NFL Draft Diary: Broncos play-caller Tap Shurmur runs into street to see Justin Specialization' second Pro Day

Interesting article by Ryan O’Halloran from The Denver Post discussing some important events this week. Ryan O’Halloran recently posted this and I thought it was a great post for publishing on this website.

It was Broncos offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur’s turn Wednesday to hit the road, breaking away from the team’s NFL Draft preparations to attend Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields’ second Pro Day session in Columbus.

General manager George Paton and quarterbacks coach Mike Shula watched Fields’ first workout March 30, so the Broncos are trying to get as many in-person eyes on the top prospects as possible. Only three people per team are permitted to attend due to health-and-safety regulations.

Is sending Shurmur to the workout a big deal, little deal or no deal?

Shoot, let’s go with big deal. It’s all about due diligence and coaches like to watch quarterbacks throw in-person to get a better feel for the velocity, accuracy and flight of the passes.

The Broncos have the ninth pick in two weeks and it’s a gamble to stay put and hope Fields falls to them. If they eye him as a long-term option, they will need to be proactive and move up.

Fields started his career at Georgia, then transferred to Ohio State, where he started 22 games in 2019-20 and had 63 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

“Justin Fields, to me, is exactly what the NFL is trending (to) as far as his physical skill-set,” ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit said during a video conference Wednesday. “There is a lot of evidence and proof (of his ability) and in a lot of big games he played in during his career.”

Fields completed 67.2% and 70.2% of his passes at Ohio State and also showed the ability to escape the pocket to run for yards (15 touchdowns the last two years) or buy time to throw.

“I love his versatility,” Herbstreit said. “He can throw the ball downfield, he can throw the ball intermediately, he has the levels concepts and he can create off-platform very comfortably. I don’t think you’re pigeon-holed (offensively) if you take him.”

Evaluating Parsons. A lot of mock drafts continue to slot Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons to the Broncos at No. 9. The way things could fall, Paton could move down a few spots, pick up an extra second-rounder and still get Parsons.

Listed at 6-foot-3, 246 yards, Parsons ran a 4.36-second 40-yard dash and was ultra-productive in his only year as a starter (2019 — 103 tackles, five sacks, four forced fumbles and five pass break-ups). He opted out of last year.

I searched for some Parsons tape on YouTube and found a 32-snap sample size from Penn State’s Cotton Bowl win over Memphis (his last college game).

The takeaways: I charted Parsons as being a “factor” on 13 of the 32 plays. … Breakdown on where he lined up – – off-the-ball linebacker (28 snaps), on-the-ball outside linebacker (three) and on-the-ball inside linebacker (one). … What jumps off the screen is his speed laterally — he covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time and has a combination of suddenness and agility to avoid bigger men trying to block him. … He mostly played zone coverage and dropped a sure-fire interception. … Helping Parsons was Memphis forgot to block him on several plays.

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Pitts could make history. Florida tight end Kyle Pitts could make history April 29. Frequent resource Dan Daly tweeted the list of tight ends selected in the top 10 since 1960. It’s a short list.

Only 15 have been selected among the first 10 picks and none in the first four. Pitts could go to Atlanta at No. 4.

Mike Ditka (1961 to Chicago) and Riley Odoms (1972 to the Broncos) went fifth overall.

Footnotes. The folks at BetOnline aren’t guessing how the first round develops, but they are projecting the favorites for Offensive Rookie of the Year. The top five are quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence (11/4), Zach Wilson and Fields (both 9/2); tight end Kyle Pitts (15/2); and quarterback Mac Jones (10/1). My pick would be receiver Ja’Marr Chase (12/1). BetOnline also makes the Broncos the favorite (3/2) to acquire Carolina quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. … Chase makes sense to Cincinnati at No. 5 to reunite with quarterback Joe Burrow so long as the Bengals think Riley Reiff can be a good left tackle.