Broncos Balance Both Sides of the Ball in 3-Round Mock Draft

It's time to mock the Denver Broncos' first three round now that we're in the month of the NFL draft.

Nick Kendell | Apr 3, 2025

Sep 30, 2023; East Hartford, Connecticut, USA; Utah State Aggies wide receiver Jalen Royals (1) runs the ball for a touchdown against the UConn Huskies in the second half at Rentschler Field at Pratt & Whitney Stadium. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

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Denver Broncos

Under head coach Sean Payton, the Denver Broncos have done a remarkable job building an identity over the past two seasons: win along the lines of scrimmage. In the 2023 free agency period, the Broncos added right tackle Mike McGlinchey and left guard Ben Powers to help revitalize the offensive line.

Over the last two seasons, the Broncos added Zach Allen, John Franklin-Myers, and Malcolm Roach to help solidify the strength and depth of the defensive line. As Broncos GM George Paton mentioned at the annual NFL meetings, a team “has to” prioritize the offensive and defensive lines when constructing a roster.

“It’s really important to build on a strength when you have them," Paton said on Monday.

Coach Payton would confirm the importance along the lines of scrimmage.

“We felt that it was one of the strengths of our team, not only in defensive line but offensive line," Payton said. "I think your team has to be built that way. We’ll continue to look, even in the draft. Draft on a strength, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Broncos Country is (understandably) laser-focused on adding offensive playmakers around Bo Nix, but continuing to invest premium draft picks in the trenches is not something that should shock anyone when the NFL draft rolls around. With that said, let's dive into this week's three-round mock.

Round 1, Pick 20: Derrick Harmon, IDL, Oregon

Despite retaining D.J. Jones in free agency this offseason, the Broncos’ interior players across the defensive front are still very much entering a state of transition. With Allen, Franklin-Myers, and Roach all entering contract years in 2025, it would not be shocking if multiple key contributors on the defensive line are playing for new teams after next season.

Instead of waiting until the defensive line has fallen into a state of disarray, needing to replace multiple key contributors, the Broncos and their emphasis along the lines of scrimmage are likely to consider an interior defensive lineman early.

That investment could come as early as the Broncos’ first-round selection. In this mock, Denver lands the versatile tackle out of the University of Oregon. Harmon landed in Eugene via Michigan State via the transfer portal.

Measuring in at an outstanding 6-foot-4.5 and 313 pounds with 34-⅜-inch arm length, Harmon is a long and strong defensive tackle prospect who can play multiple alignments on the Broncos’ defensive front, from head up over a tackle at 5 technique to the shaded nose as a 1 technique.

Despite Harmon’s height, he's a strong player at the point of attack who doesn’t get washed out due to leverage issues and can neutralize and hold ground in run looks. He utilizes his long arms to dictate terms with a blocker and play across multiple gaps.

Harmon could continue to add lower body strength and play with better down-to-down leverage, but his strength helps negate some issues in this area. He won’t confuse folks with such super twitched-up interior players like Ole Miss’s Walter Nolen, but he offers more versatility from scheme and alignment with a much higher floor.

Harmon is a good enough athlete that he can be used in pass rush games on twists and stunts getting after the quarterback. He's better as an up-field penetrator as opposed to chasing across the line as his lateral agility doesn’t match his upfield power and burst. Harmon also could use some work coming to balance after getting into the backfield as he often creates chaos in the backfield and pressures but struggled to finish in the backfield.

Harmon’s combination of scheme and alignment versatility, size and length, backfield havoc, and burst upfield make him a very intriguing fit for the Broncos, who could be looking to add more talent, length, and versatility across a defensive front that was already very talented, should he fall to pick 20.

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Round 2, Pick 51: Marcus Mbow, IOL, Purdue

One for the defensive line, now one for the offensive line. It’s a harder fit to invest a premium asset for this Broncos’ team on the offensive front.

The offensive line is not a rotational position, whereas the defensive line is as heavily rotated as any group in football, and a team as stable along the offensive line isn’t likely looking to sink a top pick into a backup. With multi-year stability at left tackle, right guard, and right tackle with Garett Bolles, Quinn Meinerz, Mike McGlinchey, and a solid contributor at left guard in Ben Powers, the only real spot one could make a 2025 starting spot argument for would be center.

