2010 NFL Draft 'Semi' Instant Reaction - Denver Broncos Draft Grades

The Broncos did not ignore a single need on draft day, significantly improved the running game, and got great, high character prospects with toughness and versatility.

I suppose everybody’s opinions are already out there… Oh there goes your comment Sayre… yep, everybody’s opinions here are already known. lol

I can’t go an A simply on the Tebow pick and the # of offensive picks. You no need was ignored? If you call picking up some defenders very late in the draft as seriously addressing the defense… I beg to differ. (last time I differed with you I was proven wrong, I look forward to the same here) And Wide Receiver? Aside from you (who certainly read McX right) not many folks were wishing for two WRs and a QB early!

But we did ok on the O-line by the looks of it and the defense certainly was addressed in free agency…I’ll admit it’s true that even I’m getting caught up in the hype and I so want to believe in the McX plan… but I’m still a show me guy. I’ll be patient and hope to God they do show me!

I think we did a pretty good job. Our offensive line and the depth of it just changed dramatically.

We started last year:
Clady, Hamilton, Wiegman, Kuper, Harris
Clady, Hochstein, Wiegman, Kuper, Polumbus

We got rid of Hamilton and Wiegman, never using last years selection Seth Olsen [which concerns me].

Now we have:
D’Anthony Batiste, Ryan Clady, Dustin Fry, Ryan Harris, Russ Hochstein, Chris Kuper, Matt McChesney, Seth Olsen, Tyler Polumbus

And added in the draft / UDFA:
Zane Beadles
JD Walton
Eric Olsen
Chris Marinelli, Michael Shumard, Paul Duncan

The part that worries me is spending a 2nd on Beadles and having him not start, same with whoever our center is going to be — I would hope he is someone we drafted, whether that is Walton or Olsen. I like the amount of competition we will have for those slots.

We needed some WR help after our game time performances last year. Stokley is almost done and Eddie dropped off the planet last year. Brandon Lloyd has never been anything in the league and Gaffney, while having a good game against the Chiefs, isn’t a #1.

I wanted ILB assistance and it turns out we got Akin Ayodele instead of drafting someone. The draft didn’t have much in the way of natural 3-4 ILB’s so I am fine going this route. Haggan has already been transitioning to the middle this offseason anyway, apparently.

My only objections are a lack of an ILB, and I still think we pulled the trigger on Tebow and Beadles a little too soon. Love the Beadles pick, Tebow is starting to grow on me, kinda like a fungus.

Though close to an A.
This could be a FRANCHISE changing draft IF the risk/reward guys we took in the 1st round are as good as I HOPE they will be.
Beadles is my favorite player, with Walton and Cox next.
Beadles is a beast, will be our guard and will bring NASTINESS to our line.
I HAZARD EVERYONE TO BE PATIENT WITH THE TEAM… this is a drfat to set us up for the next 2/3 years. Its i unrealistic to think all these rookies will come in and be GAME CHANGERS. McD will blood them…..to set them up for success in the next 2-3 seasons.
If we can blood some rookies, our D line can improve and we can start rotating in guys like Baker, and we see some improvements from guys like Thomas, Smith, Cox, Decker at end of the season I will be stoked.
Hope that Orton plays lights out….as I know McD will give him the opportunity to find that pay day with another program.
If we can go 8-8 or 9-7, have rookies from the last 2 seasons play some key roles….I will be stoked!

Just because I love my Broncos and I have no idea how any of these draft picks will work out. And neither do you.

Although I love the Tebow pick, I thought we gave a little to much for the move. I also hoped we would address ILB sooner than we did. Must be patient!

GO BRONCOS

for me its hard to see how at this point we deserve and A. I like to see what happens with the players and then i make a final decision. I do feel we did a good job addressing issues such as our Oline and therefore running game. however, I feel we could have added a SS or an ILB to really help or defense out.

Without Tebow its an A. At the moment, all I can see is the risk associated with that pick.

Not meant as a slight on Tim or Josh but it was a risk and all I wanted from the draft was a simple draft with no shocks or controversy.

We got the best pass catching WR in the draft (Decker), we got the best, IMO, Center in the draft (Walton) and we got a beast of an OL who can play all the positions (Beadles). Thomas has good hands and is the best blocking WR in the draft. And Cox has first round talent.

