Following the seven-round NFL draft, the Denver Broncos jumped right into the undrafted free agent market and the first player they came to terms with was Ahmad Gooden.
Name: Ahmad Gooden
Height: 6-2
Weight: 245
Age: 23
College: Samford
Gooden played as a standup defensive end in college and is listed as a DE/LB but at 245 pounds, he’ll need to bulk up to play on the line at the professional level. He’s likely best suited as a situational pass rusher off the edge and as with many of those guys, that might be his “one trick,” but it’s a good trick to have and excel at.
Coming from Samford, it’s easy to overlook a guy like Gooden but he ran a 4.96-second 40-yard dash at his pro day that makes him a prospect to keep an eye on.
In a recent chat with Draft Wire, he talked about his versatility as his strength and stated that he patterns his game after Khalil Mack, a player who just happened to play for the team Vic Fangio coached for last season.
That may sound a bit lofty, but it also shows that Gooden plays with a high level of confidence.
The fact that the Broncos were so quick to sign Gooden following the draft shows that the team had scouted him and was interested to have him come into Fangio’s system. Some analysts even felt he was a draftable player, so the Broncos appear to have received some value with this signing.
Chance to make final roster (1-10 scale): 5.5
I think Gooden has at least a 50-50 chance to make this team, depending on what he gets to show this summer. The team has many linebackers on the roster but as stated when I profiled Malik Reed, the team needs depth behind the starting linebackers and though he’s pretty much only a pass-rush specialist at this point, that could be enough to earn him a spot.
Fangio had some great outside linebackers in Chicago in Leonard Floyd and Aaron Lynch and though it would be a lot to ask for Gooden to get on that same level, he has the ability to be an impactful player along those same lines.
Out of all the Broncos’ undrafted rookies, Gooden should have one of the best shots of any of them to grab a spot on the team.
