Good Morning Broncos Country!

Denver Broncos General Manager John Elway held a pre-draft press conference on Monday and fielded a number of questions. One topic that Elway discussed was about controversial running back prospect Joe Mixon who the Broncos met with back in March.

Elway was bluntly asked if Mixon was still on their draft board and Elway came back with an equally blunt response. "I'm not going to tell you who’s on the board." A simple no would have worked since other General Managers have done the same recently. He's reportedly off the Eagles board, off the Patriots and Dolphins board, not the Falcons board, as well as six unnamed teams. So saying, Mixon, is off your board wouldn't be anything risky to say, but Elway remained silent on the topic.

Elway stated that he had a "good meeting" with Mixon during his pre-draft visit with the Broncos last month and that they went through the whole incident with them.

"We had a good meeting with him. There’s no question. I didn’t get a chance to spend a lot of time with him, but I had a meeting with him. We went through the whole process and what happened. I’m sure he had been through it several times. But for us to be able to hear it from him, and what happened—we went through all that."

Elway was then asked about Mixon's character which is being evaluated by all 32 teams and the media, and Elway said that this is something they're still collecting information on.

"We’re still evaluating that. Obviously, that’s an issue and it’s something that we’re continuing to look at while getting as much background as we can on Joe to see where he may fall for us."

If Elway is being truthful here, the Broncos are still collecting info on Mixon and declined to say whether or not if Mixon is off their board. To me, that points to the Broncos still have some interest in Mixon and will consider him if he is there in the second round. Elway could just be playing coy here and not giving anything away, but there appears to be some sort of interest here.

To further push my point, Head Coach Vance Joseph called Mixon a "nice young man" during the league's Owner Meetings a few weeks back.

"I thought Joe was a nice young man, Obviously he had an issue three or four years ago, but he’s owned it. We brought Joe in because he didn’t go to the combine. We brought him in, we talked to him for a day. He’s owned it, he’s been remorseful for his mistake and he’s a nice young man."

So unlike other teams, the Broncos are keeping the door open on Mixon. What also may help them make their decision is that Mixon settled his civil suit with the woman he punched in that incident. So with that officially behind him, teams may feel a bit more comfortable selecting Mixon.

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