2010 MHR Community Mock Draft -- With the #11 Pick, the Denver Broncos Select....

The disease he has will not affect his playing ability

Easy to say that. Let me put the onus back on you instead of merely disagreeing. Where do you think his value is? I can assure you he won’t make it out of the top 15. Are you saying you have done more due diligence with your research than the team who would pick him?

I heard reports that he’s had it for 7 years now. That means he played Highschool and College football with this it for long time now at a high level. It’s not something that should be underplayed but there are many people who have Crohn’s who have had to make moderate adjustments to there daily lives. My roomate had it and he had to be a little more cognizant of what he ate. Ponderosa aren’t you a doctor or am I thinking of someone else?

Doctors said Culpepper was going to recover better, while others said that Brees was going to recover faster. Miami made the wrong choice. I trust what the doctors said. While not always right I feel this is the right choice. McClain is quite the player.

if we do take him and he gets sick et al., or anybody else for that matter, it’s not like it’s going to make our defense any worse. as far as i can see we have no where to go but up. and don’t tell me about the first 6 games of last season.. where did our defense go that last two thirds of the year. rolando is a stud. he has issues, so be it. like many other pros. i’m sure he won’t be the only pro player that has ever played with a concern. i say roll the dice, go for it. 6’3, 250 and ready to tear down opposing offenses is something i’d like to see. we haven’t had a true stud LB since al got injured. dj is good but he isn’t a game changer. mcclain could step in and immediately give us the anchor to our defense and a leader for the next decade (if he stays healthy, i know.) but imho, don’t we need the other 52 guys to stay relatively healthy also? and you could say that about any team and all their respective players. seems kind of misguided (if you will) to put such a concern on rolando and his health and not mention anyone else.

OLB in our 3-4 (or 5-2) is a radically different position than MLB in our 3-4 (or 5-2) no matter what the positions are called.

When his value is at the end of the 1st, were we dont have a pick, and we have 3 starting OLB’s?

McClain, Bulaga and Williams I like, and while Spiller and Haden would be nice, the other 3 seem like they would be a bit more useful and fill bigger needs. But all 5 are great players.

before I made it this far. Lol

From what Ponderosa said, in this post and others, our doctors aren’t likely to want him at 11.

Denver doesn’t select McClain and allow him to fall to another team, then we’ll know how their medical staff felt about his disease and as a result, his inherent value to the team.

I can’t tell you how curious I am about how this will play out in the draft.

McClain has had a flare preventing him from competing in his pro day. Current literature says patients with active disease have a 70% chance of continued active disease over the next 12 months. 50% will achieve a remission over the next 48 months. Since by his own admission McClain has an active flair we can assume his first year will have only a 30% chance of being disease free and 50% chance of participating in the next 2 years. How many of the examples MHR members are citing are professional NFL caliber players? None I think. To take a first round pick with these liabilities is speculative and in my opinion reckless given the risk. Patients participating in clinical trials are not professional athletes. One could say he is likely to better than clinical trials or that he is likely to be worse given the stress of his life style. I’m recommending we don’t take the risk. I think I’m done with further commenting on the subject. You either accept the logic and experience or you don’t. I’m not the one making the decision; I’m the one saying be careful what you choose and be willing to accept the consequences.

UF guys generally don’t pan out in the NFL. No thanks to Pouncey, Haden, Tebow, etc.

I recall one with Bulaga and one with Iupati saying he could be a OT if needed. Sorry but this ANYONE does feel a backup OT is very important. In fact I would go so far as to say that this was the biggest reason for our downfall last year. The season went south when Harris went down.
I am not going to say McClain was a bad pick. Crohn’s or no Crohn’s he is an outstanding athlete playing a position of need that doesn’t have a very long life expectancy in the NFL anyway. I just don’t feel he fit our system right. From what I’ve read and seen his tackles are not textbook wrap up tackles. He tackles high. He is not good in coverage, which is why Davis is gone. This is what I don’t get is why ANYONE would think we are going to draft McClain at 11 when we just let a better player in Davis go.

