His shoulder injuries worry me. The first time a 300+ pounder squashes him may be the end of his career. I think of Greg Cook, the former Bengal QB whose career was ended that way.

And I’d be disappointed (and shocked) if Denver went QB in the first round. Of all the potential first round QB’s, Bradford would be the most mind-numbing. He offers no signficant upgrade in arm strength or mobility over Orton, and would actually be a downgrade in terms of durability and poise under duress. You’d basically get an undeveloped and unseasoned Kyle Orton…in my humble opinion, of course.

I’m very “eh” with taking a quarterback in the draft—period. However, if one were to be taken, I’d prefer Bradford over the rest. Colt McCoy is eh to me, Tim Tebow doesn’t fit anything Denver does, and I’m really not that high on Clausen either. I don’t think he’s done anything extraordinary in college.

I love the pick of Thurmond but despite his injury I doubt he will slide this far. I love Bradford too. I wonder if we should go for an interior lineman with the second round pick. We absolutely can’t run the ball up the middle this year.

I was rolling my eyes when I began reading this but really enjoyed it. I love the draft myself and didn’t realize I could love it in November. I say hell no to a QB in the 1st round. Especially Bradford. I don’t know what is available in the NT position, but it would make a lot of sense there. I know Fields is good, but I’m guessing McD would like an upgrade and depth at that position.

I think the 6th pick would be a G instead of a TE.

I’m good with everything else.

Great post! Rec’d.

No OL help in the draft? We improving via FA then?

Something about Big 12 quarterbacks just isn’t appealing to me. That conference is very QB friendly and that’s why OSU and Oklahoma and Texas always seem to put up really big passing numbers. It doesn’t seem to translate to the NFL, as much, save Vince Young. VY is a different story because of his athleticism though.

There has only been one oklahoma QB that did anything substantial in the NFL. Troy Aikman. He only played 4 games in his Sooner career, though, going 3-1. I can’t really explain what it is about Oklahoma QBs that scare me. I just don’t think that they translate well to the NFL.

Also, Bradford hurt his shoulder and hasn’t played in the last 4 games. I’d wait and find out how bad the injury is before we up and draft him.

We need D line and O line.

I look for them to address the offensive line or QB

With the issues that we’ve seen in the middle on both offense and defense, we have much bigger problems than QB. I’ve been as unhappy as most folks with the play of the ILBs recently and if Spikes is available, that’s one possibility, certainly. We desperately need a center and whether or not we need a guard will depend greatly on what McD and Dennison are seeing from Olsen – I just don’t see Hochstein as a long term answer, Hamilton has been benched and Wiegmann is aging before our eyes. Polumbus hasn’t impressed so far, and that’s a disappointment as well. Can we go a draft without an emphasis on improving the O-line? Not to put too fine a point on it, but Walton hasn’t even been listed as a top 10 center on many sites that I’ve seen (I’m not out on them constantly, but I use Draft Countdown as one good example). A single late round center isn’t going to change the way that we’re playing. This is the big problem with rebuilding – most O-linemen don’t contribute in year one (Clady was the great exception, bless him) and if we don’t obtain the building blocks on this go-around, we won’t be sufficiently better in 2 years.

Getting stronger in the center of both lines (and I’m including ILB) is essential. We’re not stopping the run on defense and we’re not moving the defenders aside on offense. Clearly, McD wants to change the direction of our blocking schemes, and that’s legit but will take time. Until we improve on both lines, we’re just not going to win.

Ask the old fardhts – the game is won and lost in the trenches. Always has been, always will. Right now, it’s a big reason that we’re losing. We need to change that in the offseason and the draft is the place to start. I’ve already weighed in on Cody – not my idea of our best direction – so I won’t belabor the point.

Think of the two offensive minds on our football team.

Josh McDaniels (Head Coach/Play Caller)
Mike McCoy ( Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach)

Think of the 3 quarterbacks that have put them in the positions they are in.

Tom Brady (6th Round)
Matt Cassel (7th Round)
Jake Delhomme (Undrafted)

Kyle Orton has played at least well enough to make spending a first round pick seem pretty wasteful. Who is to say Tom Brandstater isn’t the future? I know I tend to think too highly of him, but he hasn’t given any indication that he’ll be a clipboard holder his entire career either.

I like Wooton. I actually went to school with him, very nice guy. Doubt he’ll be around that long though.

I definitely think, if the draft were to turn out this way, Denver tries to trade down and built up their DLine and interior O-Line. Maybe get a successor to Andra Davis? Front 7 depth should certainly dominate our draft – in my opinion.

QB is a glamour position – McDaniels is more concerned with the weapons he puts around his quarterback and who he has protecting him. Assuming Simms is a goner (how can’t he be?) I rather see us sign Orton to an incentive-laden deal (I don’t see anybody trying to outbid us) and maybe draft a guy like Western Michigan’s Tim Heller in the 5/6th round to compete with Brandstater for the backup roll/QB of the future

Tim Hiller.

The job will only be filled by one player at a time. The question isn’t really what round X players were drafted in – it’s whether of not ‘X’ player is the one that you trust with your offense. The percentages of first round bust QBs is surprisingly high.

