Tetairoa McMillan squelched any lingering doubts about his first-round viability with what was widely reported to be a 4.48-second 40-yard dash time at his Pro Day workout on Monday.
That vertical speed — meshed with his 6-foot-4, 219-pound frame, outstanding body control, long stride and proficiency at winning jump balls — cemented the Arizona wide receiver as solid Round 1 value.
And while wide receiver isn’t atop the list of remaining Broncos needs — even after addressing “must-haves” like linebacker and “joker” tight end in free agency — it is the spot that ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. projects the Broncos to target with the No. 20 overall pick, as he forecast them to take McMillan in his latest mock draft, published Tuesday at ESPN.com.
In Kiper’s mock, the two tight ends and two running backs widely considered to be first-round targets — Penn State’s Tyler Warren, Michigan’s Colston Loveland, Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton — are all off the board in the first 14 selections.
Kiper’s last previous mock had the Broncos selecting Loveland.
In his written rationale for selecting McMillan, Kiper notes that if Hampton or Jeanty remain available, the Broncos could select either.
If one of the top two running backs — Ashton Jeanty or Omarion Hampton — is on the board, Denver might try to jump-start the run game. The team’s 4.1 yards per carry ranked in the bottom half of the league last season, and Javonte Williams (who signed with Dallas) hasn’t yet been replaced. But the board fell the way it did in this scenario, and I don’t have another RB going on Day 1.
Instead, the Broncos can focus on another hole in the offense around quarterback Bo Nix at wide receiver. McMillan would give Nix a sure-handed jump-ball artist who uses his great body control and physicality to make tough catches. He broke 1,300 receiving yards in each of the past two seasons. Pairing him with Courtland Sutton and new tight end Evan Engram would give opponents some game-planning nightmares.
If the Broncos had to punt running back into Day 2 of the draft, they would still be able to find plenty of options from a deep class.
“I think there’s so many different flavors in this draft of runners,” Broncos general manager George Paton said at the Combine last month. “We have some backs we like and so, it’s going to be an interesting process and already has been just to get to know these runners.”
Among the prospects at the position with whom they met formally at the Combine were SMU’s Brashard Smith, Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, SMU’s Brashard Smith, Oregon’s Jordan James, Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo and Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II.
Ohio State’s Trey Henderson was asked about a meeting, but offered a muddled response leaving it unclear whether the conversation with the Broncos was formal or informal.
Thus, if the Broncos waited on running back to take a prospect like McMillan, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But adding McMillan would be a big deal for myriad reasons — both short- and long-term. Given McMillan’s skill set, his presence could augur a gradual transition from Courtland Sutton, who has filled the role of the long, jump-ball-winning pass-catcher in the Broncos’ attack.