Today's events are bringing up a lot of raw emotion, especially in regards to Josh McDaniels. I understand that some folks will never like him, maybe not until he wins a championship in Denver. Those folks will take every opportunity to say McDaniels is too confident in himself or too firm in his actions as a first-year head coach. Of course, there are plenty of allusions to the so-called "Patriot Way," albeit derisively.

Some people want to believe that McDaniels is only interested in playing "his" guys. For some reason, a lot of us are quite attached to a group of players who have accomplished absolutely nothing. Sure, Jay Cutler racked up the most passing yards in Denver history in 2008. Brandon Marshall set a new NFL single-game receptions record a few weeks back. But since those guys were drafted, how have the Broncos done? They're 32-31 with zero playoff appearances, with a chance to make the 2009 postseason tomorrow.

2009 was a rough year to be a Broncos fan. We lost our beloved coach, and the reasons for Shanny's dismissal are still not clear to some folks. Josh McDaniels was brought in, and soon after the Goodman's were relieved of their duties. Plenty of folks pointed to their 2008 draft class and were baffled (to put it mildly) that McDaniels would muscle them out after bringing in such a deep and talented class. Well, I think it's important to take a quick peek at those draft results. In fact, let's start with the 2006 Draft and move forward from there. Take another look and see what you think...

2006

11 Jay Cutler

61 Tony Scheffler

119 Brandon Marshall

126 Elvis Dumervil

130 Domenik Hixon

161 Chris Kuper

198 Greg Eslinger

My Quick Take - Loads of talent. How about their attitudes, though? Remember, this draft also included trading a 2nd-rounder for Javon Walker. Before the Packers called Denver back and changed their mind about dealing Walker for a 2, Denver was about to select WR Greg Jennings. Yes, the collection of Cutler, Scheffler, Marshall and Walker are a load of offensive talent. I see a group of malcontents, however. What do you see?

2007

17 Jarvis Moss

56 Tim Crowder

70 Ryan Harris

121 Marcus Thomas

My Quick Take - Four picks, two of whom actually play. Harris was obviously a great selection. Thomas has been worthy of a 4th-round pick, but keep in mind that Shanny & Co. traded a 2007 6th- and 7th-rounder, in addition to a 2008 3rd-rounder for the chance to select Thomas. Quite a premium...

2008

12 Ryan Clady

42 Eddie Royal

108 Kory Lichtensteiger

119 Jack Williams

139 Ryan Torain

148 Carlton Powell

183 Spencer Larsen

220 Josh Barrett

227 Peyton Hillis

My Quick Take - Clady was a brilliant choice, no doubt about it. Eddie had a great first year, but he's got a lot to prove going forward. This 2008 Class is actually very weak overall at this point. Only five of the nine players are on the roster, with Powell a practice-squad guy at this point. It's nice to get three starters out of a draft class, but there's not as much here as we may have thought a few months ago.

My Conclusion - I'm not so worried anymore about how we're going to squeeze the 2006 guys under the cap or find enough cash in Pat Bowlen's coffers to re-sign them (in the case of an unlikely capped year, of course). At this very moment, I only want Mr. B to open his checkbook to keep DOOM around. The other guys can take a hike. I want to see Josh McDaniels and Brian Xanders continue to remold the roster in their image; I want to see more winners and more team-first guys. What do you think after taking another look at Shanny's (and the Goodmans') last three draft classes?