keep moving forward.”It’s been a career of setbacks so far, but Lynch is grinding. He wants to make in the NFL.“I want to be the [starting] quarterback,” Lynch said. “I don’t want to be a backup and I definitely don’t want to be third-string quarterback. The cards have been dealt to this point in time and I’m not quitting. I’ll never quit, my mom never quit, my dad never quit, my brother never quit, I’m never going to quit and I’m working hard.”The problem with Lynch is that he was never correctly developed in the mechanics that go into being a quarterback. His struggle has been much more than just learning the playbook, although that’s the meme fans latch onto. He just can’t be successful if he can’t trust his footwork, his timing, and his accuracy. His confidence has to be completely shot at this point, but he isn’t letting anyone know that. “Yeah, if you don’t believe in yourself then no one else is going to believe in you,” Lynch said of his confidence level. “That’s what I have to do. I have to hang on that, come to work every day and get better.”He has raw physical talent, but that’s exactly what it is still is after three seasons: raw. With the fan base completely turned on him, John Elway should do Paxton Lynch what he did with Kyle Orton when the same happened to him. Make a trade. Despite his woeful play, there will be a General Manager out there who is willing to take a flyer on Lynch in the hopes of continuing his development.