I think the upgrades to our DL via free agency will have a positive effect on our LBers.

…largely because I’d enjoy one seasonal phase where I don’t have to buckle on my chin strap to wade through the Bronco mocking and venom pretty much every where.

I think it was outstanding starting at Decker, but the first round through Walton have huge boom/bust potential, and although I’ve warmed up to Beadles (mostly because I have to), I think he was an epic reach. I understand the value-to-the team concept, but he seems like a guy that probably could have been there as late as Cox’s slot. With locker room leader and academic All American (ergo a guy with a similar intangible package ) John Asamoah on the board, I just don’t understand the pick.

I love the Thomas pick. His route running can improve, but he is a monster athlete who has the ability to block, as well. I have been watching Tim Tebow videos for the last three days and I have a hard time believing that this guy is going to be denied. We are talking about HOF effort. Whether or not the HOF talent comes with it remains to be seen, but I certainly believe he will be a starting QB in a year or two.

I’m sure everyone is familiar with the phrase “Will your team to victory”. Tebow is one of those guys.

This draft may look ……. meh…. to a bunch of you right now and that’s perfectly acceptable. However, I really like that we stacked the depth on the offensive line. That was something that needed to be addressed, right away, and we did it.

I’m giving it a B for now, but it certainly has potential to boost to an A in the next year or two.

If Tebow pans out the way I hope it’s an A+… Absolutely see the method to the maddness of McD.. Established veteran leadership drafting replacments right behind them. I think they chose Beadles in the 2nd round because he fits the Patriot mold and the Patriots had 3 2nd rounders. Eric Decker might be a true steal. He is incredibly bright and gifted. Can’t wait to see Decker, Thomas and Royal in the slot and Tebow running and gunning (Tebow a year wait likely but a man can dream). Wish the season started next month.

but I’m already exhausted from trying to defend Tebow’s pro potential. And what happens if Quinn does enough to keep him on the bench? There were more pressing needs.

I’m a University of Utah grad, so seeing a kid like Beadles join the Broncos gives me extra pleasure.

I’m definitely feeling better about the Tebow pick now than I was at first blush, but we could have put ourselves in position to draft both Iupati and Pouncey, which I think would result in a better OL than we have drafted, and still allowed us to get Gerhardt to team with Moreno as well as Decker. I’m becoming a big proponent of the nasty, run-it-down-your-throat style of offense, especially since defenses seem to be trending towards lighter and faster. As some else wrote on this board last week, the leader of the pack is usually the one willing to step out of the box first. With that OL, those two RB, and a serviceable passing game, I think we could be quite competitive.

All that said, I certainly have a lot more faith in McX and their football knowledge than I do my own (duh) – or, with all do respect, the collective ‘yours’. As I look at the draft and the way it actually played out with the picks we had, there’s really only one pick I thought might have been a mistake – Beadles over John Jerry. On the other hand, it’s hard to argue with picking a smart, hard working overachiever rather than a bigger talent with a variable motor.

Either way, I for one am very happy that this franchise has made the changes it has made over the past two years, and I’m more excited to see what the next few seasons have in store for us than I have been in quite some time.

I gave it a B. I didn’t like the Tebow pick (although I am open to persuasion). But here’s the thing: Take him out of the mix, and they still picked a 1st, a 2nd, two 3rds, etc. Tebow is only the legacy of this draft for media professionals who need things to write about.

Individual player thoughts:

Demaryius Thomas: When you read scouting reports and look at good WR prospects who struggle in the NFL, one recurrent problem is that they can’t beat press coverage. The reports on Thomas say he destroys press coverage. OK, then. Oh, and the complaints about his long-yardage catches coming from short routs and runs after the catch and bubble screens…. Well, I know a good fit when I see one.

Tim Tebow: Like my favorite TV personality, I’m looking for somebody to talk me down. Ted Bartlett thinks he’ll succeed, and soon. But so does Woody Paige. I guess the jury’s still out?

Zane Beadles: I like the part where he can (will) play tackle when Ryan Harris gets injured. Tyler Polumbus hurt my eyes.

J.D. Walton: Sure, I like big centers who play hard and don’t get pushed backward 5 yards at the start of every play.

