Tag: draft class

Every member of the Broncos’ draft class made 53-man roster

The Broncos’ five draft picks this year all made the 53-man roster.

Every member of the Denver Broncos’ 2023 NFL draft class has made the team’s 53-man roster, a feat that is easier to accomplish with a small class.

Broncos wide receiver Marvin Mims (second round) is poised to serve as the team’s WR3 this season while also returning punts and kickoffs.

Inside linebacker Drew Sanders (third round) is expected to have a rotational role on defense while also filling a key role on special teams.

Cornerback Riley Moss (third round) is still recovering from core muscle surgery, but he will be part of the secondary rotation once healthy.

Safety JL Skinner (sixth round) is buried on the depth chart in a deep secondary, but he figures to contribute on special teams as a rookie.

Center Alex Forsyth (seventh round) will likely have a limited role as a rookie, but he projects as a potential future starter on the interior offensive line.

So far, so good for the 2023 draft class.

Broncos’ drafted rookies pick jersey numbers

Broncos rookie wide receiver Marvin Mims has picked jersey No. 83.

The Denver Broncos announced jersey numbers for their five-player draft class on Thursday.

Here they are:

37 CB Riley Moss
41 LB Drew Sanders
46 DB JL Skinner
76 OL Alex Forsyth
83 WR Marvin Mims

Keep in mind that these numbers are subject to change, and some of them likely will change when Denver reduces the roster from 90 players down to 53 players later this summer.

The Broncos have not yet officially announced their undrafted free agent signings. Once those UDFA deals become official, those rookie jersey numbers will be announced as well.

Denver previously announced jersey numbers for veteran additions:

4 QB Jarrett Stidham
11 WR Marquez Callaway
17 WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey
19 P Riley Dixon
20 FB Michael Burton
23 CB Tremon Smith
25 RB Samaje Perine
26 RB Tony Jones Jr.
55 C Kyle Fuller
69 T Mike McGlinchey
70 T Isaiah Prince
74 G Ben Powers
82 TE Adam Trautman
84 TE Chris Manhertz
90 DL Jordan Jackson
99 DE Zach Allen

Defensive lineman D.J. Jones (from 97 to 92) and quarterback Jarrett Guarantano (from 11 to 16) previously changed their numbers as well.

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Projected contracts for each member of the Broncos’ draft class

The Broncos’ draft class will take up about $3.2 million worth of cap space this offseason. Here are projected contracts for each player.

The Denver Broncos added five players to their roster through the 2023 NFL draft last month. Thanks to the structure of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with players, we have a rough idea of what kind of contracts each member of the team’s draft class will receive.

All four players will receive four-year deals. None of them will have a fifth-year option because the Broncos did not have a first-round pick this year.

Broncos wide receiver Marvin Mims (second round, 63rd overall) is projected to receive a contract worth $6,068,635, according to Spotrac.com. He’s expected to get a signing bonus worth around $1,413,552.

Linebacker Drew Sanders (third round, 63rd overall) is expected to earn $5,734,727 with a $1,170,711 signing bonus. Cornerback Riley Moss (third round, 83rd overall) will receive roughly $5,447,488 with a $961,809 signing bonus.

Safety JL Skinner (sixth round, 183rd overall) will have a total contract value of $4,036,219 with $196,219 as a signing bonus. Finally, center Alex Forsyth (seventh round, 257th overall) is expected to receive a $3,917,777 contract with a $77,777 signing bonus.

Combined, those players are expected to take up about $3,205,017 in salary cap space this offseason.

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Broncos will invite veterans to try out at rookie minicamp

The Broncos will have four groups of players at rookie minicamp: Drafted rookies, UDFA signings, rookie tryout players and veteran tryouts.

The Denver Broncos will have plenty of bodies on the field when they hold a rookie minicamp next week.

In addition to the five members of their draft class and 16 undrafted free agent signees, the Broncos are also inviting at least 12 rookies on a tryout basis as well as several veteran players.

“There’ll be some tryout players at that camp,” coach Sean Payton said after the NFL draft last week. “There’ll be some veteran tryout players. Let’s call it four different groups of players: draft picks, signed free agents, tryout free agents and veteran tryouts.”

Undrafted players often face long odds to make the 53-man roster, and tryout players face an even tougher uphill battle. But once they get an opportunity, any player can stand out and impress Denver’s coaching staff.

“[O]nce they’re sitting in that meeting room, how they arrived is of no importance to us at that point,” Payton said. “We’re playing the best players. … I think it’s important for every one of them. They’ll all have a piece of tape on the front of their helmet with their last name, and we’re just going to go by what we see.”

So far, we know the names of two veterans — running back Jacques Patrick and outside linebacker Trent Harris, who were standout players in the XFL this spring. More names will likely be added to the list in the coming days.

The Broncos are expected to hold rookie minicamp from May 12-15.

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Breaking down Packers roster following 2023 draft, UDFA signings

Breaking down the Packers’ roster, position by position, following the 2023 draft and undrafted free agent signings.

The Green Bay Packers added 25 new players to the roster during the 2023 draft and college free agency: 13 draft picks and 12 undrafted free agent signings.

The roster is now up to 88 players, allowing room for a veteran signing or two or even a signing of a rookie tryout player or two in the coming weeks and months before training camp.

