Denver Broncos Draft Thread
 

I thought it would be a good idea to discuss the Broncos and what they should look for in the draft.

OL - C and G both need significant upgrades. Someone who could play G and RT would be quite useful to cover off for Ryan Harris if injuries continue to be a problem.

Defense - We've got lots of decent players, but few impact guys. I could definitely see us taking a "BPA - defense" approach with our first round pick.

P - Berger is awful. Take a flyer on a young guy in the late rounds.

QB - Orton is holding the fort, but he's not the future. McD likes QB's who are smart, accurate and make good decisions. I suspect after seeing Orton's lead feet, the coach would also like someone who can actually move around in the pocket.

Receiver - could be an area of need depending on how things play out with Marshall, Stokely and McKinley.

Has anyone gotten a chance to watch Sean Canfield, I've heard he's a good fit for our system.

Thoughts?

I haven't seen much PAC-10 this year, but I used to live in Corvallis and my football junkie friends there are very high on him.

As for fitting our system, he's definitely from the mould that McD's teams have drafted - tall, solid mechanics, decent arm, accurate, makes good reads... yeah, I think he could fit in with us.

I could see Haden to you guys. Would be a nice addition. How much of the offensive playbook did you take from the Pats? I didn't watch much Broncos game but what I saw was shotgun pretty much it. And I also wondered why Hillis never ran it.

Yes, that would probably be fine in terms of fit and value where we are picking in the 1st.

A lot comes from the Pats. Not only the shotgun stuff, but also the kind of things NE ran before they opened up the Perkins system. Lots of 2 TE sets, screens, inside/pulls complemented by a little zone blocking.

He got in the doghouse quickly for not knowing his assignments and making some stupid mistakes. I think he can be a solid contributor in this system (which McD also mentioned in his end-of-year presser), but he has to study hard and keep his head in the game.

I'd like to see us draft Taylor Mays if he's there, and if we do I promise not to hold it against Xanders if he busts. Anyway, I think him working with Dawkins would be very good for him, and after Dawkins is done I don't wanna watch a team with ****** safeties again. If he's gone, I wouldn't mind seeing Haden, I don't realistically think a guy like McClain will be there, unless he bombs the combine. After that though, interior OL is the way to go. We need depth on the DL as well, but we want to be at the stage where we need depth for the OL. We don't even have a surface on the interior.

Orton can hold down QB for at least another season or two. If only we had a dynamic young QB of the future...

I would love for McXanders to get a defensive players like McClain or Haden with the first pick and then get back into the end of the first to take Iupati (maybe through trading Marshall). Dream draft right there.

I am sick of seeing Bryant to the Broncos. The pick itself is fine, just getting really old.

My dream draft would be (assuming we trade Marshall) :

1 - LB Rolando McClain, Alabama
1 - OG/OT Mike Iupati, Idaho
2 - DT Terrence Cody, Alabama
3 - WR Danario Alexander, Missouri
4 - CB Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, Indiana (PA)
6 - DE/DT DeMarcus Granger, Oklahoma
7 - P Zoltan Mesko, Michigan

I am not sold taking Bryant. Just dont think WR is our biggest need right now. We need some playmakers on defense. A lot of the mocks have us taking Bryant because Haden and McClain are gone. I would prefer to trade down if that happens. We could use about 4 players between the middle of the first and end of the second.

I also dont think McDaniels will take Cody. He doesnt seem to have the personal characteristics that McD appears to look for.

Any draft that has us picking up a bunch of perimeter/skill guys is a missing the mark - we need core strength on both sides of the ball: NT-DE-ILB on defense, C-OG-QB on offense.

Personally, I want 3 interior OL (including one who has the potential to play RT) in the draft unless we score a starter in FA. Our tackles are young, so it's the right time to put together a unit that will last. Consistency on the OL is underrated - keep the players and system together and success will come.

Exactly. Like it or not, we are stuck with an offensive game plan that relies on power running, every screen play ever invented and the occasional slant. If we cant run the ball, we may as well not even bother turning up. If the running game is firing and the o-line giving the QB time, then it isnt THAT important how good the WR is.

Most will disagree, but I really like LeFevour as a developmental guy. He would make a solid mid-round pick and is very underrated, in my opinion.

The fact that none of us want Dez Bryant tells me one thing: We are going to draft Dez Bryant.

I've learned that over the past few years. Think of the person you didn't want us to draft each of the last 5 years. We probably drafted him.

I am more worried that we take a DE that will not do anything special in his entire career.

Don't get me wrong, I can definitely see us taking a guy in the secondary. It's just when I'm looking at these mocks and see WR in round 1, followed by undersized CB in round 2 and then an edge rusher in round 3, I really have to wonder if the author is going out of his way to ignore the clear needs along both lines.

And Robert Ayers.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the draft. I heard two McD interviews recently that left me with the impression that the focus of the offseason will be on upgraded both lines. In a similar vein, he talked about substantially changing the running game to a more physical, downhill style (though the zone stretch would still be part of the attack). In terms of OL, he seems to focus on aggression and intelligence as the key attributes rather than sheer size.

Also, based on his comments along with BMarsh's at the Pro Bowl, I'm not nearly as confident that Brandon is done in Denver. It will be very interesting to see how that plays out.

This is the first time in a while I've been completely open to the idea of simply taking the best player available. I feel like the large majority of positions will warrant consideration of some sort round 1. I've always been turned on by the speedy edge rusher. Having that said, I'd love to see us take a stab at a quarterback round 2, and I'd love it even more if we developed him for two years or so before playing him.

Also... can someone give me an accurate evaluation of Tony Pike?

I've seen these two reports: Summary: Pike projects strictly as a career backup in the NFL. He simply doesn't possess even an average arm to be a starter.

01/27/10 - Senior Bowl, Tuesday: Cincinnati's Tony Pike is the most gifted thrower of the class, demonstrating the arm strength, accuracy to all levels of the field and mobility rare for a player of his 6-5 frame.

I don't know if it is "accurate", but I'll give you my 2 cents...

Upside: Tall, smart, accurate, good timing

Downside: Too thin, not enough zip on ball, inconsistent on deep throws

You guys think we will draft a QB?

Orton will stay as he showed enough to warrant a further look with a year of the system under his belt. Next season is make or break for him. TB is being groomed as the long term backup (cheap guy that can live and breath the system, but most likely never good enough to be the guy). I assume we bring in a veteran to be the number 2 for this year until TB is ready. I just dont see the value in drafting a QB instead of bringing in a vet. I am not sure having Orton, a rookie from this draft class, and then TB is the right QB mix. I think that we bring in a vet in FA and wait until next year to draft a QB (either first round if Orton sucks, or later in the draft to compete with TB for the backup spot if Orton excels).

You can be so harsh at times :) IMO TB projects to be a a very competent 2nd string QB.

It's a good day for QB talk:

Discussions with the Eagles?

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/ne...story_id=20225

Bowlen has his own ideas?

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci...2#ixzz0epBvwrR

LOL - aren't you in a fine mood...

The article says we inquired about McNabb, but it also talks about interest in all 3 Eagles quarterbacks. I wonder if Kolb might be the guy we are more interested in. He's the right age to go with the rest of our offense, he comes from a spread offense (Houston) and he played pretty well last year in his limited opportunities. 2010 is also the last year of his contract.