We’re coming back to the mock draft simulator this weekend. The Denver Broncos said ‘f dem picks’ and acquired wide receiver Jaylen Waddle from the Miami Dolphins this week. That trade provided a big boost to the offense, but it will make their 2026 NFL Draft much more challenging. With the reduction in draft capital, I decided to run several AUTOMATIC draft simulations through PFN to see what kind of players get mocked to them in the first two days of the draft.

Denver Broncos mock draft simulations

Broncos mock draft #1

In this first simulation, the Broncos drafted Arkansas running back Mike Washington Jr. People will say this would be a huge reach in the second round, but I think getting a guy who can be a first down, second down type back like J.K. Dobbins is a vital need for Denver in 2026.

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Broncos mock draft #2

In the second simulation, the Broncos drafted offensive guard Keylan Rutledge out of Georgia Tech. This one surprised me and I don’t think I’d like this move very much if that’s what happened on draft day with just one pick in the first two days.

Broncos mock draft #3

In the third simulation, the Broncos traded up to the 54th spot in the second round to take defensive tackle Lee Hunter out of Texas Tech. They would give up pick 62 and pick 108 to secure the move. In a draft with so few picks, this would sting, but I wouldn’t hate it. Though Hunter is a 24 year old rookie, he is likely NFL ready in year one.

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Broncos mock draft #4

In the fourth simulation, the Broncos drafted Arizona safety Genesis Smith in the second round. While I like JL Skinner and his special teams ability, Denver likely could use a long-term addition to the safety group. Smith would add a dynamic in coverage that the defense has often lacked — covering those tight ends and running backs.

Broncos mock draft #5

In the fifth and final simulation, the Broncos went with cornerback Keith Abney II out of Arizona State. People would probably hate the idea of taking a cornerback, but the Broncos have a decision to make between Ja’Quan McMillian and Riley Moss by next season. If they take a guy like Abney in the second round, it would give them tons of flexibility to make a trade somewhere else in the position group.

Of the five mocks, I only got excited over the Mike Washington Jr. outcome. Though I could see the reasoning behind all of the rest outside of taking a guard in the second round when they have decent depth already at that position.

What do you think? Or, better yet, run your own mock draft simulation and share it.

Horse Tracks

Johnny Hicks couldn’t care less that he stands 5-foot-10. He was born that way, after all.

There is a growing stigma in the hockey world, Hicks said, about size and height. The long-limbed keepers are prevalent. DU hockey just had a two-year run behind local legend Matt Davis, who was 6-foot-1. And the Pioneers went into the season with 6-foot-3 freshman Quentin Miller as the heir apparent to Davis, with Hicks, the other freshman goalie, waiting quietly in the wings.

Well — not too quietly, if you happened to observe a Denver practice anytime since Hicks arrived from the WHL’s Victoria Royals this summer.

“There’s obviously some lazy goalies out there,” star defenseman Eric Pohlkamp smiled on Thursday. “But (Johnny) doesn’t take a shot off. He’s blocking every shot, whatever it is. And no, he’s been super fun to watch. He competes every single day.

“And it’s tough for us, in practice, because we want to score.

It’s become quite tough for opponents, too, since Hicks first stepped in the goal for an injured Miller in late January. From that point on, an underwhelming DU squad — sitting at just 14-11-2 and 2-6-1 in their last nine matches — has gone streaking. Denver hasn’t been beaten across its last 12 matches heading into Saturday’s NCHC championship against No. 6 Minnesota Duluth, as a deep squad has finally found a flowing offense.

And Hicks has been the lynchpin in the goal, with a truly remarkable stretch since stepping in for Miller: an 11-0-1 record in 12 starts, with two shutouts and a .961 save percentage on the season.

“If they do get a breakaway, you know he’s got it,” Pohlkamp said. “So the confidence he gives you is unbelievable.”

Injury creates an opportunity

That offensive freedom, perhaps, wasn’t quite there early in the season for a historic program coming off another Frozen Four run in the 2024-25 season. Denver was averaging just two goals per outing over that nine-match slump, entering a Jan. 24 matchup with St. Cloud State, where Miller exited with an injury a few minutes into the game. The roster was gripping their sticks “a little harder,” as Keiran Cebrian said, to try and find net. A vicious cycle.

And the group didn’t quite know what to expect from Hicks when he first took up the mantle, Pohlkamp said.

“But then, he came in and was excellent right from the start, which is honestly really hard to do,” Pohlkamp said. “To get thrown in the fire like that and do what he did.”

DU’s staff knew plenty well what Hicks was capable of. Head coach David Carle and goaltenders coach Ryan Massa recruited Hicks out of Canada around this time last year, as Hicks was rehabbing from an injury. Carle noticed one key fact: once Hicks got hurt, his Victoria Royals club started to “nose-dive,” as Carle remembered.

