Good morning, Broncos Country.
While fans of some teams are gearing up for this week’s Divisional Playoffs games, fans of the Denver Broncos are focusing on the future. That means pontificating about what moves the team will make in free agency as well as the 2024 NFL Draft.
As I’ve wrote before, I’d expect some major changes to the Broncos’ wide receiver room next season. With the collegiate all-star game circuit well underway, scouts and representatives from the franchise are already looking at prospects to help upgrade their receiving corps. According to Bleacher Report NFL and College Football Analyst Ryan Fowler, the Broncos were one of a handful of teams who met and showed interest in University of Texas—San Antonio wide receiver Josh Cephus.
At 6’3” and 195 pounds, Cephus has great size for the position and is expected to run around 4.5 in the forty-yard dash. As of now, we don’t know what the future holds for Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick, but it seems obvious the Broncos will be taking a close look at big-bodied wideouts throughout the pre-draft process. With that in mind, the interest in Cephus makes sense.
In five years with the Roadrunners, he amassed 313 catches for 3,655 yards and 28 touchdowns. This past season Cephus saved his best for last and impressed with 89 catches for 1,1151 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has the ability to play inside and out and scores high marks for his physicality as a blocker in the run game.
When the ball comes his way, he definitely makes the most of his opportunities. Over the past three seasons, UTSA’s quarterback rating when he is target is over 120. Based on what I’ve seen, he appears to be a threat at getting yards after the catch as well. That’s an area receivers struggled with in Denver the past season and would be a welcomed dynamic to their offense.
As of right now, Cephus is projected to be a late-round pick or undrafted free agent mainly due to the wealth of top-tier prospects at the position in this year’s draft. He is clearly talented, but teams will undoubtedly do a deeper dive into some issues off of the football field. Will he continue the trend of wearing orange and blue from college to the pros? We will have to wait and see, but he is one of the first prospects that will hit our draft prospect interest tracker.
As always—thanks for reading.