It’s also interesting to read that ’there’s a reason’ that Tom B. dropped to the 6th round. There’s not in question – in fact, there are several reasons but none of them indicate that he won’t be successful. Brandstater was injured for Combine and a lot of scouts who wanted to get a closer look at him didn’t get one. His pre-draft scouting reports almost unanimously indicated that he needs to mature before starting, and that’s something to consider. He also had 4 OCs in 4 years and didn’t have a chance to mature in a system, which made scouting him more difficult. Like a lot of good young players, he needed to go to a system where he’s going to get the coaching and teaching that he needs. he did, and the rest will become clear over time. I expect him to be a successful backup or starter and we won’t know which this year.

In training camp, Brandstater mentioned, "These last couple of days he’s really applied some of his coaching toward me, and to know I’m getting what I think is the best coaching in the world, I know it’ll help me a lot. I really appreciate getting better through him." That’s exactly what he needs – time and coaching. If there was some indication that he wouldn’t be able to do the job, he wouldn’t have been drafted.

But highest on the list of reasons why we shouldn’t draft Bradford is this: whoever drafts him should sit him for a year. He should be set up with an exercise physiologist, a QB coach, a kinesiologist and a PT who is an expert at rehabbing should injuries and worked ceaselessly to get his shoulder stronger than it’s ever been. He’s already injured that joint twice in one season and, medically, it’s going to be a high risk for quite a while to come (I’m a retired doc, which influences my answer here). The players in the NFL are bigger, stronger and faster, overall, and he won’t do anyone any good if he’s on the bench with yet another injury. Taking off a season and really working on strengthening it – while working intensively on his mechanics and footwork – could make lemonade out of the situation. Right now, though, he’s a damaged player and doesn’t bring a lot that we don’t already have.

Keep something in mind: When you look at all the QBs taken in the 1st round, I’ve been reading that around 70% don’t work out well with their first team. Each of those QBs was taken by someone with the belief that they were the answer to that team’s problems and with a belief that they would be successful, just as Sam’s proponents believe right now. The odds are simply poor. Orton, for now, is a proven winner who needs a better O-line to be successful. Can we argue that a rookie QB will need a successful O-line less than Orton does? I can’t. Let’s build the team in a logical order and get the trenches in better shape right away. At the end of next season, we’ll know if Orton can play in this system (before his protection fell apart, he was playing very well) and how things are progressing with Brandstater.

But I would be looking for C/G much higher on the list.

as usual, your articles stimulate.While it is a somewhat fictional scenario, the thought and logic that you have bestowed it with, is quite good. I am no draftnik, but I would like to see attention spent on the middle positions of both sides of the ball. Also, I have learned the value of Colinski’s thoughts in the draft area. I have seen that he pays a great deal of attention to it.
Rec’d

which is that we need a “QB of the future” now, and badly. So, I guess that’s why the rest of the draft rubbed me wrong. But still, I absolutely think that the only way we should wait until the 7th round to draft an interior lineman is if we get the top FA prospect for that slot — and big free-agent splashes are not McDaniels’ MO.

So it was intriguing, and fun to think about, but no thank you.

I’m almost up for an article on the draft. I’ve become so enamored with the promise of the future that I almost always forget to stay grounded in the present. You did a tremendous amount of work and you obviously are very knowledgeable about the subject. Don’t take any of the criticisms to harshly, just use them as a way to revisit your grades and strengthen your resolve/adjust your position.

Again, awesome work and thanks for keeping the discussion at MHR lively!

It’s never too early for draft talk, I love it.
I enjoy reading all these comments… I wish I could watch more college ball and participate in those discussion, but I dont know enough of those players unfortunately…

I do like to watch Bradford a lot, but Im not sure if he can be the QB this team needs. I even think Kyle Orton is not our nr 1 issue, and would much rather see a high pick for the O-line. McGeorge brought up a good point in his post that Ronald Fields has been a great FA pickup, and I agree. I dont consider NT our nr 1 need either… Yet if we can pick up a player like Cody, i’m all for it.

Keep up the great work, draft articles are always welcome!

…I could live with that. With Denver’s tackles, BM and Royal, and an upgrade of the interior through draft/FA, this system and the weapons in place might bring out the best in him. If McD drafted him, then I could only reach the conclusion that a guy far more qualified to evaluate Kyle Orton than me agrees that Bradford offers more. I don’t think Bradford is going to succeed with a bottom feeder team that can’t protect him. Its a gut thing— having watched his tendencies under pressure and when getting knocked around. To me, Bradford lacks a warrior mentality, and, IMO, that shows up enough to cause concern.

The thing is, I’m among the crowd that believes that Orton is an asset rather than a liability to this team. I don’t agree that he can’t make all the throws and think that people that blame the O’s limitations on Orton are oversimplifying things. I’m also a firm believer in the Walshism that it takes two years to properly develop a QB in a system and that bringing in another QB— no matter how talented that guy might or might not be— is counterproductive. Then we start the two-year clock over. Its not like Orton is stinking the joint up on a regular basis.

Besides, like I said, its not as if Bradford offers a cannon dangling off his right shoulder or a significant upgrade in athletecism or mobility. Those are the two most popular dings on Orton, so I don’t see the logic of switching to the same style of QB. A guy like McCoy would make far more sense to me because he offers intangibles that Orton doesn’t physically have.

but I can tell you that I love your passion and you really bring it! Excellent.

But again, I think he is going to likely be a top 20 pick.