Broncos Draft: Grabbing the perfect rotational piece for the DL
The Denver Broncos lost their best interior defender in the offseason in Dre'Mont Jones, who ended up signing with the Seattle Seahawks, ironically. With his departure, they are losing an interior defender that can get to the quarterback, collapse the pocket, and play the run game too. The Broncos got Zach Allen in the offseason […]
The Denver Broncos lost their best interior defender in the offseason in Dre'Mont Jones, who ended up signing with the Seattle Seahawks, ironically. With his departure, they are losing an interior defender that can get to the quarterback, collapse the pocket, and play the run game too.
The Broncos got Zach Allen in the offseason after Jones' departure, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a replacement. They can still add rotational depth pieces at the position. Luckily, at pick 67 they can still get a guy who can be a rotational piece next year, and possibly an elite guy in his role in the future.
That guy is Baylor's defensive tackle Siaki Ika.
Ika is your 358-pounder who can still somehow make centers and guards miss one on one. He tallied a career-high 33 pressures in 2021 before seeing his play become a little more inconsistent this past fall. Ika makes every center bring their lunch pale. If he wins the leverage battle, it can get ugly. He commonly walks centers multiple yards into the backfield. This one is obvious. He’s a nose tackle no matter your scheme. He already struggled to be an every-down impact player in college at his size, which will only get exacerbated at the NFL level. Ika could trim down considerably and be an even more effective run defender in the league.
Ika is a monster of a man and can be a great piece to swap in when needed. And, I even think he could be elite at his role in a year or two. That role would be a guy who fills gaps and takes up space. His size makes him a guy that has the potential to be an elite run stopper, and his strength makes it to where he wouldn't be too bad as a pass rusher either.
He still needs some development, which is why he is going to be a round-three guy, or in that area. Ika was dominant at Baylor, as he led the defense up front. He can play the A gap and B gap, too.
As of right now, most mock drafts have him going a few picks before the Broncos' first pick, but that doesn't mean he can't fall to them. I think Sean Payton and his crew could develop him into an elite space filler, but for year one, he would be a good rotational guy.
