John Elway discusses NFL Draft surprises, confidence in Drew Lock in NBC interviews

[Miles]

In the wake of the 2020 NFL Draft, President of Football Operations/General Manager John Elway made the media rounds at NBC to discuss the team's newest draft class and second-year quarterback Drew Lock.


In interviews with Mike Tirico and Rich Eisen, Elway explained the Broncos' decision to draft wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, why the Broncos were surprised at how the board fell and how the Chiefs have influenced the rest of the league.


Here, then, are the highlights from the two interviews:


ADDING A PAIR OF RECEIVERS


The Broncos drafted former Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy with the 15th-overall pick and then doubled down by selecting Penn State wideout KJ Hamler in the second round.


But if you had told Elway that Jeudy would still been on the board at No. 15, it seems unlikely that he would've believed you.


"I'd have said there's about a 10 percent chance of that," Elway told Eisen.


Elway said that in all the conversations the Broncos had and the mock drafts the executed, Jeudy didn't seem like an option at 15th overall.


"Jerry never got to us in our mock drafts," Elway told Eisen.


Still, the Broncos held tight and decided not to trade up.


"With where we were as a football team, draft capital was more important than moving up," Elway told Eisen.


Denver lucked out, as Jeudy fell to No. 15. Aiding in that process was Oakland's decision to draft Henry Ruggs III at No. 12. Elway said they did not expect the Raiders to move in that direction.


"No, that was a bit of a surprise," Elway told Eisen. "… I don't know if there was ever a mock with Ruggs going at 12."


Once the Broncos secured Jeudy, the 2018 Biletnikoff Award winner, they moved again to draft Hamler. Elway told Eisen he believes they wouldn't have had the chance to pick Hamler had they not taken Jeudy.


"Not knowing how the first round was going to go, I was still prepared to go receiver-receiver, and I know that it helped us going receiver-receiver because of the fact that if we hadn't gone receiver in the first round, I think there would've been a lot of people that would've tried to jump us in the second round," Elway told Eisen. "There were a lot of people behind us that kind of let us know that Hamler was their guy. But with us sitting there, not going up as well as having drafted a wide receiver in the first round, I think people were fine sitting there thinking that we weren't going to draft another receiver."