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Whether the Broncos move up, down or stay at No. 12, they are confident in their ability to land an impact player in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday. The quarterback position has been the central focus of draft talks since the team benched Russell Wilson for the final two games of last season. But with the possibility of four quarterbacks taken inside the top eight, Denver could shift its focus to address other areas of need.
Here is everything you need to know ahead of draft night.

Sean Payton is Rice Krispies. He snaps, crackles and pops. And that’s just at postgame news conferences. But when he sees the right quarterback, the record scratches and he stops.
In what is the Broncos’ most important draft since 2018, the answer is simple: trust the coach.
He doesn’t make it easy. He runs hot, bristles more than a paintbrush, and his intelligence comes across as arrogance. The Broncos hired Payton to fix Russell Wilson, and, in absence of that, find a franchise quarterback.

The Rockies still hope Michael Toglia, their 2019 first-round draft choice, will eventually turn the corner. It hasn’t happened yet. Indeed, Toglia has gone in the wrong direction this season.
Wednesday, the first baseman/right fielder was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. The Rockies recalled utility player Hunter Goodman to take Togila’s place on the 26-man roster. Goodman will play primarily corner outfield and first base, but he can also fill in at catcher.

Michael Malone’s individual film reviews this week keep encountering a distraction at the end.
His eyes wander from what’s transpiring on the court and focus instead on his team’s sideline, where the Nuggets are about to erupt into a celebration they’ll someday tell their grandchildren about.

WINNIPEG — The Colorado Avalanche desperately needed a save, and Alexandar Georgiev delivered the biggest one of his season to date.
Colorado trailed 2-1 in Game 2 at Canada Life Centre. The Avs had just squandered a four-minute power play, missed on a Grade-A scoring chance and allowed the go-ahead goal on a fantastic one-handed tip-in by Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele.

Every game presents a challenge for the Rockies’ floundering offense. Wednesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Padres presented a unique puzzle the Rockies couldn’t solve.
San Diego started knuckleball right-hander Matt Waldron, who had no problems making his pitch dance in the mile-high atmosphere at Coors Field. Over six innings, he gave up one run on four hits and struck out five in his first trip to LoDo.
Waldron said the baseball behaved “weird.”

Paxton Lynch fit the offense like a fish on a bicycle.
Let’s start there with why the Broncos enter Thursday’s NFL draft still searching for a franchise quarterback eight years after Peyton Manning retired.
There have been 13 starters since Super Bowl 50, tied for second most behind the Cleveland Browns. Only two have produced a winning record: Trevor Siemien (13-11) and Brett Rypien (2-1).

If there’s anything we know about the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, it’s that it will be unpredictable. Still, it doesn’t hurt to predict how things will play out. Here’s our best guess:
1. Chicago Bears (via Carolina Panthers) — QB Caleb Williams, Bears: For months, it felt like Williams to Chicago was a no-brainer. The Bears will make it official on Thursday night, landing one of the most highly regarded quarterback prospects in years.

Over eight years for any professional organization, there are wins and losses, head-scratchers and knee-slappers, resounding highs and stinging lows.
The Broncos are no different, though without a postseason berth since Peyton Manning’s retirement, there are more valleys than peaks since Super Bowl 50.

Saylor Swanson says it so casually you can almost miss it.
“I’ve always pictured myself playing quarterback,” Swanson, an Arvada West High junior, said Wednesday morning at the Broncos’ training facility.
She has been, really, for the past two years playing flag football in CHSAA’s pilot program.
She will be this fall, too, but in a slightly different capacity. She’ll be the quarterback for her team’s varsity program after Colorado on Tuesday became the 11th state to make girls flag football a sanctioned high school sport.