I like your thoughts. I would like to see Moss given a chance but we’ve heard those rumors of him being offered around. I hope their rumors. Trades/releases can and probably will still happen though. We added Ayers to an already crowded DE/OLB position. I don’t konw exactly where we will us Ayers but whether its on the line or standing up, someone will probably be getting the axe. I would like to see Moss given a chance in the 3-4 though.

Really insightful

“It appears through this draft that McDaniels is getting Denver ready for some smashmouth football.”

Your own words, “smashmouth football”. What would you consider smash mouth football? Did you forget that Denver is the running back capital of the NFL?
Let me help you understand a little about what our running game did last year. We averaged 4.8 yards per carry (with 7 RB to IR) and that was good enough for 2nd best in the NFL. Additionally, if we had enough carries we would have been the 2nd best running team in the NFL. Now that’s smash mouth football.
Why draft a position that we are 2nd best in the NFL?
Also, McD wanted to trade away Hillis, Torain, and Young. No smash mouth with Hillis on McD’s bus afterall.

Now to the young players on defense. You’re using WAY to many “ifs” here. What “if” Moss and Crowder became better at 3/4. What “if” they do this and do that. McD is putting way to much of his eggs in one basket. Draft a known and proven player in the position that will make your team better.

Trading draft picks 1st for a 2nd? Dumbest thing I have seen in a long time. And, your logic may be even dumber. Ever heard of trading down? The Patriots did it, this year, not once, not twice, but three times and picked up bunch of 2nd and 3rd round picks. This years NFL draft class was said to be weak, and next years NFL draft class is suppose to be one of the better class in a long time. Why trade away leverage of trading down for many more picks? Just dumb logic on both part of McD and yourself.

Broncos all the way!!! No such thing as rebuilding under Shanahan.

You were right from the beginning, and you convinced me to want a RB in the first round.

When McD first came to the Broncos, he signed three FA running backs and stated that he was willing to listen to offers for the remaining running backs.

I understand known and proven players are a stretch, but I would rather have us drafted Orakpo, Ayers, Chung, and Brace (in that order). I believe they would have helped this team much more then Moreno.

Shanahan may have gone 24-24, but the Broncos were competitive until the last week of the season. Last year, they weren’t even picked to come close to the playoffs. Look how competitive we made it. I don’t see us being competitive at all next year. We may be eliminated by the 9th week of the season or even earlier. That in itself may exacerbate of how upset I am with trading away a possible top 5 pick next year.

Harvey, Love my Broncos but hate the new philospohy of McD!!! Of course I will always cheer for my Broncos through thick and thin, but watching McD make one bad decision after another that “may” take my beloved Broncos down a losing streak for the next five years. I cannot sit back and watch, I will voice my opinion. Just like the rest of Broncos Nation.

Trading away future #1 picks (possible top 5), trading away franchise players, not drafting position of need (Orakpo, Chung, & Brace), and many others.

I disagree with you on the competitive aspect, I think we were very competitive in 2008. Broncos won 8 games and it could of easily been 11 or 12 games. That I call being competitive. When you miss the playoff on the last day of the season, that’s being competitive. When we say we should of won the close ones and be 12-4, that’s being competitive.

The AFC West and the Chargers, you cannot say “had the Chargers played to there potential” or we got lucky because of this and that…It played out the way it did and we were competitive to the last day. I could of easily said what if we won 4 of those close games or had the Broncos played to there potential against KC, Raiders, or Buffalo we wouldn’t be discussing this at all.

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Playoffs here we come !!!!

In an average DT year most people were saying that Brace would be a 4th-5th round pick best specifically last years draft. Your going to pay millions of dollars to a guy who would usually have been drafted on the middle of the second day? That is almost as foolish as taking Tyson Jackson 3rd overall. In a Decent 5 tech DT/DE year he would have been a third round pick. And Denver would have considered him at 18.

Regardless of what you think of the pick you have to like the guy’s personality and attitude.

His mannerisms and smile remind me a little of Carmelo Anthony.

But after looking at the draft in it’s entirety, I truly believe we are not going to struggle at all this year. Yes we have a TOUGH schedule, but after the Moreno pick, the reigns of potentially the best offense in the league were handed to Orton. I believe he will be our starter and I believe he will do better than he did in Chicago.

The best thing out of this weekend was the fact that the #1 pick we traded was ours….not Chicago’s. I believe that says Coach M believes their pick will be better than ours. I agree with that assessment. Bottom line? We are going to win now….not after a couple of rebuilding years.

If it comes down to needing a “franchise” QB next year, which I don’t believe will happen, then we are probably going to have to trade up to a 1 or 2 spot anyway so what’s the big deal…..

Well-thought out, well written, the whole boat. The expected starting DBs are old, and an infusion of youth was more than necessary. We have the vets to both solidify the now and help nurture the future. Rec’d.

I lke the post very insightful. Honestly when McD was first signed i wrote a post on how i wanted Spagnoulo and what not. I was very dissapointed. Now that i’ve put things in prespective though i think befroe i dislike him or anything about his system i will atleast wait until he coaches an NFL game before i really know wether he’s gonna lead our team in the right direction.

This is going to be an exciting year. I hope. I’m just anxious to see if this team can be competitive each and every week, and I really believe that we will be. It’s going to be a whole new experience watching the Blue and Orange play football this year. I think that’s the most exciting part. What is McD scheming right now for Moreno, Hillis, Royal and Marshall? I can’t imagine, and sure enough, it will be keeping defensive coordinators up at night next season. If our defense can just stop the occasional third down we’ll likely be more competitive.

How we play next year is a complete unknown, right now, and I find that very exciting. I think the Broncos had gone stale these last 5 or six years, and I’m looking forward to a change new thinking can provide.

You break everything down very nicely here. It’s very difficult to judge a draft. I mean, who knows how these guys will turn out? However, the one thing that you can take away from what transpired over the weekend is the coaching staff’s and front office’s feel for the team they have, which you break down quite nicely. From what I gather, our staff felt we were too soft on offense, that the secondary was a couple of injuries away from the abyss, and that the front seven didn’t require a massive rookie infusion.

Are these guys nuts? I guess we’ll find out. All I know is, I’m excited to see how it unfolds.

I like this draft, and I like McD’s philosophy. How far have we gotten with Shanny drafting for need? I love Mike Shanahan and what he did for our Broncos as a coach. However, his personnell skills left much to be desired. I know people are aggravated at all the change but could we have kept going the way we were and been in a SB in a couple years? I don’t think so. There was a need for major change and we are getting it. I think it is rediculous to judge McDaniels until we start playing games. There have been a few trolls around here who keep spouting that we are becoming Patriots West and that it is a bad thing. I’m not saying I like Bellichuck and I disagree with his morals. However, if we are bringing in high character guys with a determined work ethic and a strong focus on team play, we will improve dramatically. Also, as for becoming “Patriots West” anyone here can raise their hand who would NOT like to win 3 Super Bowls over a 4 year span. Good teams tend to be hated and I think that is where most of the anti-Patriots sentiment comes from. Every team that has been a dynasty in this league was hated while they were dominant. I wouldn’t mind that. GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who cares! We got Moreno!

(flying chest bump)

Kudos to you and Zappa for predicting the pick. I didn’t see it coming.

You deserve to enjoy the glory. And your take on the matter was proven correct. And now, all of Denver will get to enjoy your wisdom.

Good call my friend!