How does the Packers roster look following the biggest roster-building event of the offseason?

Here’s a breakdown, position by position, following the 2023 draft and undrafted free agent signings:

Follow the Green Bay Packers’ 2023 draft class on Twitter

Follow the Packers’ 13-player 2023 draft class on Twitter.

The Green Bay Packers selected 13 players in the 2023 draft.

You can follow the entire draft class below:

OLB Lukas Van Ness

TE Luke Musgrave

WR Jayden Reed

TE Tucker Kraft

DL Colby Wooden

QB Sean Clifford

WR Dontayvion Wicks

DL Karl Brooks

K Anders Carlson

No Twitter account. Instagram here.

CB Carrington Valentine

RB Lew Nichols III

S Anthony Johnson Jr

WR Grant DuBose

Breaking down Packers 2023 draft class: Best picks, sleepers, overall assessment

Breaking down the Packers’ 13-player draft class, highlighting best picks and sleepers and giving an overall assessment.

The Green Bay Packers made 13 selections in the 2023 NFL draft, starting with edge rusher Lukas Van Ness at No. 13 overall in the first round and ending with receiver Grant DuBose at No. 256 overall in the seventh round.

It’s time to break down the class. Best picks. Sleepers. Winners. Losers. Strategy. Let’s dig in.

Here’s a closer look at the Packers’ draft class in 2023:

Broncos’ draft picks represent 7th-best value in 2023 class

The Broncos landed great value in Drew Sanders (projected 1st or 2nd), JL Skinner (projected 3rd or 4th) and Alex Forsyth (projected 5th).

The Denver Broncos only made five picks in the 2023 NFL draft last week, but they found great value with those selections (no pun intended).

The Broncos had the seventh-most valuable draft class this year, according to analysis from Warren Sharp of SharpFootballAnalysis.com.

The team’s biggest value picks seem to be Arkansas linebacker Drew Sanders, Boise State safety JL Skinner and Oregon center Alex Forsyth.

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein predicted Sanders would go off the board in the first or second round. Denver got him in the third. Zierlein had Skinner going in the third or fourth round (the Broncos got him in the sixth). The Athletic’s Dane Brugler had a fifth-round grade on Forsyth (an eventual seventh-round pick).

Denver did a good job getting the most out of its limited draft capital this year, and the team will return to having a more normal set of picks (including a first-round pick) in 2024.

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Packers assign uniform numbers for entire 2023 draft class

The Packers handed out official uniform numbers for the team’s 13-player 2023 draft class.

The Green Bay Packers assigned uniform numbers for the team’s 13-player draft class in 2023.

Here are the numbers for the rookies:

OLB Lukas Van Ness: 90
TE Luke Musgrave: 88
WR Jayden Reed: 11
TE Tucker Kraft: 85
DL Colby Wooden: 96
QB Sean Clifford: 8
WR Dontayvion Wicks: 13
DL Karl Brooks: 94
K Anders Carlson: 17
CB Carrington Valentine: 37
RB Lew Nichols III: 32
S Anthony Johnson Jr: 36
WR Grant DuBose: 86

Quick hits: Van Ness wore No. 91 at Iowa but No. 90 in high school…Musgrave wore No. 88 every year at Oregon State…Reed wore No. 5 and No. 1 at Michigan State but gets No. 11 in Green Bay, replacing Sammy Watkins…Kraft wore No. 85 at South Dakota State and replaces Robert Tonyan in the number…Colby Wooden, a Kingsley Keke-like player, gets No. 96 after wearing No. 25 at Auburn…Sean Clifford assumes backup duties as No. 8 after wearing No. 14 at Penn State…Dontayvion Wicks wore No. 3 at Virginia, but the number is retired in Green Bay…Karl Brooks, who wore No. 11 and No. 44 at Bowling Green, gets Dean Lowry’s old number…The new kicker gets Davante Adams’ old number…Valentine will attempt to follow the path of Sam Shields in the No. 37…Nichols III, a Cedric Benson-like player, gets an appropriate new number after wearing No. 7 at Central Michigan…Can Johnson Jr. become the next great safety wearing No. 36 in Green Bay?…DuBose, who wore No. 14 at Charlotte, was pretty much out of options.

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Common quality among players in Seahawks draft class is ‘toughness’

The members of the Seahawks draft class had been tagged by the organization with a hammer insignia, standing for toughness and physicality.

A common theme emerged this year as the Seattle Seahawks put together their 2023 NFL draft class.

“I would say tough,” general manager John Schneider said after the draft wrapped up Saturday afternoon

Pick after pick, each player selected seemed to have a chip on his shoulder for one reason or another.

“I think it’s toughness and physicality,” coach Pete Carroll reiterated. “I think this is a really — from top to bottom it’s a group that’s going to really demonstrate that. We’re fired up about that.”

Schneider expanded on exactly what he and Carroll mean by “tough.”

“On our tags, we have different insignia on there to represent different things, and I would say just about every one of these guys has a hammer on there, which means a scout has to say, ‘this guy’s a legitimate tough guy,'” Schneider explained. “So when you look at their tag, all these guys have a hammer on it.”

The Seahawks draft class will have the first chance to prove “toughness” during the upcoming rookie minicamp.

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