Five biggest losers for the Broncos after the 2019 NFL Draft
Apr 30, 2019, 2:19 PM
The 2019 NFL Draft is in the books, and the Denver Broncos have hopefully upgraded their roster. During the three days of the draft, Denver added six players at various positions.
Adding a player in the draft means someone already on the roster may be in danger of losing his spot. I’m going to take a look at the biggest winners and losers for the Broncos from the 2019 NFL Draft in two pieces.
What goes up must come down. We started with the positives and now here are the negative impacts based on what happened during the weekend. Here are the five biggest losers for the Broncos after the draft:
5. Su’a Cravens
I don’t know what the future holds for this hybrid safety / linebacker. He could make the 53-man roster and be a key piece of the Broncos defense, or he could fail to impress the new coaching staff and find himself released.
I do know the Broncos have historically struggled to cover tight ends. Not since the days of Danny Trevathan have the Broncos had a reliable linebacker who they can turn to on passing downs so they don’t get burned by tight ends across the middle. That could be Cravens in 2019, but it also could be 2019 fifth-round pick Justin Hollins from Oregon.
Cravens is a big hitter and has the athleticism to excel in coverage, but injuries have knocked his career off track. Not only was he banged up for the Broncos last year, but he was a healthy scratch (like Shane Ray) during the final three games of the 2018 season. The last coaching staff decided to sit Cravens down the stretch, so we’ll have to see if the new regime is more impressed.
Hollins is an edge player to me, but Broncos head coach Vic Fangio has stated that he’s going to get a chance at inside linebacker.
“He’s played primarily outside linebacker, but he has played a little bit of inside linebacker, particularly in one of the all-star games,” Fangio said. “We’re going to try him at both spots while he’s here and see where he’s got the best future at or the best fit for us at this time.”
Hollins certainly has the athleticism to play inside and if he impresses at that spot, it’s potentially bad news for Cravens.
4. River Cracraft/Brendan Langley
The Broncos did take a wide receiver late in the draft, Juwann Winfree from the University of Colorado, and that’s bad news for guys at the end of the depth chart.
Wide receivers River Cracraft and Brendan Langley were already on the hot seat before the draft. Now, with the addition of Winfree, the temperature just got turned up even higher.
Cracraft was picked up as an undrafted free agent out of Washington State in 2017. He’s bounced on and off the practice squad since that time, but did appear in three games in 2018, where he snared one pass for 44 yards. He’s a slot receiver who can use his quickness to get open on underneath routes.
Langley, a third-round pick for the Broncos in 2017, is converting from cornerback to wide receiver. He was drafted as a corner with incredible athleticism, but someone who was raw at the position. He failed to impress as a defensive back, but with his speed and athleticism, the Broncos want to see what he can do at receiver. Langley has experience playing wide receiver, dating back to his college days at Georgia.
Winfree is gifted as a route runner and likely ahead of Langley in that department. He’s also faster and more capable of working downfield routes that Cracraft isn’t best suited for. Winfree has amazing upside as a sixth-round pick and could push for the fifth spot on the depth chart behind Courtland Sutton, Emmanuel Sanders, DaeSean Hamilton and Tim Patrick.
3. Kevin Hogan/Garrett Grayson
The Broncos added two quarterbacks during draft weekend, Missouri’s Drew Lock in the second round and Boise State’s Brett Rypien as a priority free agent. That is a bad sign for the two quarterbacks they already had behind starter Joe Flacco.
Hogan was acquired by the Broncos last year after final cut downs, once the Washington Redskins released him. The Broncos were quick to scoop him up, and they let 2016 first-round quarterback Paxton Lynch go to make room for the former Stanford quarterback. He followed Andrew Luck in college and posted respectable numbers, so much so that the Kansas City Chiefs decided to take Hogan with a sixth-round pick in 2016. Hogan is smart, able to work from under center and has some athleticism to escape the pocket but he has failed to impress when given the chance to play in the NFL.
Grayson, from Colorado State, was a third-round pick for the New Orleans Saints in the 2015 NFL Draft. He has bounced around from the Saints, to the Falcons and now to the Broncos last year when he was picked up on their practice squad. Grayson has experience running a pro-style offense, but has not taken a snap outside of the preseason in the NFL.
Lock is here to perhaps be the quarterback of the future for the Broncos. Rypien is here, with a contract that guarantees him six figures, to work as a developmental quarterback for the team. The Broncos depth chart should go Flacco, Lock, Rypien in 2019 – which means Hogan and Grayson will likely have to eventually find work elsewhere.
2. Ron Leary
I graded Broncos second-round pick Dalton Risner as a right tackle – and a damn good one at that. He’s got the versatility to play inside at center or guard from his college days at Kansas State.
While he can play tackle (and four of the five spots on the offensive line), it sounds like the Broncos are going to use Risner inside at guard; that is bad news for veteran Ron Leary.
He’s currently recovering from a torn Achilles’ that ended his 2018 season after just eight games. In fact, Leary hasn’t played a full 16-game season since his rookie year with the Cowboys back in 2013. He’s played 17 games during two seasons with the Broncos and is a decent starter at right or left guard when healthy.
But Risner’s presence is likely a bad sign for Leary. The Broncos could put Risner in at left guard next to 2016 first-round pick Garrett Bolles at left tackle and have one of the nastiest combinations in the pros. Both players are known for their aggression and the Broncos want to run the ball with authority this season.
1. Jeff Heuerman
When the Broncos selected Iowa tight end Noah Fant in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, it was an immediate bad sign for Heuerman. While Fant is an incredible receiver with the willingness and effort to get better as a blocker, Heuerman is a better blocker than he is a receiver.
Yes, the Broncos kept Heuerman around this season with a two-year, $9 million contract and that means his roster spot is likely safe.
What is likely to be different for Heuerman this year is his playing time.
In 2018, Heuerman played 555 snaps in 11 games setting career highs in catches (31) and yards (281). He has yet to play a full season as a pro, but last season was the first time that Heuerman made an impact for the Broncos offense. In two previous seasons with the Broncos, the 2015 third-round pick had just 18 receptions and was a virtual non-factor when it came to production as a receiver.
When Joe Flacco was acquired via trade, it was an immediate sign that Denver’s tight ends were going to be much more involved. Flacco has always leaned on his tight ends during his pro career. In fact, the last full season he had starting for the Ravens (2017), Flacco targeted his tight ends 134 times. It was 37-year-old Ben Watson who had 61 catches for 522 yards and four touchdowns from Flacco that year.
Clearly, Flacco is going to go for the tight end early and often with the Broncos, but that tight end is likely to be Noah Fant and not Jeff Heuerman.
