The Broncos are into the stretch run of their preparations for the NFL draft.
They’ve got scouts in town for meetings as they hammer out a draft board. They also continue to bring prospects in for visits, using their 30 visits on players up and down the draft board.
Among the notables this week: Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who visited Denver on Tuesday, sources confirmed to The Post.
Penix told ESPN last week during his pro day that he planned on visiting the Broncos, among a handful of teams.
NFL Network reported he’s visiting the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday, an interesting development because the Broncos and Raiders pick back-to-back in the first round at No. 12 and No. 13, respectively.
“The key is, what’s the fit relative to your team?” Denver head coach Sean Payton said about looking for a quarterback during the NFL’s spring meetings last month. “I think you do pay attention to where you feel like teams are at in their needs. There are obviously a few teams at the front of this draft with a quarterback need — that’s no secret — and then you kind of go from there.”
And there are two right around Denver, too, with Las Vegas and Minnesota at No. 11.
The Broncos have done work on every quarterback in the draft, meeting with Penix, Oregon’s Bo Nix and others at the Senior Bowl in January, then most of the class again at the NFL combine in February. They’ve also had a presence at several pro days. Denver had most of its offensive staff, along with general manager George Paton, at North Carolina for quarterback Drake Maye’s pro day last week and, on the same day, had passing game coordinator John Morton and others in Seattle to watch Penix work out.
It’s interesting, then, that Denver wasted little time getting Penix to Denver for a visit after most of the brass wasn’t at his pro day.
“It’s a good group when we’re talking about some of these younger quarterbacks that, man, certainly they’re prepared,” Payton said. “They’ve been well-coached. They’ve been well-coached in college. You see the success on the field.”
Among Denver’s other known quarterback-related happenings: The Broncos had a long private workout with Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy and met with LSU’s Jayden Daniels after his pro day last week.
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah has six quarterbacks ranked in the top 33 of his 50 best draft prospects, including Maye and Daniels at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively, McCarthy at No. 20, Nix at No. 29 and Penix at No. 33.
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Among the other upcoming visits, according to a source, is cornerback Qwan’Tez Stiggers, who is set to be in Denver on Friday. University of Arizona tackle Jordan Morgan was in town Monday for a visit, a source confirmed to The Post.
Stiggers, 22, has a unique story. The Atlanta native didn’t play college ball but is draft-eligible after playing for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League last year. He earned an invite to the East-West Shrine Game and has been on the league’s radar despite not getting invited to the combine.
Jeremiah has eight tackles (and 11 total offensive linemen) in his latest top 50, including Morgan at No. 49.
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