Broncos president of football operations/general manager John Elway is in Mobile, Alabama this week scouting players participating in the 2020 Senior Bowl. On Wednesday, Elway sat down with Steve Atwater to talk about the benefits of attending the all-star game.
“The more looks you can get at a player, the better off you’re going to have of having a chance to evaluate him the correct way,” Elway told Atwater. “All our scouts come down and get an opportunity to also interview them in their downtime. It’s just another time for us to be able to evaluate them and get around them.”
Last year, Elway got a close look at Missouri quarterback Drew Lock and Kansas State offensive lineman Dalton Risner a the Senior Bowl. Denver went on to select both of those players in the second round of the draft.
“We were down here with Drew last year and saw Drew work here last year,” Elway said. “That gave us a head start on knowing what he can do, how he can throw the football and see him (other than being on tape).”
Outside of quarterbacks, many first-round draft prospects do not attend the Senior Bowl but Elway believes the players that do attend are important pieces for building a competitive roster.
“Even though there’s not a lot of top picks here, there’s a lot of mid-round picks here. I think those are the ones that, the more you can see [of them], the better chance to be successful with picking the right one.”
