Some Draft Ruminations

You gotta love the fact that Josh McDaniels is a riverboat gambler if ever there was one. As many experts have mentioned, McDaniels seems be staking his early coaching career on some downright zany if not completely absurd draft decisions.

This analysis is based off of rounds one and two because that seems to be where the major talent is in this particular draft. Let’s see what the Broncos started with and what they ended up with. Prior to draft day, the Broncos had the number 11 pick (round 1), the number 43 pick (round 2), and the number 45 pick (round 2).

After all the trades, they ended up with number 22 pick (round 1), the number 25 pick (round 1) and the number 45 pick (round 2). To get the two picks in the first round, the Broncos had to give up the number 43 pick and picks in the third and fourth rounds. I have no real criticism there because this seems to be a top heavy draft. Yeah, there are always some solid players in later rounds, but this year seems to be incredibly deep through the first two rounds. Might as well go after the studs.

The Broncos ended up with Demaryius Thomas (WR) with the 22^nd pick, Tim Tebow (QB) with the 25^th pick, and Zane Beadles (OG) with the 45^th pick. Thomas is a great pick at 22. The Broncos absolutely needed a big young receiver to compliment Eddie Royal. In a few years, the Royal-Thomas combination should be among the top 5 or six in the NFL. Clearly McDaniels is trying to replicate the Welker-Moss combination from his time in New England. At least, that’s what I hope he’s doing. And there shouldn’t be any more ‘character’ issues from that position.

The Beadles pick is also pretty nice. He’s a large young man – 6’4” and 310 – who should fit in with the power blocking scheme that McDaniels favors. And with the loss of Ben Hamilton to Seattle, he might start this year at guard. After this draft, all the linemen on the roster are at least 6’4” and over 300 lbs. Power blocking indeed. None of Shanny’s skinny-mini chop-blocking boys were big enough to hold these guys jocks…err pads. Add in Daniel Graham at TE and the Broncos should be able to muscle up most teams in the NFL with our bevy of average running backs grinding away for 3 and 4 yards a play. Of course we have no center, but who cares? Does anyone have Tom Nalen’s phone number? It’s not like he’d talk anyway.

The trouble starts with Tebow at 25. It might be the best gamble in the world, or it might fail miserably. Brady Quinn is a great insurance policy either way since he’s only a couple of years older than Tebow. (And if I’m Kyle Orton, I’m starting to think this whole “Kyle’s the starter” mantra that McDaniels spouts at every other press conference is a pack of crap.) The problem is that the Broncos likely could have gotten Tebow with either of their second round picks, especially since Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy were still on the board after the Broncos last pick in the second round. And the Broncos easily could have taken one of the other two guys, both of whom will stick around as either starters or solid backups for the next 8-10 years, though neither will likely be great.

To justify the Tebow pick, the Broncos have to think that their offensive line isn’t far from being perfect. Problem: we have no center and we could have drafted Maurkice Pouncey at 11 and still gotten Thomas and Tebow in the second round. Pouncey would likely start on every other team except Pittsburgh who got him. It bugs me that we could have had him and still gotten our receiver and Tebow.

The Broncos also have to think that their d-line and linebacking corps are solid enough to avoid picking up some high quality guys in favor of Tebow. The Broncos passed on a number of solid defensive players, including some solid backups to aging Brian Dawkins, in order to get Tebow, who they surely could have taken in later rounds.

The Broncos still have two more third round picks, a fifth rounder, and a sixth rounder. Maybe they’ll bring a bunch of hard-nosed young players to camp, but the studs are all playing with different teams, and the Broncos will now have to deal with a 3-way clusterfuck at QB (that is only if you ignore last year’s QB draft pick Tom Brandstater who’s got to be thinking about getting with another team right about now).

But McDaniels has got some stones. And hey, you only coach once…I mean live once.