April Madness: The Draft

With the MileHighreport.com Mock Draft in full swing, it got me to thinking about how almost every guy going off the board could be a large help.  From the corners,(yes, they could. If you're not starting Foxy or Paymah, then they'ed help over Bly) to the O-Lineman, to the D-Lineman, to the Wr's. Not to mention the guys that are still out there like a Kenny Phillips.

In today's Horse Tracks, there was an article on the Broncos vs. Texans.  This was a fair argument, but it raised some big questions.  What are we doing?

Chris Myers was far more valuable than a sixth rounder and better than a 35 year old. What really gets me is Hamz. We've been waiting 2-3 years for this guy to develop. We Bronco fans have been chanting for Hamz, and then he gets lowballed. As a result, we've got John Lynch, McCree, and a guy whose name has slipped me. So, because the team doesn't want to pay Hamz, we had to pay three other guys who we know what they are? Was that Sundquists' or Mike's decision?

So now, we need O-Lineman and Safeties. Okay, not too hard. We have a good amount of draft picks. Yet, you still have to throw in that the defensive line is porous. Doom is a beast, but a pass rushing guy. Moss is on the sideline and Crowder hasn't been given the chance we're thinking he'll get. Really, the line could use somebody, but could this have all been avoided? Daryl Gardner's deal was bad from the beginning. Then there is the Brownie lines. Albeit they were in place for the AFC Champ season and the beginning of '06, those were the years teams were testing Champ and Jake Plummer wasn't heaving up prayers. We were very efficient. It could have been fixed then. Not so much anymore.

With all my negative so far, I'm going to transition to some "eeh" points. Ok, wr, is what bugs me as it's not a "oh crap we have to fix that" area, but it is an "that could become an area that's horrid." Kerry Colbert? Ok, Mike, Ted, whoever, Eddy Mac is retired. There is no one who can replace him. I know we're trying to build a carbon copy team of 1998, but hey, it isn't the same time period. We need a deep guy to counter act the possession guy in Marshall. That's not Colbert who did little with Steve Smith. Steve Smith is one of the most problamatic guys in the leauge and they have a good qb in Delhomme(spelling?). I can believe in late starters and he could be justifiable, but Marshall is getting in trouble and his arm looks like a butcher went to town on it. We need a big play guy. Character is a controversial area here. If you kept Walker, then a different guy is justifiable here. Yea, I want some control. A T.O. or C.J. character type guy is what I'm targeting. It's all really a humbled jumbled mess that needs to be sorted. However, there is some potential with Scheff. Graham will not be used with the O-Line, so he's a literal no factor. It could be worse.

INTERMISSION NOTE... Javon Walker leaving was a spectacular move, but an equally worse contract.

Before I get to some of the things I'm going to call for, I'd like to acknoweldge that those of you who are going to come at me with salary cap issues, I'd like to say look at the current baragaining agreement and those contracts will have to worked around. I'm optimistic to say that those were Ted's fault and that they're the last of those type that we'll see.

RB. I don't see Henry as someone who is needed. He's a luxury if at all possible. Whoever we put back there, he'll be successful. Whoever. The only thing that'd help is if you had an All-Pro back, but we have needs that are too pressing to be worrying about that.

Qb. Jay Cutler. Leader. Beast. Best qb out of Leinart-Young-Culter trio. Just can't let him rot. He needs help.

Kicker-Okay, this is a decision I'm going to say Mike did and it was a good move. Players have to produce and if you're declining, you're team has to be able to mask your decline. We can't do that. Elam really may have hurt us last year. Without he, we'd have a top 5 pick. I'd rather have that and the possibilities that it could produce. He can be replaced.

Special teams-Got to find a return guy. That simple. Coverage is as bad as the guys who're playing it. That's fundamental flaws there folks.

INTERMISSION #2 NOTE... Where is the playcalling? It's been bad.

The Draft. Oh boy. My opening has been lengthy and will be longer than this.  We're sitting at 12. Everyone getting drafted cold help us. However, we're not in a position to hand out a contract to a type of guy who may falter when trading down and stockpiling smart, high motor guys could be a better option.  I can name more late round guys that have produced for us than early round guys. We could stockpile those 2nd and thirdd rounders and target some guys who may have fallen or the high motor guys I've mentioned.

There is another option. we could trade. What we're going to do with this draft is to help one side of the ball more than the other, in my opinion. The problem is which side of the ball that is. Personally, I'd go Offense if we hold onto Hamza and use this season to see what Kwhatshisname and Boss Bailey can do as well to see what last year's draftees do and the safety position. You need another year of evaluating after these last few seasons of mediocrity.

That's what I'm trying to get at folks. This is a crucial draft and you need to build a foundation and I think that is Cutler so build around him. Wr's and Olineman should be a priority.

Now, in reality, no one here knows what the Broncos are going to do because as long as we draft smartly, there is no wrong answer because we have so many needs and some of the top teams are looking to move down and lower round teams up, possibly. Or we could trade for a guy out there. =-) Not naming names. There is a risk, but we have to really seperate the men from the boys with this being Cutler's first you're the man, you're the team leader season.

There are a few guys who are not needed, but they could be trading chips and they could result in an addition by subtraction type of outcome.

This will be one of the most exciting drafts for us in some time. and I know we'll be talking about it some more, but the possibilities are numerous, and our needs numerous as well.

In that respect, I don't think that we can go a wrong way. It's Mike's decision. There are no more excuses. This is the time to start again.

Go Broncos.