Unfortunately, this is not the best center class on the whole. There are a few intriguing prospects, though, that might find their way to the center position in their NFL careers.

North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel is an option who could go in Round 1, but going under the radar as one of the more athletic and positional versatile positions on the offensive line in the entire draft class is Purdue’s Mbow.

Measuring in at 6-foot-4 and 303 pounds with just 32-inch arm length (33 inches at his pro day), there was a lot of concern with the massive differences in Combine arm measurements to pro days this season.

Among the 46 OL Combine prospects who re-measured at their pro day, 43 had longer arms at the pro day (measured by NFL scouts).

This wasn't only a Will Campbell issue. Teams usually lean on Combine #'s, but not this year.
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) April 1, 2025

Mbow might not possess the body type to hold up at tackle given his square frame, lack of height, and sub-standard arm length. While not the longest or heaviest, he is an exceptional athlete for the position, with some of the lightest and quickest feet in the class. Mbow dictates terms with his assignments out of his stance and is capable of reaching moving targets at different levels of the field that can be a weapon in both the run and screen game.

Mbow is also a tenacious blocker. There might not have been an offensive lineman who planted opposing defenders into the ground more than him this season. He's hardly ever caught by surprise by blitzers or second-level rushers, indicating an intelligence and awareness of what his offensive blocking scheme requires in combination with what opposing defenses are attempting to do schematically.

Mbow also utilizes what has been described as a 'jake jump set' in pass protection, a true display of twitch, athleticism, and craftiness in his bag of pass protection moves. While he is currently being projected to guard after playing right tackle the last two seasons for the Boilermakers, for the Broncos, Mbow’s day-one fit would be at center.

Many project Mbow to be best served in a more outside zone-centric scheme, but given the mass and strength the Broncos have at both guard spots and how much they utilize the screen game, he could be protected with doubles versus more hulking interior defensive lineman and deployed as a weapon with his athleticism in space despite Denver being more gap-heavy in run design.

Mbow could also provide an option at left guard in the near future replacing Powers who, if released after next season, could free up over $8 million against the cap. The transition to center is not an easy one, and it would take a player of high intelligence and work ethic and ability to make that transition, displace the incumbent center starter in Luke Wattenberg.

If the Broncos don’t think Mbow can do that his rookie season, then perhaps an interior offensive lineman with guard and center ability is better served as a target later in the draft, but he is too unique of a prospect with high quality center traits that he was worth pondering in a mock at some point leading up to the draft for Denver.

Round 3, Pick 85: Jalen Royals, WR, Utah State

A goal in each of these mocks is to find a different prospect to mock to Denver with each selection. At this point, most of the top 100 backs have been mocked to Denver, so instead of a running back here (don’t worry, expect one in next week’s edition), we’ll mock a different playmaker to the Broncos to help Nix out going forward.

After all, Paton did state he expects to be able to find backs throughout rounds 2 through 6 in this year’s incredibly deep class of running backs in the draft. So, no running back in the first three rounds in this exercise.

Instead, the Broncos select Royals out of Utah State, a receiver. Measuring in at 6-foot and 205 pounds, Royals is an inside-outside pass-catcher who is exceedingly smooth in and out of his breaks and glides in the air when attacking the football.

Royals is a well-built player despite sub-standard height who plays with physicality both at the line, in his routes, at the catch point, and after the catch. His releases are still a work in progress, but the frame and strength profile indicate growth potential.

Royals was not saddled with optimal quarterback play during his time for the Aggies, which often left ample opportunities on the field for the receiver. He also suffered a season-ending foot injury in October that limited his output last season and could be a hangup for some teams, depending on each squad’s individual medical team and their evaluation on him.

While the Broncos have ample cost-controlled receivers in the room in Devaughn Vele, Marvin Mims Jr., and Troy Franklin, Royals is a tad different than the players already in house. His profile and role likely falls between that of Mims and the yards after catch ability with Franklin as a Z.

Franklin offers more pure burner ability up the seam but does not show the route running, rudeness, or strength after the catch of Royals. Mims is more electric but not as physical in tackle-breaking. Mims’ route running is also still very much a work in progress.

Round 1, Pick 20: Derrick Harmon, IDL, Oregon

Round 2, Pick 51: Marcus Mbow, IOL, Purdue

Round 3, Pick 85: Jalen Royals, WR, Utah State

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