Are you kidding?!? I thought Denver's draft was horrible.
Many things wrong with their 1st pick in Moreno. There need (and I mean urgent need) was on defense but no instead they draft at a position where they are probably the strongest. Not counting Moreno they already have EIGHT running backs... JJ Arington, LaMont Jordan, Peyton Hillis (FB?), Correll Buckhalter Selvin Young, Andre Hall, Ryan Torain, Andrew Pinnock (ok maybe this guy is a FB). With those guys they could have a pretty effective committee of RBs, while a couple of them could easily be starters in the future.
Uh, not really. NONE of the guys that you mentioned are starters. Some of those guys are just insurance policies that Josh brought in should he not be able to find a cornerstone at running back. Now that he has, look for a couple of them to be dumped. Their glaring need on defense (especially with the 3-4 being imported) was a franchise type of NT. That was B.J. Raji. Unfortunately, Raji had already gone three picks prior to the Packers. After that, there wasn't a NT worthy of being drafted in that spot in the first round so Josh, being an offensive minded coach, took care of the next glaring need -- Running back. And, in doing so, removed the one guy from the board that the Chargers (their competition) really needed.
On top of that Moreno was not regarded as the best RB in the draft, in fact most experts didnt have him going until pick 20 or later.
Please name the most highly regarded running back in this year's draft if it wasn't Knowshon Moreno. And please don't say Beanie Wells who damn near went into the second round.
I cant believe the Broncos picked him at 12 when even an infant knows that a late round back (even an undrafted one i.e. BJGE) can be plugged in to produce, especially in a run oriented team like the Broncos. They were having huge amounts of success with their supposed FB Hillis late last year.
I wouldn't say that Hillis was having "HUGE", amounts of success. But the success he did have can more or less be pointed to a combination of stellar offensive line play and defenses keying in on Jay Cutler and the pass.
Their next huge mistake was pretty much giving away their first on 2010 to the Seahawks. I dont care if you have another 1st rounder next year a team should not so recklessly throw one away. After all that hoopla they select Alphonso Smith who I didnt even see as a Top 5 CB prospect. Its looking like now they may have given the Seahawks a Top 10 pick next year.
LOL. If you don't see Alphonso Smith as a Top Five CB prospect then I don't know what to tell you. Maybe you should go back and watch a few games of his from last year. He has shutdown corner potential and is one helluva ballhawk. However, having missed Raji in the first round, I would have personally went after Brace if I were Josh. If you're switching to the 3-4, the NT is necessary and Brace would have went along well with the Ayers pick (which I also liked). But Denver's secondary was go awful as well last year and Champ Bailey is not the same guy as he used to be. I can see why he would go after a cornerback, but I would have addressed the DL first.
In addition to all of that though they also went out and drafted another tight end in the second round. They already have a much better tight end corps then most teams in Tony Scheffler, Daniel Graham, and recently signed Adam Bergen.
See now I completely agree with you here. I don't know what the hell they were thinking. Graham is an excellent blocking tight end and Scheffler is a good receiving tight end. There didn't appear to be a need for this at all. I think this is the one spot where they faltered. The only thing that I can think of is that were weren't any DL players there that caught his eye. But yeah, real head scratcher.
The other decision that disappointed me was that they waited until the end of the 6th round to pick a pedestrian QB. Sure he could be good but its definitely no guarantee, steals like Brady come once in a lifetime. This guy comes across more like a Cassel type development QB. You would think with them recently losing their Pro Bowl Franchise QB the Broncos would address that early but apparently they are going to stick with Kyle Orton (thats the guy who used to back up Rex Grossman. Yuck) and Chris Simms another JAG and career backup.
Lightning struck twice with Cassel. He developed mostly under Josh's tutilege and it showed last year. McDaniels has good chemistry with quarterbacks and Brandstater appears to have a very strong arm with good instincts. He'll need to learn presence in the pocket (especially at NFL speed) but he has a couple of years to learn that. Not to mention, he will likely be coming into an excellent offense, should he see the field. However, this can also be for depth, since the Broncos had very little of that after they traded Cutler. McDaniels may be waiting until next year to bring in a franchise quarterback. Until then, this is one that he can develop because Brandstater has the same physical tools as a Brady or a Cassel (though not as mobile). And Orton did a pretty decent job with the Bears, where his two offensive weapons were Matt Forte and Devin Hester (a cornerback/return man turned into receiver). I don't see any reason why he wouldn't have success in a much more loaded Broncos offense. Is he the long term solution? Absolutely not. But he's a good stopgap.
Most of their other picks were pretty standard just plug into the depth chart defensive guys... no one I really liked or see as a steal for them.
At this point this draft looks atrocious but then again I could be completely wrong and it could turn out great. Im doubtful though.
Most of our drafts (including this one) usually get responses like this.
