I love the pick of Eddie Royal, and I don’t think it was a reach at #42. Just take a look at the run of WR/KR guys that ran off the board during the 2nd round (heck Dexter Jackson was a 4th rounder everyone thought, and he went at #58). We got a guy who will make an impact this year in the return game – both KR and PR. If he’s able to add and average of 10 yards to every starting position we have it will immensely help both our offense and defense. He’s also a guy who can learn from Stokely in the slot (assuming the usual year or two progression from drafting a WR). He’s strong and loves to block, and best of all, he’s a good character guy who can develop into a team leader.

I wasn’t as high on Clady as others were, mostly because I wanted us to trade down (though looking at the trade down value, it was WAY less than even I thought it would be), but it’s a solid pick and it shouldn’t take as much time to work him into the starting job. I am hoping that he develops into an elite LT and is protecting Cutler’s backside for the next 12 years. Shanahan already came out and said he expects Clady to start from day one. WOW.

The surprise for me in this draft was that there wasn’t any surprises. After all the wheeling & dealing of the last few years, we just sat there and drafted the guys we wanted as they fell to us.

For better or worse, I always root for our draft picks until they prove me wrong. Building the O-line is overdue and we FINALLY have a threat in the return game. All season I have been lobbying to balance the receiving corps by having a Steve Smith type WR/returner and if Royal has a best case scenario development potential of being another Steve Smith then he is very welcome.

Punt returners are special receivers, anyone remember our last WR that also returned punts, a guy by the name of Rod Smith? PRs are tough and have nerves of steel, lots of WRs with speed and moves can’t be PRs (anyone remember Ashley Lelie or Chris Cole or Herb Haygood?). We need to be glad that we have a young WR who can help the team immediately in the Special Teams capacity while he is learning play receiver at the NFL level.

throughout the draft day threads, but I wanted to pop in here and let everyone know that we amassed 1238 comments for the draft today. I haven’t checked any other blogs to see how they fared, but that’s still a whole of participation considering it’s approximately 6 hours of watching guys sit at a desk and talk. The support at MHR is just fantastic. Hoping for another good turn-out tomorrow!

A thus far for Day 1. Yea, I hate the Clady pick…but not because he isn’t good but because I wanted a top tier runner. I will call Clady “George Foster II” until he makes a Pro Bowl. :P

I love the Eddie Royal pick. I think he has the character and heart to develop into a Steve Smith type of threat.

I’ll be on tomorrow a little late…went to a friends house(dolphins fan no less LOL) and drank some more so I need some sleep. :)

I’m only still up because I’m making up a list of players I think Denver might target (and would like them to target) and where they might be available. Ahhh, this is great fun. I love the draft. It’s coming along pretty well. There is an awful lot of talent left to be had, and I’m looking forward to seeing it head to the Mile High City.

over whether to give an A or a B+. I think the selection of Royal is in a way a tribute to styg50’s championing of Chris Johnson, because the Broncos did go for that type of player on their second pick. In fact, I suspect they would have taken CJ if he’d been available. He’s even faster than Royal and at 15 lbs heavier should be a little more durable. That’s why I thought of giving a B+. But if we’d traded up to get him we’d have given up too many chances to get lucky on the second day. In a crap shoot there’s strength in numbers. I’m also impressed by Shanahan saying he targeted Royal all along (although I don’t believe him enough to assume he wouldn’t have taken CJ if he’d been available), Royal’s outsize strength for his size, and Shanahan’s opinion that he was the best WR in the draft at getting off the line in press coverage. So I gave the Broncos an A.

Clady was flat-out who we wanted and in retrospect the best choice for us. I had Williams shaded ahead of him but in re-comparing their SN ratings I’ve rethought it. I’ve got three other browsers open in adjacent virtual desktops with SN’s analyses of Jake Long, Ryan Clady, and Chris Williams, the order in which most experts ranked them, although SN actually has it Clady, Williams, and Long. Even if Long is the best of the three, he’s not the best for Denver’s system. His strength is straight-ahead drive blocking, his weakness is mobility and pass protection. In run blocking SN grades him at 8.0, Williams at 8.0, and Clady at 7.5, but both Williams and Clady are better at the kind of blocking Denver’s system demands. In pass blocking Clady ranks 1st, Williams 2nd, and Long 3rd, but their grades are Clady and Williams 8.5, Long 7.0. Since the next person down, Otah, is also 7.0, it suggests that Clady and Williams are head and shoulders above the other OTs in pass blocking. In strength Long grades out at 8.5, ranking 1st, Williams 7.5, ranking 4th, and Clady 7.5, ranking 10th, suggesting there’s not much difference from 4th to 10th in that category. (The 3rd ranking player, Otah, is 8.0.) At this point Williams is slightly ahead. In mobility, however, Clady is 8.5, ranking 2nd, Williams is 7.5, ranking 3rd, and Long is 6.0, ranking 9th and suggesting how relatively unsuited he is for Denver’s system. (Auburn’s Dunlap is 1st, at 8.0, but doesn’t block well on the move.) At this point Clady and Williams are essentially tied. I’ved saved initial quickness for last, because it’s the tie-breaker, and because I think it might be especially significant. Clady is 9.0 and ranks 1st, Williams is 7.5 and 2nd, Long is 7.5 and 7th. The 3rd best guy is too far down in the overall ranking to have a numerical category rating, but Otah at 4th is also 7.5, suggesting that Clady is head and shoulders above all OTs in this category. For reasons given in my post Information Processing Speed I suspect that this category suggests how well a player will adapt to the next level. Even if Clady was middle of the pack in the other categories this ranking might have tabbed him as a potential mid-round sleeper. But he’s not middle of the pack in the other categories. He’s the best tackle in this year’s draft. Period. That’s primarily why I gave the Broncos an A.

Got to get ready for work now. Should have been sleeping during the two hours it took me to write this, but who can sleep on draft weekend?