Who should the Broncos Draft?

Successful teams in the NFL know how to draft, period.

Drafting is the most important aspect of a winning team. It supersedes coaching and free agency. Just ask the Cowboys of the mid-90's. Jerr'a Jones claimed 500 people were capable of coaching the Cowboys after his ego booted Jimmy Johnson out the door. They got their coach but their ability to draft left with Johnson and the team started to denigrate until Jerr'a convinced a draft genius to be their coach enter Bill Parcells and the resurrection of the Cowboys.

The Broncos are at a crossroads. They thought they could contend last year but had too many holes to fix. Bad schemes and bad personal lead to a mediocre season. The Broncos did some house cleaning and showed some players and some from the front office the exit door.

The Broncos are suffering from the poor drafting they made between 2003 and 2005. They weren't able to draft role players to fill in the cracks. They were able to smooth things over slightly by making some clever trades in getting Champ Bailey and Dre Bly. Other trades didn't work out with the Browns for instance but they didn't give up anyone of consequence. The problem with trading or getting good players in free agency is that they require lots of $$$. In today's NFL managing the salary cap is right below drafting. Having your money tied up in a few players will tie the whole franchise's hand behind the back. Presently the Oakland Raiders are demonstrating this. They have a lot of money tied to a few players who are not game breakers and that will break them for years to come. Thanks Al!

The cheapest way to run a successful team is to buy your (quality) meat at the meat market known as the NFL draft. They lack experience but they come cheaply especially after the first round. The first round is the most important round. Every team can get a player that contributes to the team. He might not be a game changer but he should fill holes. Every first rounder (with the exception of the QB) should be starting by the 4th game or be a key reserve. A team that misses on first rounders will inconsistent i.e. missing the playoffs and drafting high each year (Detroit Lions).

Who should the Broncos draft in the first round with the 12th overall pick? The Broncos have many holes. Football games are won in the trenches and the Broncos were sub par on both sides of the ball. The results were poor red zone production and atrocious run defense. The Broncos really need a play maker in the defensive tackle position. Unfortunately the top 2 defensive tackles, Glenn Dorsey and Sedrick Ellis that are capable of this will be off the board by the time the Broncos are on the clock. My choice would have been Sedrick Ellis from USC. Dorsey got all the press last year but Ellis would have been the nose tackle Denver needs.

This year however has strong crop of first round talent at the Offensive Tackle position. Denver needs a good replacement for Matt Lepsis who never fully recovered from ACL surgery and then retired. Lepsis was beaten with both speed and power. His time was up. Everyone is really high on Jake Long from Michigan. He wouldn't fit into the Broncos left tackle position. He his a good run blocker but he'd be beaten all the time by speed rushers like Shawn Merriman. The next two OTs would work much better for Denver's needs: Ryan Clady from Boise St. or Chris Williams from Vanderbilt.



If both were still on the board when Denver's on the clock I'd take Chris Williams. Ryan Clady is rated higher on most mock drafts but I like Williams over Clady. He doesn't have the same power as Clady but he has much quicker feet. Williams also scored a very high wonderlic test. Offensive linemen need to be smart. An underrated aspect to their position. I question Clady coming from a school like Boise St. He played well against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl but the Sooners don't haven't played a good bowl game in years. Williams went up against the best of the best in the SEC week after week. He should have plenty of tape to show him going up against the best pass rushers in the country. Another plus is that he is the former teammate of Jay Cutler.

Either OT would improve Denver in giving Cutler protection and opening holes for the running game in the red zone. Denver's Achilles last year.

Next post: Denver's second round selection.

One stop down the line

Hope I make it on time