ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- OK, the bottom line is the Denver Broncos don’t need to crack the DaVinci Code to find their biggest offseason need.
Former coach Gary Kubiak said it, executive vice president of football operations/general manager John Elway has said it, newly-hired coach Vance Joseph has said it and in his first public comments since he was hired as offensive coordinator, Mike McCoy said it, too.
They’ve all said, in some fashion, the Broncos’ offensive line needs to be better, a lot better, in the season to come than it was in the season that ended with a 9-7 mark and the team out of the playoffs for the first time since the 2010 season.
As McCoy put it Tuesday, when he said while it wasn’t all the offensive line’s fault, but that “they have to play better.’’
In that light, it was no shock that ESPN’s Todd McShay sees the need as well in his second mock draft. McShay sees the Broncos taking Wisconsin tackle Ryan Ramczyk with the No. 20 pick in the first round.
Ramcyzk will not work out at the scouting combine later this month because he had surgery to repair the labrum in his hip just after the Badgers' season ended.
It is worth noting the Broncos could have as many as 10 draft picks if they receive the compensatory picks they have projected themselves to get. Elway has picked a player on offense with the team’s first pick in just one of the six drafts he has overseen for the team since taking his current job in 2011 -- quarterback Paxton Lynch last April.
Also, the Broncos haven’t selected a tackle in the first round since Ryan Clady in 2008, Mike Shanahan’s last draft as the team’s coach.
In McShay’s first mock, he had the Broncos selecting Florida defensive tackle Caleb Brantley. Defensive line is another position that figures to get plenty of attention in the draft as well for the Broncos.
