Backyard Scouting

My personal feeling is that when it comes to scouting, you need to know your backyard better than you know anything else.  Once your home turf is locked down, you can branch out.  In the case of the Denver Broncos, that home turf is the state of Colorado.  This topic has been on my mind for a very long time, and is often discussed amongst my friends.  Nearly every time, the Broncos miss out.  Players get pinched from our main scouting region and go on to play very well elsewhere.  To my mind, Pittsburgh is the most egregious offender, but it isn't their fault--they've always drafted well--the Broncos as an organization simply let them poach whom they wanted without a fight.  With that said, I'd like to take a look at the universities in Colorado producing NFL-caliber talent over the past few years: CSU, CU, UNC, and the USAFA.

Disclaimer: each school name below links to their NFL alumni listing on Sportsline, not to the institutional homepage.  Also, I didn't do deep, deep research that took into account draft order of each round.  Instead, I substituted each on one-to-one basis for the sake of brevity and clarity.  That is to say, each player might not necessarily have been draftable with Denver's pick, although in most cases, they were.  Let it also be said, I didn't quite have time to take a look at Wyoming (Chukwurah drafted by Vikings), although they are certainly in our backyard radius.

Colorado State University
Ah yes, the Rams, beloved team of one of the finest party schools in our great nation.  It's amazing that they manage to turn out solid NFL players, but perhaps we have Sonny Lubick to thank for that, or, at the very least, his staff.

+ Joey Porter, LB (Draft: 1999 - 3rd round (12th pick) by the Pittsburgh Steelers): not a whole lot to say about Joey besides "concrete is undefeated."  Sure, he's a bit broken down now, but he was dominant for a good stretch and won a Super Bowl.

Broncos' 1999 3rd Round Picks: Travis McGriff and Chris Watson.  Excuse me, but I have to go throw up now.

+ Clark Haggans, OLB/DE (Draft: 2000 - 5th round (8th pick) by the Pittsburgh Steelers): versatile, tough, character guy that has made some very big plays in his time. It goes without saying that both Porter and Haggans were Colorado cornerstones (the third will be named in the UNC section) of the defense that won the SB for Pittsburgh.  

Broncos' 2000 5th Round Pick: Muneer Moore.  Ugh.  I really needn't continue here.  Roll the next slide for the love of god.

Broncos' CSU alums on roster: Pears and Sapp.

Interesting to note: the Texans have four CSU alums on their roster, though two seem to be projects (Anderson, Brisiel), and it was five prior to the cutting of Van Pelt.  Does Kubes do his homework, or is he relying on the Shanny-style FA-project model?  Time will tell.

The University of Colorado at Boulder
For a bigger school playing in a bigger conference with a bigger reputation, CU hasn't managed to turn out consistent NFL players like Porter and Haggans.  Kordell Stewart, anyone?  How about Rashaan Salaam?  However, we must press on to the quality products from Buffaloville.

+ Mason Crosby, K (Draft: 2007 - 6th round (19th pick) by the Green Bay Packers):  I cannot express in words how disappointed I was to see Crosby go somewhere other than Denver after slipping in the draft (projected third round), especially when Shanny natters on and on about the field position game every week (hell, we already carry a `Kick Off Specialist,' why not grab a real kicker to replace Elam in the next couple years?), and The Cros© led the NCAA in touchbacks.  I was personally in attendance when dude booted one through the friggin uprights on a kickoff.  Good one, Shanny.  Couldn't spare an '08 fifth rounder for the second coming of Elam, eh?  Yes, he is that special, in my opinion.  Long story short, Crosby was the best kicker in the league (141 points) as a rookie!  He'll have more than that next season as he ups his percentage, and, sadly, he will have a very, very long career of making Green Bay happy and me nauseated.  Et tu Shanny?

Broncos' 2007 6th Round Pick: None.

Two linemen that don't seem to fit our scheme (I don't think so anyway, but I'll defer to HT on this one) but have done very well are Andre Gurode, C (Draft: 2002 - 2nd round (5th pick) by the Dallas Cowboys) and Chris Naeole, G (Draft: 1997 - 1st round (10th pick) by the New Orleans).  Missing out on these guys doesn't really bother me, as they were high selections and the picks used in those years by the Broncos were for Pryce and Portis, so I have no complaints there.  All the same, they seem solid pros by all accounts.

Broncos' CU alums on roster: Lepsis (Retired), Graham (via NE), Sykes (Medical Ret.), and Fenton.

The University of Northern Colorado
Long a Division II powerhouse (back-to-back national championships in 1996 and 1997), UNC made the jump to I-AA and joined the Big Sky conference in 2006.  They play great football up in Greeley, and some hidden gems have emerged from the school.

+ Vincent Jackson, WR (Draft: 2005 - 2nd round (29th pick) by the San Diego): Leave it to A.J. Smith to jump the gun and pick the guy he wants long before the run should have been made (see also: what he gave up in trade to draft Weddle in `07), but he knows his players and VJ is going to be a good one that will sadly torment us for years to come.  He's only going to get better, and Chambers's arrival definitely takes the pressure off his development.

Broncos' 2005 2nd Round Pick: Darrent Williams.  A pick that cannot be faulted.

+ Aaron Smith, DE (Draft: 1999 - 4th round (14th pick) by the Pittsburgh Steelers): Are we sensing a theme here?  Pittsburgh knows our backyard better than we do, and three players from that Super Bowl winning team came from Colorado schools.

Broncos' 1999 4th Round Pick: Olandis Gary.  Great for the scheme, crap for the future.

+ Reed Doughty, FS (Draft: 2006 - 6th round (4th pick) by the Washington Redskins):  Stepped in to fill Sean Taylor's shoes this year.  Might have earned himself a starting gig next season.

Broncos' 2006 6th Round Pick: Greg Eslinger.  I liked this pick at the time.  I liked it less when we got burned by Cleveland and we are in need of a ballhawking, coverage safety.

So, who might be some up-and-comers from UNC this year?  These guys.

The United States Air Force Academy
I just had to chuck the good ol' AFA in there.  I've got a big spot in my heart for Fisher DeBerry football.  In fact, I nearly shed a tear when Jay ran the option and pitched out to Selvin Young for his first pro touchdown against KC earlier this year.

+ Bryce Fisher (Draft: 1999 - 7th round (42nd pick) by the Buffalo Bills): Not the most consistent player, but a great character guy, which the Broncs seem to be lacking lately.  He did have 8.5 sacks in `04, and 9.0 sacks in '05--decent return for a seventh round flyer--and he's still in the league with Tennessee.

Broncos' 1999 7th Round Picks: Billy Miller and Justin Swift.

Final Evaluation: It must be said that on the evidence above, it doesn't look good from a backyard scouting standpoint.  In fact, it looks incredibly poor.  Let it be said, however, that the last two drafts were very good for the Broncos, but I still think they need to know our backyard better.  Of late, Shannahan and his staff seem predisposed to rely on undrafted free agents (see also: every single Bronco I named above!  Except for Bradley Van Pelt, of course, who was a compensatory 7th rounder) from our backyard, rather than to spend a pick on the better players there.  It might be hubris (or the need-based drafting model) that keeps us from drafting these players where we should.  But it is more than obvious that we missed out on some key occasions, and judging on this evidence, it looks for the immediate future, that we will continue to.