Finding Broncos: 5 LB Draft Prospects to Compete for Starting Job

The Broncos need to replace Josey Jewell, and could look to do so with help from the draft.

Oct 14, 2023; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Xavier Restrepo (7) / Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports

Despite fielding Alex Singleton and Josey Jewell as their starting linebackers for the past couple of years, the Denver Broncos have had a significant need to bolster their linebacker room for a long time. Drew Sanders is a young option who is still learning the ropes of playing the position after transitioning from playing the edge. However, his positional future is still up in the air after some remarks from George Paton at the NFL Scouting Combine about him ending up as an edge. 

Denver did re-sign Jonas Griffith and bring in Cody Barton after losing Jewell to the Panthers in free agency, but adding quality coverage ability to the room to take on tight ends and running backs is desperately needed. 

The Broncos have limited draft capital in 2024, but they could look to add a depth player with starting upside. 

Sep 2, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA;South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler (7) / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Cedric Gray | North Carolina

Pros:

Gray is well-built, has good length, and can trigger and flow downhill to the flats as a run defender. He is a good athlete who shows good fluidity, has sideline-to-sideline range as a see-and-chase linebacker, and evades blockers skillfully when darting to the flats as a tackler. There is some patience shown in coverage, and he gets to his coverage landmarks easily. He uses his hands well to disengage from blockers and shed to ball carriers at the second level, and his length sometimes shows in coverage. He takes sharp angles to the football, gets home quickly when doing so, and is a highly effective blitzer as a pass rusher with a desire to finish plays in the backfield.

Cons:

There are a lot of times when Gray can get caught in traffic when inserting into the point of attack, and he can get washed out of plays relatively easily due to a lack of physicality to jar blockers at contact. He can get over-aggressive at times and put himself out of position, and there are a lot of missed tackles on his tape. His instincts could be better overall, and he needs to see what is going on before he reacts both as a run defender and in coverage. 

My Grade: 5th Round

Erick Trickel’s Big Board Position: No. 136

Nov 18, 2023; Ames, Iowa, USA; Texas Longhorns linebacker Jaylan Ford (41) looks to tackle Iowa / Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Jaylan Ford | Texas

Pros:

A quality athlete with a prototypical build, Ford is a tackling machine with great burst to the ball carrier. He shows fluid hips to turn and run, moving vertically in coverage, and he uses his length very well. He has good hands and is productive playing the ball in the air, with six interceptions over the last two years. He is a high-quality pursuit defender with good closing speed and rarely misses tackles in open space. 

Cons:

Ford struggles when taking on blocks and needs to learn how to use his hands to create separation. He can be easily tricked with misdirection as a coverage defender and gets lost in space. There are too many false steps when triggering, though his athleticism helps him to recover. He needs help to identify his run fits and gets too impatient to get downhill, which puts him in bad situations too often. 

My Grade: 6th round

Trickel’s Big Board Position: No. 174

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Oct 28, 2023; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions linebacker Curtis Jacobs / Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Curtis Jacobs | Penn State

Pros:

Jacobs is a weakside linebacker with good coverage tools. He plays well in open space and has good vision, play recognition, and athletic agility to stick with receivers. He has active hands when engaging blockers and separates well and has enough physicality to finish runners with a good target area. He shows good technique when attacking as a tackler and has good upper-body strength to lock his legs together to finish the play. 

Cons:

When plays condense in front of him, Jacobs will typically find himself landing on blockers unnecessarily. He lacks awareness in short areas and works better in space where he can see the play developing around him. Despite showing good form, Jacobs lacks power and aggression as a tackler. That lack of aggression shows as a blitzer, and he could be more effective when finding holes as a penetrator. If he can’t create separation with hand usage, he will get bullied downfield easily and lose leverage due to a lack of knee and hip bend upon contact. 

My Grade: 6th Round

Trickel’s Big Board Position: No. 203

Nov 11, 2023; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies tight end Jaden Platt (6) and / Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

Nathaniel Watson | Mississippi State

Pros:

An old-school linebacker with high-quality thumping ability, Watson excels as a run defender who takes on blockers incredibly well. He is extremely physical at the point of attack and shows a violent hitting demeanor and good tackling form and ball-chasing ability. He understands leverage and hand placement to detach from blockers and shows several counter moves to get himself back into the play rather than getting washed out. He has a quick trigger to the flat and comes aggressively, using open lanes to keep himself clean and get to the ball carrier.

Cons:

Watson is an absolute liability in pass coverage and fails to hit landmarks frequently. He lacks instinctual awareness and is often lost in space, moving laterally and backward. He is late to the party frequently and is mainly seen as a “pile on” tackler who helps to finish plays more than an instinctual defender who gets home quickly. There is a significant lack of vision, and he runs himself into blockers on the outside in his pursuit angles. He also tends to let blockers into his chest plate early. 

My Grade: 7th Round

Trickel’s Big Board Position: No. 171

Kentucky Wildcats linebacker Trevin Wallace (32) pressures Eastern Kentucky Colonels quarterback / Matt Stone/Louisville Courier Journal /

Trevin Wallace | Kentucky

Pros:

Wallace is a freak of an athlete who shows burst, fluidity, and explosiveness all over his tape. He has excellent change-of-direction ability, shows power as a tackler, and works well scraping through the trash in run pursuit to avoid getting landed on by blockers. He has good size and length, sticky hands, and is a coverage defender, and he isn’t scared to take on blockers in any lane. 

Cons:

Wallace's tape has a massive lack of instinctual football awareness and recognition, and he relies on his athleticism way too much. He is constantly out of position in coverage and takes poor angles in pursuit. He gets fooled by misdirection far too often, gets caught in bad positions frequently, and needs more technical refinement to detach from blockers. Wallace can get bullied by blockers, and he spends far too much time on the ground as the play finishes, with blockers on top of him rather than ball carriers underneath him. 

My Grade: Priority Undrafted Free Agent

Trickel’s Big Board Position: No. 210

When speaking directly to the needs of the Broncos’s linebacker room, they need to find a possible upgrade as a long-term starter and add general depth. Gray has the fluidity to work in coverage and linear speed to be effective as a chase-and-tackle defender. He isn’t a great fit in terms of man coverage ability due to a lack of instinctual awareness, but that can be coached into him.

If the Broncos are looking for a moldable ball of clay, Wallace makes a ton of sense as a late-round pick or an undrafted free agent. His athleticism is intense, he meets all of the size requirements, and when he recognizes what is happening around him, he can insert himself into the play quickly. He needs a lot of coaching to recognize it while it is happening rather than reacting too late.

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