{"id":847555,"date":"2026-04-01T17:19:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T17:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/847555\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T17:19:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T17:19:24","slug":"sec-defensive-coordinator-drops-quote-showing-exactly-who-the-broncos-should-be-targeting-with-their-first-selection-in-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/847555\/","title":{"rendered":"SEC defensive coordinator drops quote showing exactly who the Broncos should be targeting with their first selection in 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Denver Broncos won\u2019t select until the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2110\" height=\"1394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-01-at-12.37.14-PM.png\" class=\"attachment-1280 size-1280 wp-post-image\" alt=\"Denver Broncos\" loading=\"lazy\"  data-hero=\"atoz-hero\" \/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRon Chenoy-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s not going to be easy for the Denver Broncos to prepare for their first selection in the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s because the Broncos, unless they trade up, won\u2019t select until No. 62 overall (round two) after trading their first round pick to the Miami Dolphins in the deal for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s impossible to predict how the draft will actually play out (one move can change everything), which makes it difficult for the Broncos to get a read on who may be available when the No. 62 pick comes around. <\/p>\n<p>The player the Broncos should be targeting is obvious<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An ideal selection for the Broncos at No. 62 overall would be Vanderbilt Commodores tight end Eli Stowers, a potential matchup nightmare in the NFL. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stowers is extremely athletic \u2014 45 inch vertical leap and a 4.51 40-yard dash \u2014 and he would fill a need that Denver still has at tight end. The former quarterback would give Sean Payton a unique weapon to use against some of the league\u2019s top defenses. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLinebackers can\u2019t cover this guy,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7151713\/2026\/04\/01\/nfl-mock-draft-intel-coaches-scouts-agents-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">said an SEC defensive coordinator<\/a> this week to The Athletic. \u201cHis athleticism is rare and he can really go get the ball. He also tracks the ball really well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s a decent chance that Denver will need to trade up to land Stowers, but his rare size\/athleticism combo would be worth it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Broncos general manager George Paton, for what it\u2019s worth<a href=\"https:\/\/atozsports.com\/nfl\/denver-broncos-news\/broncos-general-manager-george-paton-lays-out-interesting-scenario-denver\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">, hinted this week<\/a> that the Broncos may be willing to trade up in the draft. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-03-27-at-7.07.15\u202fAM-200x200.png\" alt=\"Tennessee Vols football\" itemprop=\"image\" loading=\"lazy\"   width=\"200\" height=\"200\" style=\"object-position:50% 50%\"\/>\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"query-card-horizontal__category is-style-eyebrow\">Tennessee Volunteers News<\/p>\n<p class=\"is-style-body-small\">Tennessee Vols legend Peyton Manning\u2019s favorite movies are exactly what you\u2019d think they\u2019d be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Denver Broncos won\u2019t select until the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images It\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":847556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2062],"tags":[232,231,258,2426,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-847555","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-broncos","9":"tag-denver","10":"tag-denver-broncos","11":"tag-denverbroncos","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116330598900195733","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}