Sizing up Broncos’ prolific run of NFL draft trades: Did Denver come out ahead?

Every NFL club loves its draftees the day they re selected Nobody goes to a group of reporters after a day of April work and says Boy that didn t go our way Even considering the rose-colored baseline every sportsman gets at the outset of his career Broncos general manager George Paton and coach Sean Payton seemed particularly pleased Friday night that they were able to land LSU defensive lineman Sai Vion Jones at the end of the third round He fits our mold of defensive line Paton stated after engineering a bargain up to No overall noting Jones size strength versatility and growing pass-rush arsenal I think what sticks out with him is just how hard he plays The motor he goes miles per hour every play So he fits in with our group Payton indicated the Broncos didn t just think he d be gone by their first Saturday pick No overall but they were surprised he lasted as long as he did Both George and I felt like picks earlier he was going to be a hard one to get Payton noted We just felt like that participant was going to come off the board Fortunately for us he was there still If Jones goes on to have a productive NFL career the Broncos will have that commerce but also two others that preceded it to thank If Paton and Payton hadn t moved back twice earlier Friday they wouldn t have had the capital to convince Philadelphia to agreement them No Those are just various of the moving parts from a wild draft weekend on the agreement front for the Broncos They started with seven picks and finished with seven but that s about the only symmetry Denver swung four trades three back and one up involving a total of picks At one point or another they held different slots out of total Of their original set the only pick Denver definitely used was No on Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron The Broncos literally considered trading back from there too Paton announced Thursday night to take a running back Ohio State s TreVeyon Henderson sources declared later in the first round Related Articles Keeler Shedeur Sanders phone prank should lead to fines suspensions for Atlanta Falcons coach Renck vs Keeler Who will emerge as sleeper pick of Broncos NFL draft class Sources Broncos Dre Greenlaw strained quad but injury not expected to impact regular-season status Next Jimmy Graham Or Antonio Gates Broncos take flier on hooper-turned-TE Caleb Lohner AFC West draft grades Early offense across the board except for Broncos Instead they happily nabbed Barron but then had to wait out a rugged start to the second round in which tantalizing skill position players came flying off the board The Broncos knew they d have to get exceedingly lucky for Henderson fellow OSU back Quinshon Judkins or LSU tight end Mason Taylor to make it to No Indeed all three and others were gone by No Payton and Paton though had fallen in love with UCF running back R J Harvey As their pick at No approached they sized up the teams behind them Tennessee Tampa Bay Green Bay the L A Chargers and Buffalo and saw nobody in desperate need of a running back They d been talking about a contract back with Carolina a whopping four picks per side to make the math work and executed it The framework happens before in a lot of these trades especially with Carolina Paton reported Then Detroit needed to move up from No to No a jump over two more teams with terrific running backs in Houston and Baltimore Denver figured it could bump back again and still get Harvey Well likely The menace you run isn t necessarily with the in-between teams it s the prospective band that may business into the gap Payton commented It certainly paid off The end consequence of those trades slid Denver up in both the third round from No to and the fourth from No to No and turned a sixth No into a fourth No Then the Broncos used Nos and a sixth-rounder to move up to No for Jones plus No which became Alabama edge rusher Que Robinson According to the Jimmy Johnson business value chart one method of several for determining the value of draft picks the Broncos came out ahead on their first two commerce backs plus- points and plus- respectively which is to be expected The transaction up for Jones ended up being perhaps their best work They came out slightly ahead plus- points on the move-up for the promising -year-old who had tackles for loss and sacks for the Tigers last fall Usually teams pay at least a small premium for moving up the board Denver s first three trades netted a combined points That s the equivalent of No overall a mid-fifth-round pick More practically Without the pair of fourth-rounders acquired in the trade-backs they likely don t get Jones Then they got good value on the trade-up too Denver s final move was to slide back from No overall in exchange for Nos and That was the only bargain that Denver sacrificed value minus- points The end goal was clear Two darts rather than one The Broncos got punter Jeremy Crawshaw at No and then were able to secure lottery ticket tight end Caleb Lohner at No rather than competing for him in the post-draft free agency rush All in all the Broncos went best athlete available in Round and then used the way the board stacked up on Day to squeeze a little extra juice out of their positioning create a few value and land three players they sought on Day rather than two Whether it pays off of program remains to be seen Broncos NFL draft trades According to the Jimmy Johnson exchange value chart a method of determining the value of picks in the NFL draft the Broncos came out ahead in terms of pick value after making four trades over the weekend Here s a look Mobile users tap here to see the charts Back to No Traded Round-Overall Pick value Received Pick value - - - - - - - - Total Surplus Back again to No Traded Pick value Received Pick value - - - - Total Surplus Up to No Traded Pick value Received Pick value - - - - - Total Surplus Back from No Traded Pick value Received Pick value - - - Total Surplus - Want more Broncos news Sign up for the Broncos 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