With the 12th pick in the Pod Community Mock Draft, the Broncos select..

The Denver Broncos are on the clock in our Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, and they have no shortage of needs.

After unceremoniously shipping Russell Wilson to the Steelers, the Broncos find themselves entering a new era with coach Sean Payton, but at the moment they seem a bit directionless.

Enter the interim general manager for the Broncos in our Community Mock: nchantala. They have a chance to make a franchise-altering pick with the 12th overall selection. But which direction will they go?

If you want to catch up on the first 11 picks of the draft, make sure to check out our 2024 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft tracker.

Onto the next pick:

With the 12th overall pick in the POD Community Mock, the Denver Broncos select Quinyon Mitchell, cornerback out of Toledo.

Here’s nchantala with the explanation:

“After a tumultuous offseason that led to the release of Russell Wilson, the Broncos quarterback room is currently Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci. Yikes. Even with the QB carousel that occurred this offseason with names like Kirk Cousins, Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew, and Justin Fields changing rosters, it never seemed like the Broncos were really in on any of them. That leads one to believe they are looking to the draft for their future QB...

“Well, the worst possible scenario for the Broncos has played out through the first 11 picks; the top-4 QBs are off the board and a trade down is not an option. I could always force a QB here with either Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr., but even the most optimistic rankings have them outside of the top 20.

“The one good thing for the Broncos (me) at this spot is that they can use help throughout the roster and not many expect them to compete in 2024. Primary positions of need include CB, S, EDGE, C, and QB with WR, OT, and TE not settled either. In my opinion, it was way too early for any of the centers or safeties here and I’m not reaching for a QB, so that left me with CB or EDGE, and there were plenty of options left at this pick.

“With the 12th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos select... Quinyon Mitchell CB, Toledo.”

“With the board the way it was, it was really between Quinyon Mitchell and one of Jared Verse or Laiatu Latu. Verse and Latu play a slightly more valuable position but Latu has health questions and it seems like most things I have read have Verse only ahead of Latu because of the health questions. Mitchel,l on the other hand, appears to be the first or second ranked CB prospect on most well-known draft boards I have seen. Terrion Arnold was given some consideration, but Mitchell was the choice with his toughness, ballhawking ways, Senior Bowl performance, and Combine performance where he ran a 4.33s 40-yard dash at 6-foot, 195 pounds (9.75 RAS).

“The choice of Mitchell gives the Broncos (me) two possible lockdown CBs or it allows the Broncos (me) the hypothetical to move Patrick Surtain to jump back into the end of the first round to select either Nix or Penix Jr., a much more palatable range.”