Eric Decker: This is why I was thrilled to trade Brandon Marshall for two 2nd-round picks. Good possession receivers can be found relatively easily. I think McDaniels was giving a personal shout-out/wink to me when he said Thomas, the field-stretcher, reminded him of Marshall. Decker is Marshall’s replacement. Plus, he reminds me of Ed McCaffrey — even though he doesn’t run deep routes? Er, he reminds me of Steve Watson. Or maybe Luke Skywalker or Gordon Gekko or the Arcade Fire. It’s totally not OK to compare this guy to slot receivers like Jason Avant, even if he ends up playing the slot.

Parrish Cox: If he works out as a returner, that alone justified the pick. Plus, another body in the pipeline at a thin position. Psyched.

Eric Olsen: Meh. I thought the draft-via-carpet-bombing-a-position strategy exited with Shanny. Can’t argue with any of the individual picks. But boy, the team is thin at OLB if something happens to Doom or Ayers. Another running back would be nice. Or a back-up tackle. You’re sure nobody fitting the bill could be found here?

Syd’Quan Thompson: I wish they never picked this guy, because some enterprising writer will soon use his short/slow description to bring up the Alphonso Smith trade. Again. In all seriousness, why draft this guy when Bailey, Goodman, Smith, Jones, Cox + Carter already = 6 cornerbacks, one more than the team is likely to keep? You know who I would have liked here? Zoltan Mesko.

Jammie Kerlew: I just complained about the OLB position, so I guess I have to shut up, even if very few good things ever come from Indiana (sorry, HT — state pride).

Interesting positional battles coming up. I guess we’ll learn about Kenny McKinley in training camp. If he’s made any improvements, I bet he’ll make the roster over Stokely. I’ll vote that Brandstater makes the team over Quinn, that Carter and Thompson get cut as DBs, and that Wink is sold on Chris Baker.

The last memorable draft for me was 1983 and what went on shortly after. I graded the overall draft a B. If you profile the players we got almost all of them have a degree or academic honors, smart, versatile and tough. The choreography of the draft especially round 1 I give an A+ for the moves McDX put on other teams, that was brilliant tactical strategy. Turning the Jay Cutler draft pick into 2 great prospects for the future of this franchise. Whether they turn out to be any good or not we won’t know for at least a couple of years, but at the moment it looks good.

I agree with John’s statement: “Grading Draft picks before they go through one mini-camp practice is a bit ridiculous.”

I’d give McDaniels/Xanders a pass, if for no other reason than we walked into the draft with 6 picks and walked away with 9 draftees.

My preference was getting the OL and WR shored up and for that the Broncos earned an A.

Little to no defense addressed, earned an F in my book.

Average that out and it gets a C.

I’m not sold on Tebow yet. My jaw hit the floor when he was taken. I have talked with one of the staff over the weekend and he was completely sold on the pick and thinks multiple championships will arrive in the future. (The amusing part is he is normally the negative one and I am the one I am trying to calm and convince.) Once I took in the Thomas pick, I liked it since it was not Dez Bryant and he has the same size as Marshall with better skill in stretching the field. I hope that Decker becomes a player like Ed McCaffrey, a tough player that will do anything to make a play.

I liked the picks to shore up the OL. All three look like beefy bruisers that will make the line a dominant force that I have been clamoring for since McD took over.

Could’ve been a B+ as well, but hey…I’m a FAN!

We filled every position of need, and also drafted depth.

We have our KR/PR now…with secondary depth to boot.

Whether you like him or not, Tebow is more likely to be a hero than a goat, as long as we don’t try to change him too much. Plus he makes an IMMEDIATE upgrade on short yardage situations….just by being on the field. That was our biggest fault last year as an offense.

At WR we are now stacked to the gills with talent/size and speed…Decker alone would have filled our depth chart nicely, but Thomas’ potential is the moon!

Baker must be doing very well, because there was no trace of DT on the chart.

I believe that Decker, Thomas, Walton, Cox and Tebow (in limited scenarios) will all be on the field and have a positive impact this year….That’s a pretty good draft if you ask me!

vs early. Given the potential for any pick to be a bust, atleast later picks aren’t getting the ridiculous salaries demanded in the top 15 of the draft… This will allow the Broncos to do a little more in free agency before all this is done.

I agree I was hoping for ILB help, but maybe it just wasn’t there. I’m very happy with the WR and OL picks, because I’m convinced our line suffered down the stretch. I’m still waiting to see who else Josh picks up in Free Agency for the defense.