While he’s a player that will probably make somebody happy, this idea that he can solve the coverage quandary at LB doesn’t jive with what the professional evaluators say about him. This isn’t a guy that’s going to be running with Gates, Clark, or has the twitch to deal with slot guys underneath. He is not good in coverage, and even in college, behind the manimal Alabama line, he raised doubts about his ability to be a sideline to sideline player in the NFL. The idea that this will change in the NFL sounds like Shanahan logic to me. Throw in the fact that Denver released its SILB blind (which, to me, sends a signal about how strongly Denver values the position) and has a very good WILB, and I just don’t see it happening.

But, hey, maybe Denver can grab Butler three or four rounds later to sub in for McClain in nickel packages…or maybe Barrett will make a leap.

Plus the amount of money we’d be tying up into our LB’s would be ridiculous; and the fact that we’d be drafting him to play the TED LB spot, even though those players tend not to be very expensive because they are just taking up blocks and providing holes to the QB. That is why someone like Mario Haggan would be perfect for that spot. I’m not against taking an inside linebacker, just not in the first round….
If Joe Haden or Dan Williams are still available, I can’t see us going in any other direction!

Except I traded down, moved up in the 2nd round, picked up a 3rd rounder, and grabbed McClain at #9. I’m such a stud (pat, pat) =)

I posted the following in CapitolLions’ recent fanpost where he was looking for advice on who to draft for us at #11:

So, don’t be afraid to take McClain or even to reach for Iupati or Pouncey if you can’t trade back. People (most) would understand and like the pick.

Great pick. I would have made your McClain pick here, and I would have pounced on the top-center there. Well represented!

that the “8 year old” onset is not correct. That would make his case one of the earlier onsets I have encountered, and would, IMO, predict a more aggressive course over time. I made the point (when McLain’s condition was first made public) that the expression of this disease is quite variable, and that I would want to know more about his specific case before making even general recommendations or statements. I then stayed out of the discussion because (lacking much more data) there is no reasonable way to predict an INDIVIDUAL risk. The only thing we can get a grip on is the average risk for population groups. However, if this age of onset is true, it would tilt my PERSONAL (not medical) opinion toward that expressed by Ponderosa; the risk of McLain not being there when we need him would be getting larger. Ponderose already stated that we (physicians) are slanted in our views by the fact that predominently it is the more severely afflicted people who seek medical care, and I would add that specialist sees an even more refined population….Conversely, I suspect it is also true that there is a significant number of people with this disease that NEVER get sufficient symptoms to bring their diagnosis to the attention of physicians. The spectrum of the disease is VERY wide, but we are most focused as phsycians on those who are prevented from leading a near-normal lifestyle.
From a football point of view, excluding the health concerns, I like the pick.

Not-So-Final-Opinion; If we take him, I will be praying for him as a a fellow man to do well,, and not add to any negative vibes by discussing it further. I am a weird mix of scientist, fatalist, New Age religious revisionsist, 70’s flower child, devout Christian, and existensialist who still has the magical belief systems I had in kindergarden (or perhaps more Teutonically correct, “kindergarten”). This does not make for one who stands solidly by ANY statement. BUT …I’m never bored examining how it is I form my opinions.

The intent of the organization is great, but I suspect some of the more extreme statements regarding animal rights may make even their own members uneasy. It’s only these end-of-spectrum statements that make PETA fodder for ill-considered humor like mine.
More personally, I notice your sig, and apologize if I offended you regarding vegatarianism. Intelligently exucuted vegatarianism is a healthy choice for mind, body, and spirit, as its execution also engenders self-discipline and introspection into areas of our lives we don’t often take time to contemplate. I suspect these statements are like preaching to the choir, though. Again, no offense meant.

They also do a lot of wierd stuff. I’m already on the record about my love of animals. To quote the bumper sticker, “they’re delicious”.