Another week, another three-round Denver Broncos mock draft.

Having previously gone with Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, Toledo interior defensive lineman Darius Alexander, and South Carolina linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. in my first three-rounder, I followed that up by taking Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State running back TreyVeon Henderson, and Florida State interior defensive lineman Joshua Farmer in Mock 2.0.

The coming weeks leading up to the NFL draft will continue to present different plausible scenarios for the Broncos. Eventually, I’ll mock Michigan tight end Colston Loveland to the Broncos at No. 20 overall, who’s being projected to Denver a whopping 26.4% of the time, according to NFL Mock Draft Database, but the point of these mocks is a thought exercise in possibility.

For my three-round mock 3.0, let’s shake things up.

As it stands, the most probable areas the Broncos address in the upcoming draft are an offensive weapon or a defensive lineman. These positions, of course, make sense for the Broncos as they can fill both immediate and long-term needs.

In this mock, however, we are taking a completely different approach selecting the Senior Bowl star to help cap off what could be one of the best offensive lines in football for the foreseeable future.

The Broncos are exceedingly solid along the offensive line. The team is locked in at both tackle spots with Garett Bolles and Mike McGlinchey. Right guard Quinn Meinerz is one of the best interior players in the NFL.

The Broncos are also solid at left guard with Ben Powers, who is, at worst, a serviceable player. The weak link of the unit is center Luke Wattenberg.

Wattenberg is an adequate pass protector on the offensive line. He tends to “lose slowly” and his lack of strength can be hidden with help and pass protection plans from the scheme.

However, watching the Broncos’ run game last season and focusing on the offensive line, it’s exceedingly obvious that Wattenberg was a well below-average run blocker and the blinking red light among the starting five. Furthermore, he’s entering the final year of his contract, and with the Broncos already paying second and third contracts for all the other spots on the line, it seems exceedingly unlikely he’ll be retained beyond 2025.

Enter Zabel. Measuring in at just over 6-foot-5 and 316 pounds with 32-1/4-inch arm length, he’ll have to kick inside to the interior in the NFL, given his lack of length. He plays short-armed, as he much prefers to engage quickly and close space to compensate for his lack of length in pass protection. Those issues with space and length are mitigated on the interior.

Zabel is technical with his hands, plays with balance in pass protection, and shows adequate power in his base to anchor and drive defensive linemen out of gaps. Because of his height, he will have to work on playing with low pad level on the interior, but his strength and movement project him to be a good fit in zone or gap.

One interesting tidbit about Zabel’s fit in Denver is also the current data for quarterback Bo Nix. Undoubtedly, Nix had a fantastic rookie season and is on track to be a franchise quarterback for Denver.

The question is to what degree Nix can be great at the position. However, he came out of Year 1 as one of the NFL’s worst quarterbacks under pressure. Thanks to the scheme, the talent on the line, and Nix’s play himself, he was under pressure less often than nearly every quarterback in the NFL per dropback, but when he was feeling the heat, the stats were as poor as any other passer in the league.

This is not an indictment, as Nix could improve in this area greatly with better weaponry, growth, or just the general variance we tend to see in under-pressure statistics year-to-year.

Also, there have not been many coaches in the NFL that have poured resources into the offensive line, both at tackle and the interior, as Sean Payton did in New Orleans and now in Denver. Zabel is not a sexy pick at all, but with Daniel Jeremiah and Kyle Crabbs projecting Zabel at 18 in both of their most recent mocks, this doesn’t appear to be a reach at 20 in the slightest.

Zabel would fortify the Broncos’ offensive line into a very good unit and vault the unit into perennial top-five status. The O-line would become the identity of the Broncos offense going forward.

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The Broncos have a massive impending need along the defensive line. With D.J. Jones hitting free agency this year and Zach Allen, Malcolm Roach, and John Franklin-Myers playing on the final year of their contracts next season, all four of Denver’s primary interior players are set to be phased out.

Rather than letting the room grow into an abject disaster next offseason, the Broncos should take advantage of a spectacular group of interior defensive linemen that should come off the board in the top 100 to 120 selections in April.

The Broncos could go a number of directions as well on the interior defensive line. Ideally, GM George Paton finds a 1 technique to eat into some of the snaps Jones will be vacating along the line in free agency and to rotate with Roach, but long-term, the Broncos could add either a 0/1 technique or a 3/4i technique on the defensive front. Denver doesn’t necessarily need two-gapping space-eaters, but heavy-handed penetrators are likely the focus for the Vance Joseph-led defense.

Insert Ivey. He was primarily lineup up out wide during his career, but he has been versatile along his usage with ample reps over the B gap or head-up over the offensive tackle.

Ivey is not ridiculously explosive off the snap or from edge, nor does he have the looseness in his lower half that projects to a first-round graded player, but he has some of the heaviest hands in the entire class to jolt lineman, displays a variety of pass-rush moves that project well in one-on-one reps inside, and at almost 6-foot-6 and 283 pounds, and 33-¾-inch arm length, he has the style and frame to fit perfectly inside on Denver’s defense.

Admittedly, this is a round early for Ivey compared to the consensus, but I think he’s undervalued currently and could rise up after a good Combine in a crowded field of defensive linemen.

The Broncos will likely attempt to re-sign Allen long-term at some point prior to the 2025 regular season, but it seems unlikely the team will also re-up with Franklin-Myers (who was arguably the team’s best darkhorse offseason addition last year).

Ivey could come in and displace Jordan Jackson in 2025, eat into some of Allen’s ridiculous volume of reps last season, and understudy behind the 4i rushers while developing into a strong starter on the front in 2026 and beyond.

These mocks are going to feature a hodgepodge of different avenues for the Broncos. Maybe one day, there will be one where Denver doesn’t draft a single running back or tight end (much to the dismay of many in Broncos Country). This will not be that mock.

The Broncos are hunting for a “joker” this offseason. There are answers in the draft but it’s also possible the Broncos also attempt to fill that role via free agency or trade.

Even without the (overused) catch-all that the “joker” term has become in projecting this offseason, Denver needs better options at tight end and running back regardless of whether he offers plus ability in the receiving game.

Helm is an interesting option in a 2025 draft class that’s deep and talented at the tight end position. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, he possesses the prototype build for the position with the frame to play in line.

Helm had the highest number of in-line reps of any tight end in college football last season while also displaying soft hands at the catch point and after-catch fluidity and athleticism. If this draft wasn’t so saturated at the top of the tight end class, odds are he’d be getting a bit more buzz.

Despite the high volume of inline reps at Texas, Helm will need to continue to add strength and technique as a run blocker, specifically in the run game, where he’s too often stymied in his attempts to displace defenders. He’s athletic enough to be flexed into the slot or play at H-back and is adequate enough in-line to play the Y. He still has ample developmental upside, as he played more snaps in 2024 (843) than he did in 2022 and 2023 combined (721 snaps).

Even if Helm never develops into a long-term plus-starter, for a team that utilizes multiple tight ends and different personnel groupings as much as Payton and the Broncos have shown, he has an obvious role and path to the field and would help Denver become more multiple on the offensive side of the ball.

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