B grade. A if Tebow pans out…

Systems make a bit of a difference, but the draft is essentially a zero-sum game. Not everybody can draft good players. There are winners and losers by definition. For every A, there should be an F. Most people should get a C.

And yet the default grade in most draft reviews is “B”, and no more than 1-2 teams gets a D or an F. This is silly. You can’t all win. It’s like the time Bill Sapphire did a political odds column without making sure the odds summed to 1.

For those of you wanting DL from the draft, here is what McDaniels had to say

On the defensive line

"We certainly have confidence in the group of guys that we have, there’s no question about that. The three down guys, the nose (tackle) and the two
defensive end spots, we added some experienced players in free agency, but we have a bunch of 26, 27-year-olds that have played a lot of football behind
them. Then, we feel good about the depth there because (DL) Ronald Fields, (DL) Ryan McBean, (DL) Marcus Thomas and (DL) Le Kevin Smith, they’ve all
played football, and played a lot of football for us last year. And, (DL) Chris Baker is a young player that we have high expectations for in terms of coming on
and improving this year to improve our depth. The linebacking group, you know that’s always a… when you’re looking for three or four linebackers, there’s
not a lot of teams at college football that play that. So, when you go to your board, there are certainly players that fit for our system, but I know they seem to
go off pretty quickly. We don’t want to reach for somebody who we’re not sure fits when we have a player at a different position that we feel like fits a need
and really improves our competition and depth at another spot."

We got the #1 WR (on McD’s board anyway) [A] (We just got rid of a me-first guy, why would be want Dez?)
We got the #2 C – in the late second Round [A]
We got the #2 QB (on McD’s board – see more later) [B]
We got some really good lineman late [B]
We got a solid KR/PR with 2nd round talent in Round 5. That’s a [A+]
Decker is TBD .. but could replace Stokley. ©
My only down mark is why you make the trade for the 2 7th round picks for guys that may not make the team. [D]

Now here’s a little something on the Tebow pick and Denver is universally getting slammed for picking him with their 2nd pick in the draft.

Here’s a look at who this smart – know it alls – picked either #1,#2 or #3 OVERALL in the draft at the QB position (current grade):
2007 – #1 JaMarcus Russell [F]
2006 – #3 Vince Young [C+] (really up and down)
2005 – #1 Alex Smith [F]
2002 – #1 David Carr [F]
2002 – #3 Joey Harrington [F]
1999 – #1 Tim Couch [F]
1999 – #3 Akili Smith [F]
1998 – #2 Ryan Leaf [F]
1994 – #3 Heath Shuler [D-]
1993 – #2 Rick Mirer [D-]
1990 – #1 Jeff George ©

So there you have it.. all the know it alls have picked some of the biggests flops in history. Now none of this means that Tebow will make it in the NFL, but the reality is nobody else knows either. One thing that Tebow has that everyone in that group doesn’t is the desire and work ethic to do everything he can do to get better.

I voted B

Which means absolutely nothing.

Grading NFL drafts one day after said draft is the very definition of a time suck. Grading NFL drafts one day after is also something folks like Bill Williamson excel at.

I’m certainly no expert but I ask myself – Is the team better now than before? Answer – absolutely. O-line is better, receivers are better, special teams are better, QB maybe better. If you add in all the other FA acquisitions then the whole team is positively better.

The trouble with a deep draft like this one is that all the teams get better also.

The B+ I gave for Thomas and for 2nd round on down brought it back up from the F for Tebow, resulting in a C.

-

Here is my thoughts

1. Demaryius Thomas – very tall WR who is explosive = Great pick
2. Tim Tebow – will sit for 2-3 years but could be great = OK pick for 1st Rounder
3. Zane Beadles – like the player but we should have traded down in the 2nd and picked up a extra 3rd or 4th rounder and still we would have gotten Beadles = good pick bad spot.
4. Joe Walton – could be next Tom Nalen = Great Pick
5. Eric Decker – could be next Ed McCafferty = Awesome Pick
6. Perrish Cox – could be the steal of the draft by Mike Lombardi = Great Pick
7. Eric Olsen – overkill in my mind – would have liked a RB
8. S. Thompson – good player but do we need another 5’9" CB????
9. J. Kirlew – flyer in 7th = Ok with that.

