Moving up from 64th pick in NFL draft? Recent history suggests Broncos will stay put or move down. – The Denver Post

Excited to see how Broncos general manager George Paton can use some of his nine picks in this weekend’s draft to move into the first round or even into the top half of the second?

Don’t hold your breath … and it has nothing to do with Paton.

Minus first- and second-round picks next year and not selecting until No. 64 (currently) on Friday night, the Broncos aren’t armed with the capital to move into Thursday night’s first round, save for including a current player on their roster in a trade.

“I would say it’s much more likely that we move up in the second or move back,” Paton said last week.

Three decades of draft history suggest Paton is more likely to stay put or move down than move up the board.

Six things about the 64th pick:

1. Since the last round of expansion in 2002, when the 64th pick became a second-rounder, no team has moved up from that spot.

2. In the last 40 drafts, a team has used No. 64 to move up the board in that year’s draft only two times: In 1989, the Chargers traded Nos. 64, 93 and 175 to select quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver at No. 51, and in 1999, the 64th pick was a part of New Orleans’ package to Washington to move up one spot in the first round to select running back Ricky Williams.

3. Four times in the last five drafts, teams have traded down from No. 64: New England in 2017 (for veteran defensive lineman Kony Ealy and No. 72 from Carolina), Cleveland in ’18 (for Nos. 67 and 178 from Indianapolis), New England in ’19 (for Nos. 77 and 118 from Seattle, which took receiver D.K. Metcalf) and Seattle last year (Nos. 69 and 148 from Carolina, which took safety Jeremy Chinn).

4. Over the last four decades, veteran players have been involved trades for the 64th pick in 1986 (San Francisco traded backup quarterback Matt Cavanaugh to Philadelphia for No. 64 and an ’87 second-rounder), 2007 (Indianapolis traded defensive lineman Anthony McFarland to Tampa Bay straight up) and the aforementioned Ealy trade.

5. The biggest move-down from No. 64 was 20 picks in 2005 when Baltimore traded Nos. 84 and 195 in that draft and a 2006 third-rounder to New England. The Ravens drafted offensive tackle Adam Terry.

6. In the last 15 drafts, teams have stayed put at No. 64 eight times and selected offensive lineman Charles Brown (New Orleans, 2010), receiver Randall Cobb (Green Bay, ’11), tight end Dwayne Allen (Indianapolis, ’12), cornerback Dwayne Gratz (Jacksonville, ’13), center Justin Britt (Seattle, ’14), safety Jordan Richards (New England, ’15), safety Kevin Byard (Tennessee, ’16) and quarterback Kyle Trask (Tampa Bay, last year).

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