Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior Writer 10y

Some prospects who might interest Denver

The Denver Broncos continue to get face-to-face with some of the prospects who have piqued their interest for next month’s draft.

They have been in front of their allotment at the college all-star games, the scouting combine and continue to do their homework as they bring many into their Dove Valley complex to meet with coaches and executive vice president of football operations/general manager John Elway.

Here is the first of an occasional look at the prospects who have attracted Denver's attention.

Combine a quality work ethic with a powerful frame and long arms and you have the kind of cornerback Broncos head coach John Fox, a former defensive backs coach when he entered the NFL, always talks about in Virginia Tech's Kyle Fuller.

Fuller, who already has a brother in the NFL and carries a grade worthy of the Broncos’ first-round pick, is 5-foot-11 3/4, 190 pounds and ran a 4.49 40-yard dash at the combine (electronically timed). He has upper-tier ball skills and understands where receivers are trying to go as he consistently plays with good anticipation to get himself to the spot.

He is also a quality tackler. He missed time after surgery this past November for a sports hernia -- he missed five games and the Senior Bowl because of it -- and dealt with shoulder and groin injuries in 2012, but didn’t miss any games that season.

The bigger cornerbacks routinely move up the board once the actual picks get made, so there is plenty of question as to whether Fuller would even be there when the Broncos pick at 31.

Among the other defensive backs on their radar is Washington State safety Deone Bucannon, who sat with the team for the first time at the Senior Bowl. Bucannon ran a 4.49 at 211 pounds at the combine and his 78-inch armspan is among the biggest on the board at the position.

Among the defensive lineman on the board keep an eye on is Minnesota defensive tackle Ra'Shede Hageman. Hageman, at 6-5 7/8, 310 pounds is a top-tier athlete for a player his size -- he arrived to the Gophers as a tight end -- and carries a grade worthy of a pick in the bottom third of the first round. Connecticut defensive tackle Shamar Stephen is an interior player who, at 6-4 7/8, 309 pounds, will get a look down the board some. Stephen is adept at attacking double teams and very active/effective with his hands to shed blockers.

Elway has also routinely promised to look at quarterbacks in every draft no matter who the team has behind center, and has used a pick in 2012 (Brock Osweiler) and 2013 (Zac Dysert) to grab one with Peyton Manning on the top of the depth chart.

They still project Osweiler as the first starter in the post-Manning era, but Elway simply will not let the cupboard go bare. Among the quarterbacks the Broncos have met with are Miami’s Stephen Morris and Wyoming’s Brett Smith.

Both are down-the-board guys for the Broncos and are slightly undersized. For his part Morris is a two-time team captain who has the head for the game and the fire Elway likes in a passer. Smith is a get-it-done guy who will grind it out to make a play, and was a team captain as a sophomore.

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