So if Denver comes away with 2 Starting WRs , 1 Starting C and a Great CB then I am stoked. Anything that Tebow brings to the table in years 2-3 is icying on the cake.

We had 7 picks going in and came out with 9 players, one from manuvering and one using a next year’s pick. Throw out Tebow and Kirlew and my guess is our Draft is rated one of the best even by the MSM. Thomas, JD, Decker and Cox, smart, versatile, hard workers, and the rest not too shabby, love em all!

if you take into account the free agent mass upgrade of the DL, the drafts on the OL, the drafts of the big WR, the possible punt and kick returner and the free agent signing of a inside linebacker thats excellent in short zone pass protection, I don;t think I have ever seen a NFL team so completely address its needs in the off season. If the TE from the practice squad is able to graduate into a replacement pass catching TE, then we have upgraded every serious need we had.

Thats pretty impressive under any circumstances and if Tebow can handle some Wild Horses spread attack downs every so often that complicates or opponents planning each week against us.

Seems like if a normal great draft gets you 3 good starters or contributers this draft and the combined addition of free agent signings was exceptional. .

has been released thus saith National Football Post. Should we take him in?

The only way to give a meaningful grade is whether or not you like the players and whether or not they actually fit wht McDaniel’s is trying to do.

I really like every player we got, except Jammie Kirlew, whom I know nothing about, and every one of them is an ideal fit, especially Thomas, Walton, Decker, Olsen and Tebow.

I don’t care how we got them or where we took them, only that we have them. Woulda, coulda, shoulda is a discussion for a couple of years from now.

Tebow is an reach and project and not worth the 1st round pick. Beadles doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, doesn’t really fit as a guard, won’t be a center, and right now looks like a back-up RT at this point, not sure you waste a high second rounder on a back-up RT, especially when Ducasse was on the board, interesting the best running team in the NFL drafts him to replace Faneca, shows someone liked his talent and upside alot.

I like both the 3rd round picks, but then to take another center in Olson, I just don’t get. Especially when there were some decent front seven defensive prospects on the board. Trading back into the 7th, a bit risky, but not a bad idea.

because, even though I understand the Tebow thing the result was we helped ourselves on the O-line just a little bit less than I wanted. I’ve seen mid-rounders festooned with glowing descriptions come and go. I wanted Pouncy. It might be that McDaniels did too, but above all he wanted Tebow and it may be he sacrificed the one to get the other. If he’s got, in this very draft, the quarterback he wants to go to war with, great draft. And even if Pouncy was sacrificed Thomas is a great consolation prize and might even have been the preference. His description reads like B-Marsh2.0 without the maturity issues. Faster, can catch over the shoulder. I’m uninspired but willing to be explained to regarding the O-liners, thrilled by the receivers, and excited by the prospect of Cox being a super steal. As for Tebow, I honestly think he will turn out to be McDaniels’ Joe Montana, but I honestly can’t say I’m totally sure about that.

positionally we addressed our woes on offense from last yr and the recent WR vacancy. Defensively we seem to have gotten a couple of solid contributors. Kick returning was addressed too.

Unless you exppected to get Suh, Pouncey, McClain and Thomas, this draft was ideal. Anyone who considers picks one or two rounds from where they thought they would be picked is foolish, since the details of each player cause the fluctuations. Beadles was not a reach IMO, neither was Walton, contrary to some opinions out here. The rest were solid.

insert “reaches” in “Anyone who consider picks reaches one or two…”

It doesn’t matter how good the players drafted are or will be. This draft’s grade will lie completely on Tebow. For years to come MSM (and probably others) will refer to the quality of this draft based on Tebow’s production.

I feel bad for the guy it seems like everyone is constantly gunning for him.

Fortunately his personality/attitude so far has been to prove himself worthy\excellent. I believe this media judgement\criticism will continue to fuel his drive to succeed and we will be the lucky ones to benefit from it.

but could it have been better? possiblely
if we never traded up and hoped our guy was there when we picked, however you can’t do this because your playing against the odds. Of course its possible to have a better draft but this one looks like an A from my knowledge

he could have gotten a lot more value out of this draft. Judging by the point system, I feel he did pretty poorly with his draft picks. Makes me wonder how he manages his family income. But I do like the picks overall, I just strongly believe if he had better managed, we could have gotten Sergio Kindle.