My .02 on Roster Moves in the Rebuilding Season

To be brief...

Since any evaluation of personnel for the Broncos needs to hold a position on Champ Bailey, I say we....

... keep the guy!  I love Champ Bailey, but he is likely no more than two years away from really slowing down.  At that point, in a perfect world, I'd like to see him move in a safety role with the Broncos (not an original thought of course, as it has been heavily mentioned hereabouts).  And I think at that point he would willingly accept that.  Champ is by far the most textbook, fundamentally sound tackler I have ever watched on a football field, and would make an outstanding corner now / safety later.  Plus, he'd be the first guy to tell you "enough with the constant change already!"

As to other FA's, I'd like to see us keep our own guys in Prater and Harris as well.  Although I acknowledge that Harris looks to be a goner.  

Also in free agency, I'd definitely be targeting Kirk Morrison, ILB Jacksonville.  Not only is Kirk a big, rough player with some solid starting experience, but he also (speaking from the perspective of someone who listens to San Diego sports radio where Kirk comes on from time to time) is a gregarious, intelligent, well-spoken, team-oriented guy who prides himself on work ethic and providing direct leadership on the field.  He would be an immediate upgrade to the LB corps, either pairing with DJ inside in a 3-4, or moving DJ to weakside in a 4-3.  This would be a great pickup.

Next, I would target a TE in free agency.  Namely, Owen Daniels of the Texans.  I like some of the other guys out there equally as well for different reasons, but Daniels seems like the one guy that could help create some between-the-hashmarks opporutnities in the passing game.

I would finish my FA trifecta with another very good but hopefully not extravagantly expensive guy in Richard Seymour.  Not only does this downgrade the Raiders, but it adds a large, strong body to our DL and someone who can teach the new young guys how to do things like play dirty at the bottom of the dogpile.  Our Broncos need to get a little nasty, you know?  Seymour's our guy.

As for the rest of the team pre-draft, I'd keep Dawkins and match him up based on down-and-distance, putting Bruton and McBath out there as our regular starters.  Keep Hill as a backup.  

I'd let Goodman go, even though he is a pretty good corner.  We've got Cox and Thompson behind him and Champ.  Not ideal, but decent.  But I have something up my sleeve here - read on...

The DL right now is obviously a significant problem.  But I see the proverbial cavalry coming in in two ways:  First, Doom will be back and that's a GREAT thing.  Love that guy.  Covering up his run defense deficiencies with Morrison, DJ Williams, and Dawk or Bruton on that side would be a good thing, but even better would be having Jason Hunter play on obvious running downs.  Hunter seemed to shed blocks effectively last year, to my mind.  Second, I expect big things out of Ayers this year.  Look, it takes NFL DE's some time to develop, and it seems like years 3-4 are when they become impactful.  Ayers has good strength and holds very well at the point of attack.  He may not be a sackmaster in the making but I think he will be an above-average DE this season.  Keep this development period in mind when considering the draft - there is no rookie "quick fix" for this defense!  We need to build talent NOW, but we won't see the impact by week 4 for cryin' out loud.  Maybe with a Bowers or a demon rusher like that, but not with the big guys.  No way.

On offense, we'll probably need to fund a suitable replacement for Harris.  That guy is probably Beadles, to be honest.  I like his tenacity and he shows a ton of upside.  So in that case, really a guard might be a better fit.  Let's see what's available come draft-time.

Oh, I also wrote an earlier post about the need to trade Orton now - not because I think Tebow is such a slam-dunk QB, but because Orton is a walk-away FA after next season and his value is at its peak right now.  Looking back at that post, I can envision Denver trading Orton to the Arizona Cardinals for young, fast CD Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.  This would be a great deal for Denver and would really create a dynamic duo at CB.

So, in the draft:

1st round - Marcell Dareus, DT.  Finally, some beef on the interior.  We begin to develop some hot young talent on the DL.  I go with Dareus here because he is more of a proven commodity than Fairley.  

2nd round. 1st pick - At this position, I am SERIOUSLY considering adding more to the DL.  But with the additions of Seymour and Dareus, the return of Doom and the upswing expected of Ayers, along with the great find Hunter, I'm feeling like the pressure is off (a bit).  So, I'm going with OT Gabe Carimi.  Another big, strong dude that will help us rebuild this team from the inside-out, will be an excellent RT, can back up Clady at LT effectively, and allows us to commit Beadles fully to being our LG.  So we end up with an OL of Carimi, Kuper, Walton, Beadles, Clady.  I like that lineup for any blocking scheme.  And we have one position group set for a while and able to gel over a few years.

2nd Round.  2nd pick - Here, I'm going with Travis Lewis, the LB from Oklahoma.  Guy has similar measurables to John Mobley in terms of size and mobility, and will add definite depth and possibly a starter in year 1.  We could end up with a LB group of Lewis, Williams, Morrison which looks good to me on paper.  Again, a group that can learn together and really gel over time.

3rd round - Welcome to Denver, LaMichael James.  This electrifying player will deepen our RB position.  Look, we're not fixing the entire defense in just one year, and James adds a dangerous Special Teams (remember those?) element as well.  I'm sold on this guy as an NFL-caliber player in regards to his speed and field vision.  Imagine Tebow back there with some short passing options of Moreno, James, D. Thomas and Owen Daniels hitting the deep seam.  Nice...

Beyond that pick, I can see us going in any # of directions with the final 2 pick.

In any case, I've added a lot of team speed with LaMichael James and Rodgers-Cromartie, I've added a lot of beef with Seymour, Dareus, and Carimi, and some mid-level players such as Morrison and Daniels.  All in a day's work, my friends!