ESPN Makes Stunning Drew Lock Decision in NFL ReDraft for All 32 Teams

If you could draft any current NFL player with the No. 15 overall pick, who would it be? ESPN just did that for all 32 teams and its decision for the Broncos in round one might surprise some.

ESPN's NFL Nation just released an NFL re-draft with 128 current 'foundational players'. The way it worked was every current NFL player was put into the draft pool and the salary cap was not a consideration. It was building a team from scratch based only on available players today. 

ESPN used the 2020 draft order with a snake style draft, going four full rounds with the theoretical idea being that the rest of each team's roster would be filled with middle-of-the-pack type players. The goal was to build a team that could win a Super Bowl in the next five years. 

In those four picks made for each team, NFL Nation had to draft a quarterback, a non-quarterback offensive player, and a defensive player. The fourth choice could be a wildcard.

The Broncos held the No. 15 pick in the first round, just like this past spring. Jeff Legwold was the reporter in charge of picking for the Broncos and he made some interesting choices. 

Legwold redrafted two current Broncos in QB Drew Lock (No. 15 overall) and WR Courtland Sutton (114 overall). Lock might have been the biggest surprise so early in the draft, especially considering who Legwold left on the board. 

ESPN did a draft assuming every NFL player was available to be picked. Some interesting choices. Here's Round 1:https://t.co/Qhu1nVPefg pic.twitter.com/FL7YwzKc53

— Nick Veronica (@NickVeronica) June 8, 2020

Legwold said this of the selection:

"Working off the five-year window, the line between current production and youth with room to grow had to be considered with the selections. The quarterbacks came off the board quickly with 10 already gone, so I made my biggest gamble on potential with Lock.”

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That has been the theme of the offseason; how one views Lock is in big part how one views the Broncos' 2020 outlook. Legwold has usually erred on the side of caution when it comes to his Broncos takes so it is a bit surprising to see him make such a bold selection and viewing Lock as the team's future at the quarterback position.

Something else that stuck out with this selection is that of quarterbacks taken in the past three drafts, only one ended up going higher than Lock did in ESPN's redraft and that was Joe Burrow going 13th overall to Indianapolis. The great 2018 quarterback class only saw Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold go in the first round of ESPN's redraft and from the 2019 class, Kyler Murray was taken just a couple of picks after Lock.

It's going to be interesting to see how all these quarterbacks sort themselves out over the balance of their respective careers, but Lock has shown enough in just five games for many really smart football people to believe he could have a great future ahead of him. On the Building the Broncos podcast, right before Lock's Week 13 debut, my co-host Nick Kendell and I discussed how it would be tough for Lock to prove in just five games that he could be the future. 

Lock hasn’t fully established himself yet but he did more in those five games than I thought possible and obviously convinced the Broncos he is worth building around this offseason.

Legwold took notes from GM John Elway when picking for the Broncos as his two offensive picks beyond  Lock were Sutton in the fourth to attack the outside and current Kansas City Chiefs' TE Travis Kelce to attack the inside. Two great athletes for a quarterback with a big arm to attack all areas of the field. 

Legwold's choice on defense was another area where he took some major risk in taking Isaiah Simmons (actually drafted by the Arizona Cardinals this past spring) to be the Swiss army knife. Overall, Legwold decided to live by the saying 'go big or go home.' 

The choices of the veteran ESPN journalist would either lead to the Broncos being a top team in the league or a bottom feeder. Holding the No. 15 pick, it's hard to blame Legwold for going the direction he did. Fans hope that Legwold's bullish outlook on Lock is rewarded with a big season and a bright future. 

There were three other Bronco players taken in NFL Nation's redraft. Von Miller went in the second round to the Las Vegas Raiders, Bradley Chubb went in the third round to the New York Jets, and Jerry Jeudy went in the third round to the Chicago Bears. 

One thing that sticks out about these choices for the Broncos is how many of them are on rookie contracts for the next few years. The Broncos have a chance at a bright future if these young players can pan out.

Follow Carl on Twitter @CarlDumlerMHH and @MileHighHuddle.