Joe Flacco won’t stop Broncos from drafting a quarterback high

The Broncos believe Joe Flacco can help them win games in 2019, but his presence on the roster won’t stop Denver from drafting a big-name quarterback.

John Elway is adamant in his belief that Joe Flacco will help the Broncos a lot this season. That doesn’t mean the organization views him as a long-term answer at quarterback. In fact, all signs point to the Broncos using their first round pick on a signal caller in this year’s draft.

The Broncos have visits set up with four of the top quarterbacks in this year’s class, according to Pro Football Talk. That means Kyler Murray, Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock and Daniel Jones are all scheduled to spend serious time with head coach Vic Fangio and his coaching staff. Elway, of course, will have the final say over whether any of those players are drafted by Denver.

Currently, the Broncos own the No. 10 pick in the draft. It’s very likely that Murray and Haskins will both be off the board by the time Denver’s pick comes up. Lock and Jones should still be available for Elway without making any trade to move up in the draft.

It’s worth noting that Denver does have extra picks to work with this year in the event they do want to pull off a trade. They have one extra selection in both the fourth and fifth round to go along with two extra seventh round selections. That doesn’t give Elway a ton of ammunition to work with, but packaging some extra picks together could allow the Broncos to move up to draft their future franchise quarterback.

It’s obvious the Broncos don’t know which prospect they like most at this point in the pre-draft process. Murray doesn’t seem like the prototypical quarterback of Elway’s dreams, but it’s possible the Broncos executive understands he needs to think differently about the position moving forward. Acquiring guys like Brock Osweiler and Paxton Lynch hasn’t worked well for the franchise during his tenure.

Haskins is much more of a prototypical NFL quarterback, but his lack of foot speed might give Elway pause. That was something that helped him a lot during his career, and it’s a sought after characteristic in modern quarterbacks. Haskins can sit in the pocket and make all the throws required to succeed in the NFL, but he can’t make plays with his feet on the edge.

Lock might be the most intriguing guy of the group for Elway. He’s got a big arm and the athleticism to make plays on the outside. His inconsistent technique is a concern for NFL scouts, but the Broncos wouldn’t be asking him to play right way. A year or two on the bench might help Lock clean up all of his technical issues.

Jones is probably more ready to play than Lock, but he doesn’t have a ton of upside. He received excellent coaching at Duke from David Cutcliffe, but he was never a transcendent player for the Blue Devils. If the Broncos want to draft him they might wait until Round 2 to pull the trigger.

The good news for Broncos fans is that their franchise isn’t going to be content to sit still at the most important position on the field. Flacco might provide their team a temporary fix at quarterback, but Denver looks poised to add a serious talent to their quarterback room via the draft.