Broncos' Coaching Staff Reportedly Request Baker Mayfield to Be On Their Senior Bowl Team

The Broncos want to get to know Baker Mayfield.

The Denver staff has requested they get Mayfield on their Senior Bowl roster, according to the game’s executive director Phil Savage. The other team will be coached by the Houston Texans.

Interesting thing @SeniorBowlPhil just told me and @HorowitzJason on @ESPNUonSiriusXM: The Broncos staff requested that Baker Mayfield be placed on their team at the Senior Bowl.
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) January 12, 2018

In 2016, the Broncos rostered quarterbacks Brock Osweiler, Paxton Lynch and Trevor Seimian. Every one of the quarterbacks have been briefly considered the quarterback of the future, though Osweiler’s moment in the sun came during his first stint with the team before he left for the Texans.

So here are a few quick thoughts on the Broncos’ decision to ask for Mayfield.

Mayfield could certainly go to the Broncos at No. 5 overall. That’s not a stretch.
That possibility reflects poorly on Lynch, the 26th-overall pick in 2016. It would be a quick turnaround for the Broncos to spend two first round picks on quarterbacks in a three-year span. But Denver has to be considering that possibility. In his two years as a pro, Lynch struggled to get on the field due to health. But there were also murmurings that he wasn’t improving his footwork or his understanding of the playbook. Perhaps the Broncos sense that he never will.
Former Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen will also attend the Senior Bowl, and will presumably land on the Texans’ roster. He and Mayfield are likely jockeying to be the No. 3 quarterback on a number of team’s draft boards (behind UCLA’s Josh Rosen and USC’s Sam Darnold). Allen is the kind of player teams won’t worry about from a character standpoint. His college career went hiccup-free off the field. Mayfield’s did not. He ended up pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges. That red flag could be the reason the Broncos want to get to know him better. It doesn’t necessarily indicate they rank him higher than Allen.
Never rule out smoke screens during draft season. This would certainly be an elaborate piece of misdirection. But the Broncos could use this as leverage to get another team to make a blockbuster trade to get Mayfield with the Broncos’ No. 5 overall pick. What’s more, maybe the Broncos know the Chargers are interested in drafting Mayfield at No. 17 overall, and Denver wants a look at the quarterback of the future in Los Angeles. You never know.