I was reading this post written by PaleHorse about our active early draft picks and that made me think... I agree with his thoughts, but then I asked myself: how about the mid/late picks? To answer it, I needed some research. These were my starting points:
1. The 11 past drafts are an enough sample to analyze.
2. Were researched the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th round picks.
3. Years in practice squad were not considered.
4. Blue represents a player who made his initial 5 years contract in NFL or is still in progress to do it.
5. Orange represents a player who stayed more than 5 years in the league.
Follow me after the jump to see the big picture:
|
|
||||||
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College | Years in Denver | Years in NFL |
| 4 | 108 | Quinton Carter | DB | Oklahoma | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 129 | Julius Thomas | TE | Portland State | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 189 | Mike Mohamed | LB | California | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 204 | Virgil Green | TE | Nevada | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 247 | Jeremy Beal | DE | Oklahoma | 0 | 0 |
|
|
||||||
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College | Years in Denver | Years in NFL |
| 5 | 137 | Perrish Cox | DB | Oklahoma State | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 183 | Eric Olsen | C | Notre Dame | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | 225 | Syd'Quan Thompson | DB | California | 2 | 2 |
| 7 | 232 | Jammie Kirlew | DE | Indiana | 0 | 1 |
|
|
||||||
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College | Years in Denver | Years in NFL |
| 4 | 114 | David Bruton | DB | Notre Dame | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 132 | Seth Olsen | G | Iowa | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | 141 | Kenny McKinley | WR | South Carolina | 2 | r.i.p. |
| 6 | 174 | Tom Brandstater | QB | Fresno State | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | 225 | Blake Schlueter | C | Texas Christian | 0 | 0 |
|
|
||||||
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College | Years in Denver | Years in NFL |
| 4 | 108 | Kory Lichtensteiger | C | Bowling Green | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | 119 | Jack Williams | DB | Kent State | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | 139 | Ryan Torain | RB | Arizona State | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | 148 | Carlton Powell | DT | Virginia Tech | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | 183 | Spencer Larsen | LB | Arizona | 4 | 4 |
| 7 | 220 | Joshua Barrett | DB | Arizona State | 3 | 4 |
| 7 | 227 | Peyton Hillis | RB | Arkansas | 2 | 4 |
|
|
||||||
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College | Years in Denver | Years in NFL |
| 4 | 121 | Marcus Thomas | DT | Florida | 5 | 5 |
|
|
||||||
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College | Years in Denver | Years in NFL |
| 4 | 119 | Brandon Marshall | WR | Central Florida | 4 | 6 |
| 4 | 126 | Elvis Dumervil | DE | Louisville | 6 | 6 |
| 4 | 130 | Domenik Hixon | WR | Akron | 2 | 6 |
| 5 | 161 | Chris Kuper | G | North Dakota | 6 | 6 |
| 6 | 198 | Greg Eslinger | C | Minnesota | 2 | 2 |
|
|
||||||
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College | Years in Denver | Years in NFL |
| 6 | 200 | Chris Myers | G | Miami (FL) | 3 | 7 |
| 7 | 239 | Paul Ernster | K | Northern Arizona | 2 | 4 |
|
|
||||||
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College | Years in Denver | Years in NFL |
| 5 | 152 | Jeff Shoate | DB | San Diego State | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | 171 | Triandos Luke | WR | Alabama | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 190 | Josh Sewell | C | Nebraska | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | 225 | Matt Mauck | QB | Louisiana State | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | 247 | Brandon Miree | RB | Pittsburgh | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | 250 | Bradlee Van Pelt | QB | Colorado State | 2 | 2 |
|
|
||||||
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College | Years in Denver | Years in NFL |
| 4 | 108 | Quentin Griffin | RB | Oklahoma | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 114 | Nicholas Eason | DT | Clemson | 1 | 9 |
| 4 | 128 | Bryant McNeal | DE | Clemson | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | 157 | Ben Claxton | C | Mississippi | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | 158 | Adrian Madise | WR | Texas Christian | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 194 | Aaron Hunt | DE | Texas Tech | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 227 | Clint Mitchell | DE | Florida | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 235 | Ahmaad Galloway | RB | Alabama | 2 | 2 |
|
|
||||||
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College | Years in Denver | Years in NFL |
| 4 | 131 | Sam Brandon | DB | UNLV | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | 144 | Herb Haygood | WR | Michigan State | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 191 | Jeb Putzier | TE | Boise State | 4 | 7 |
| 7 | 228 | Chris Young | DB | Georgia Tech | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | 231 | Monsanto Pope | DT | Virginia | 4 | 4 |
|
|
||||||
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College | Years in Denver | Years in NFL |
| 4 | 113 | Ben Hamilton | C | Minnesota | 9 | 10 |
| 4 | 120 | Nick Harris | P | California | 0 | 11 |
| 6 | 190 | Kevin Kasper | WR | Iowa | 2 | 6 |
Total mid/late picks since 2011: 51
4th rounders: 16 (31%)
5th rounders: 9 (18%)
6th rounders: 11 (22%)
7th rounders: 15 (29%)
Players still trying to complete the initial 5 years contract: 13/22 = 59%
4th rounders: 6 (46%)
5th rounders: 0 (00%)
6th rounders: 3 (23%)
7th rounders: 4 (31%)
(Marcus Thomas makes it in the end of this season)
Players who stayed in NFL after the first contract: 10/29 = 35%
4th rounders: 6 (60%)
5th rounders: 1 (10%)
6th rounders: 3 (30%)
7th rounders: 0 (00%)
Players still on the roster: 10/51 = 20%
4th rounders: 5 (50%)
5th rounders: 1 (10%)
6th rounders: 2 (20%)
7th rounders: 2 (20%)
As we can see, the Broncos have a good % number considering the mid/late picks. 1 out of 3 players with at least 6 years in NFL is a huge swat when we talk about scouting late gems. I think we all (football fans in general, not only the Broncos) underestimate too much these picks... but now we can see we should look at it with much more love than we do.
The Denver Broncos have a history of great drafts (Especially '01 and '06) and I hope we can keep it this way. Our new front-office made an outstanding job in 2011, so we are all expecting another great year selecting the rookies. Please EFX, don't disappoint us =) And by the way, now the Brandon Lloyd trade looks even more a good move!
I'd like to read the opinions of you all dudes, since I plan to make a more complete and full round research about our entire draft history.
GO BRONCOS!
Poll
How do you grade our last 11 years mid/late draft picks?
A (0 votes)
B (17 votes)
C (29 votes)
D (7 votes)
E (3 votes)
56 total votes
There are 14 Comments. Load Now.
Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.
C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read
R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next
Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read
Comment Settings
Live comment alert: Hide it!
Comments for this post are closed.