Here’s a high 5 for Elway

Conventional wisdom screams the Broncos will use the 20th pick in the NFL draft on an offensive tackle.

I scream: Please, don’t make that mistake.

Hey, I’ve got nothing against a 300-pound man that dedicates his life and sacrifices his body to protect the quarterback. But conventional wisdom is for losers. Broncos general manager John Elway is a winner.

Nothing against Garett Bolles, but if Denver chooses a 24-yearold project with limited big-time football experience to patch a leaky offensive line, Broncos Country is going to be disappointed.

Elway is a gambler by nature. He pulls magic out of thin air. There will almost certainly be opportunities for the Broncos to trade forward or back from their No. 20 slot on draft night. Go forward to seek an impact player, or perhaps move back to leverage a quarterback-needy team eager to obtain somebody like Clemson star Deshaun Watson.

Here are five impact players that could help the Broncos get back to the Super Bowl this season. Here’s hoping Elway finds a way to get one of them.

Alabama tight end O.J. Howard:

The most glaring need on the Denver offense is not a left tackle. It’s a tight end to provide a legitimate threat in the red zone.

The best way new offensive coordinator Mike McCoy can help young quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch is to design game plans targeting easy throws to the tight end. Howard, who caught four passes for 106 yards and a touchdown against Clemson in the national title game, can make the Pro Bowl as a rookie.

There’s no way Howard will fall in the lap of Denver at the 20th pick. But if he’s still on the board after the top 10 selections, Elway must explore trading up.

Western Kentucky guard Forrest Lamp:

Yes, a guard. On the offensive line, tackles get the big money. But an all-star guard (think Zach Martin of Dallas) can make the run game go. If the Broncos can’t run, it’s likely that either Siemian or Lynch is going to struggle.

Unless Elway trades for a veteran NFL tackle, the Broncos seem destined to be no better than average at the position in 2017. Put Lamp alongside center Matt Paradis and free-agent acquisition Ron Leary, however, and the interior of Denver’s offensive line could be as good as any in the league.

Because Lamp is a guard, there might even be a chance Elway could move back in the opening round, obtain an extra draft choice in trade and still land him.

Foster: The best defensive player in this draft is Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett, universally projected to be selected No. 1 overall by Cleveland. But the best college defensive player I saw last season? Foster.

Foster has seen nothing but trouble since ending his career at Bama. He was sent home from the NFL combine and got busted for a diluted drug test. The physical health of his shoulders is also in question, which is no small question for a player that makes his living by tackling.

But if Foster falls to No. 20, and the Broncos don’t take him, they’ll regret it. Michigan defensive end Taco Charlton: The defender that grabbed all the headlines for Michigan was Jabrill Peppers. That’s cool. Charlton is a more disruptive defender.

Some NFL scouts see Charlton as a 3-4 outside linebacker in the mold of Arizona’s Chandler Jones, while others project Charlton to be a 4-3 defensive end more similar to Carlos Dunlap of Cincinnati.

Find Charlton a position, and the Broncos will be happy. Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey: He’s the favorite son of Broncos Country. His famous father has retired as a Broncos radio analyst to watch him play on Sundays.

We all would love to see him wearing orange on Sunday. But young McCaffrey has become one of the hottest commodities in the draft. If he unexpectedly slips down the first round into the midteens, Elway could pounce with a trade.

Hey, dreams do come true. But reality suggests the next time McCaffrey plays in his hometown, it will be as a member of a visiting NFL team.

While far from bereft of talent, the Broncos are closer to last place in the AFC West than a return trip to the Super Bowl. The offensive line is a mess, and the starting quarterback is anybody’s guess. It can’t be a defense for the ages if Denver can’t stop the run, while receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders need playmaking help.

What Elway does best is make magic out of trouble.

Here’s his chance.