One prospect the Broncos have met with multiple times and have reportedly been showing strong interest in is former Colorado cornerback, Isaiah Oliver. He is a 6’1”, 190lb cornerback who is considered one of the top corners in the entire draft. Oliver is ranked as the 7th best cornerback in the 2018 NFL Draft according to NFLDraftScout.com and is considered the 48th best player in the entire draft.

Isaiah Oliver was a sure-tackler in coverage in 2017 pic.twitter.com/DYemGnqV1f — PFF Draft (@PFF_College) April 6, 2018

Oliver played three seasons at Colorado and put up some good numbers during that span. During his three-year career, Oliver totaled 82 tackles, 3 interceptions, 25 pass deflections, and 1 forced fumble. This past season, he totaled 26 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 12 pass deflections.

Oliver earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors from both the Associated Press and the league coaches in 2017. He earned second-team All-America honors from SB Nation and collegesportsmadness.com. Oliver also earned first-team All-Colorado honors from the state’s NFF chapter and participated in the All-Star Football Challenge in the postseason.

Isaiah Oliver, Junior, Colorado

Height: 6’1” Weight: 190lbs 40 time: 4.5 seconds

Arm Length: 33 1/2” Hands: 9 3/4”

20-Yard Shuttle: 4.0 seconds 3-Cone Drill: 6.94 seconds

Film Room:

Scouting Report:

Strengths:

Good size, length, and athleticism for a corner

Long arms able to swat balls away from receivers

Fluid hips and is able to change direction

Has good speed and is able to stick with and close in on receivers

Attacks the ball

Is a physical press corner

Good hands and dangerous when he has the ball

Willing and capable tackler

Was a successful track and long jump athlete at Colorado

Shadowed number one receivers last season

Earned rave reviews from his coaches about his personality

Has athletic bloodlines

High upside corner

Weaknesses:

Needs work on technique

Footwork can get sloppy

Overaggressive at times

Only one-year of starting experience

A raw corner who will need some coaching up to reach his high potential

Quotable:

NFL Draft Scout’s Dane Brugler on Oliver from his annual draft guide.

SUMMARY: A one-year starter at Colorado, Oliver lined up primarily on the outside at left cornerback and occasionally shadowed the opponent’s top wideout, doing a nice job against Colorado State’s Michael Gallup and Washington’s Dante Pettis – opposing quarterbacks completed only 41.3% of passes when targeting Oliver. He put his name on the NFL radar when scouts arrived in Boulder to see past secondary prospects like Awuzie, Witherspoon or Tedric Thompson, yet it was #26 who kept making most of the plays. A well-accomplished decathlete in track, Oliver is a balanced athlete with the competitive chops to challenge receivers up and down the field. As a run defender, he is willing, but lacks consistency. Overall, quicker receivers will give him trouble, but Oliver is a classic press-man corner in the NFL with the height, length and athleticism to match up with size outside the numbers.

NFL Network’s draft expert Daniel Jeremiah who he ranks as his 32nd overall player in the draft.

Oliver has excellent size, length and speed for the position. He’s at his best in press coverage. He shoots his hands and re-routes wide receivers before staying on their hip down the field. He has plenty of speed to carry vertical routes. From off coverage, he has some stiffness when he has to open up and change directions. He has good ball awareness down the field (see: pass breakup against UCLA). I love his aggressiveness and physicality in the running game. He fights through blocks and he’s a reliable tackler in space. Oliver has the ideal skill set to thrive as a press cornerback at the next level. He needs to improve his flexibility and transition movement in off coverage.

Isaiah Oliver’s spider graph:

Does Isaiah Oliver make sense for the Denver Broncos in the second round of the NFL Draft?

If Oliver is there at 40 I absolutely love this pick.

The Broncos lost their big/press corner when they traded away Aqib Talib this offseason and Oliver could help replace him. The problem here is that Oliver likely isn’t day one ready just yet. He just has one-year of starting experience and left school early, so he is far from a finished product. He needs to work with a defensive backs coach(Which the Broncos basically have three of on their coaching staff) to work on his footwork and technique. If/when Oliver puts it all together, he has the chance to be an elite number one corner.

Now with all that said, he flashed his potential against UCLA’s Josh Rosen, USC’s Sam Darnold, and did well against Colorado State’s Michael Gallup. This is why I’d love to see him stay in Colorado and play with the Broncos. He would add a much-needed size/speed element to the Broncos secondary.

It is unclear if he would make it to pick 40, but if he does, I think he is someone the Broncos would seriously consider in the second round.