“The teams he was on,” Carle said, “anytime he was in the net, were winning games.”

History is repeating itself, with Hicks in Denver. Shots are finding the net with more regularity across the past couple of months, as Carle’s 2025-26 group wields a remarkably balanced attack: 12 different Pioneers have more than 15 points, with the NCHC championship match and an NCAA tournament run still left to come. Pohlkamp, who leads Denver with 17 goals and 37 points, was named a top-10 finalist for the 2026 Hobey Baker Award, which recognizes the best men’s college hockey player in the country.

“If I get it, I get it,” Pohlkamp said. “But, really looking at this weekend, and Saturday, and then (NCAA) regionals in Loveland, so. Hopefully, I’ll put a ring on my finger. That’d put the cherry on top, for sure.”

That stretch starts Saturday against the sixth-seeded Bulldogs (23-13-1), as Hicks’ role takes on greater importance. Minnesota Duluth will trot out a formidable and wholly contrasting man in the goal: Adam Gajan, who was named to Slovakia’s Olympic team in January. He stands 6-foot-3. He is long where Hicks is shorter. And yet Hicks has already beaten him twice before — a Friday-Saturday back-to-back in late January, as Denver beat Minnesota Duluth 4-3 and 1-0 to realign their season at the start of Hicks’ dominant stretch.

Hicks, for one, has paid particular attention to not paying attention to his numbers. Or his prospect profile, with his height. Or any external chatter about his performance. He is trying to focus, moment-to-moment, on the patch of ice that he patrols directly below the crossbar.

“If I can do that, I can do anything,” Hicks said. “And I know this team has the exact same mindset.”

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Blair Russell and Steve Wargo kicked off their LoDo theater with a song and a dance.

It wasn’t their first production, but rather, the overly elaborate and frustrating process of getting money from the Denver Downtown Development Authority.

“By the end, it was like CC’ing just 10 people on emails, just hoping that one of the people was the right one,” Russell said.

The duo were awarded a $400,000 loan from the city affiliate last July to help them launch the Denver Immersive Repertory Theater at the corner of 15th and Blake streets. They said what ensued was months of back and forth, with redundant questioning and confusion from city staff.

“Some of them, it didn’t feel like they even knew who we were or what we were asking for,” Russell said.

The men finally got their loan last month. But they said the ordeal pushed back the theater’s opening date by at least two months.

“How do we plan to open a business when we have no idea how many more steps this is going to take, what the process is and what they really, truly expect the timeline is?” Wargo said.

DDA tasked with revitalizing downtown

The DDA has existed since 2008, when it was formed to redevelop Union Station. In the wake of the pandemic and years of construction along the 16th Street Mall, a small group of voters extended the organization’s mandate to the whole of downtown, approving $570 million in bond funding.

That money will be used for a variety of things intended to revitalize the area, from helping launch retailers to renovating parks and partially financing the conversion of offices into apartments. The money is generally expected to be repaid from the increase in taxes created by the new investments.

About $155 million has been awarded so far.

When Russell and Wargo applied for DDA funding in early 2025, their business plan was largely ironed out. The two were looking to open an “immersive” theater, where people come to participate in the play, not just watch. Its first production, “Midnight’s Dream,” will feature 11 rooms with scenes happening simultaneously — 18 hours of acting in each show.

The pair hoped to put DDA money toward the $750,000 build-out of their location at 1431 15th St. When they applied, they were under the impression that the award would be a grant.

“I think everybody went into this not knowing how the funds were going to be delivered,” Russell said. “So you just make some assumptions. And we heard that there were grant funds, we heard that there were loans — that they had different ways of implementing this.”

Ultimately, a loan is what they got. The terms: 10 years at 3% interest, better than they’d be able to get elsewhere. Mayor Mike Johnston announced July 30 that Russell and Wargo’s theater, along with nine other projects, would be awarded a combined $100 million.

“Today launches downtown Denver’s economic recovery into overdrive,” Johnston said at a news conference.

First recipients just now getting money

But as the mayor was speaking, the DDA had yet to even source the money it was awarding.

Among the funding recipients announced in July was Green Spaces, a recently shuttered RiNo coworking, event and retail space that’s opening at 16th and Welton streets.

“It wasn’t smooth, but it wasn’t a terrible, strenuous process,” Green Spaces CEO Jevon Taylor said of working with the city and DDA.

The 30-year-old entrepreneur said his opening date for Green Spaces was pushed back from spring to this summer. But he doesn’t attribute that to one party, instead saying that he faced difficulty getting everyone — the city, his landlord, his subtenants — on the same page.

“I was just playing middleman,” Taylor said.

The city approved DDA for its own loan in November, giving it the first tranche of funds to dole out. PNC Bank provided the authority with a $160 million loan expiring in July 2038 and a short-term, $50 million line of credit.