Ted Sundquist Adds Blogging To His Resume, Gives Insight On Draft

In 1998 coming off our Super Bowl win, we were awarded the distinction of selecting 30th (last) in the first round. Rod Smith, Ed McCaffrey and Willie Green had been our 3 receivers and the staff felt the influx of a young player at the position would strengthen the unit overall. Marcus Nash had been a highly productive 3-year starter at the University of Tennessee. Peyton Manning's go-to guy had the size, athletic ability and big-play production we were looking for at the position. He was the 2nd leading all-time receiver in Tennessee Vol's history.  Street & Smith's had projected him a late first round pick. The Sporting News (TSN), Pro Football Weekly (PFW) and Mel Kiper all had Marcus as a solid to high second round pick. Since Denver wasn't scheduled to select again until #61, we felt Nash wouldn't be available & took him betting on the considerable upside. Last of the three receivers deemed worthy, the others were Randy Moss and Kevin Dyson (both selected prior to #30).

Subsequently there are only four receivers left on active rosters since the '98 draft that were selected after Nash; Joe Jurevicius, Hines Ward, Tim Dwight and Jim Turner. Important to note, only Ward and Turner remain with their original teams. At the time, Ward was converting from QB, not a lock at WR and seen as a 3rd round pick. Jurevicius was more in the McCaffrey mold (whom we already had) and Dwight, though explosive as a returner, was undersized for our liking and considered a 3rd to 4th round pick.

Twenty-five other WR's from the class of '98 are no longer in the League. Many might argue how we could pass on such a "now" productive player as Hines Ward at the time, but I guess the same question should be asked of the other 61 picks that occurred prior to his selection as the last choice of the third round (#92).

Yet from '98 -'07 Denver ranks 8th overall in gross receiving yards, 6th in TD receptions, 13th in total receptions & 9th in avg yards per reception. All while leading the NFL in rushing and finishing 5th in total offense. Somehow I don't think the selection of Marcus Nash has crippled our passing game or our offense since 1998.

2000 saw Denver in need of a returner and a young corner prospect. Deltha O'Neal had been an explosive kickoff and punt returner for Cal in '99. He recorded 9 interceptions that season and was selected a consensus first team All-American playing in the "pass happy" PAC-10. Clocked at 4.40 during his personal workout, Deltha had the arm length, ball skills and instincts the League was looking for. The Broncos had tied for 20th in interceptions (15) and were 25th in punt return average (7.2). Kiper projected him as a first round pick, along with TSN at the top of the second. Ray Crockett and Dale Carter had been the starters the year before and all the numbers pointed towards Deltha slotting nicely into our defensive secondary as a productive turnover and return specialist.

Only seven DC's remain active from the '00 draft and none are with their original teams. The first round has only five picks after our selection that remain with their original team; Sebastian Janikowski OAK, Chad Pennington NYJ, Shaun Alexander SEA, Rob Morris IND and Keith Bullock TEN. Though all have proven productive, none of those players fit a need at the time.  Six first-round picks selected after ours are now out of the League.

O'Neal was traded to Cincinnati where he tied for the League lead in interceptions (10) and made the Pro Bowl a second time in '05. He currently sits tied for 5th amongst all DC's in interceptions since '00. Current Broncos Champ Bailey and Dre' Bly, along with former Bronco Tory James, rank 1 through 3. O'Neal was certainly deserving of the selection.

Let me start by saying how great it is to have you blogging with the rest of the submissions many of us read daily here on Denver Broncos.com. Consider me one of the bastions that have used the internet to throw my hat in the ring in the blogosphere. MileHighReport.com has grown from the passion I have for all things orange and blue, and the need for me to find another sounding board to talk Denver Broncos football, and my wife couldn't be happier....

Now, some of my thoughts on the draft...

While it is easy for anyone to pick a name and focus on it, I look at draft retention and there is no doubt that it plays a factor in a team's depth or lack thereof. I recently broke this down - http://www.milehighreport.com/story/2007/11/2/91112/3144 - comparing the Broncos to the elite of the AFC the past 6 or 7 years(Pats, Colts, Steelers) just to see there we stood.

Using the theory that you can't judge a draft for at least 3 years, I used the 5-year period from 2000-2004. During that time, the Broncos drafted 44 players. Only 3 remain - Ben Hamilton(2001 - 4a), D.J. Williams(2004 - 1), Jeff Shoate(2004 - 5). To be fair, the Broncos did use some trades to improve the ball club using picks and players from these drafts. Even if you include Clinton Portis(2002-2), George Foster(2003-1) and Tatum Bell(2004-2) and say they brought us Champ Bailey and Dre Bly we are at 5. Another pass is given because while Ian Gold was originally drafted in 2000, though he left and returned as a free agent.

That makes the total 6/44(13%).

Without getting into a lot of detail here, here are how the other teams broke down --

Colts 9/39(23%)
Patriots 10/44(22.7%)
Steelers 11/36(30.5%)

All three teams have retained more of there draft picks from 2000-2004, and when you look at the names in that list it is easy to see why those three teams have all won Super Bowls since the Broncos last one the big one --

Colts - (Reggie Wayne, Ryan Diem, Dwight Freeney, Dallas Clark, Robert Mathis, Bob Sanders, Jake Scott)

Patriots - (Tom Brady, Richard Seymour, Matt Light, Asante Samuel, Jarvis Green, Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork, Eugene Wilson, Dan Koppen, Ben Watson)

Steelers - (Marvel Smith, Clark Haggans, Casey Hampton, Larry Foote, Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor, Max Starks, Ben Roethlisberger)

There are some big names there making a big time contribution. The Broncos are struggling a bit now because there were some years that the draft has not paid dividends in the past. The Broncos have 3 complete draft classes(2000, 2002, 2003) that have a total of one player still on the roster(Gold) and like I stated above, he actually left and came back.

I will agree that more goes into every selection than any of us realize, and all teams miss from time to time. But there is definitely a correlation between the team's perceived struggles on the field and draft miscues off of it.

I will say this, though. 2005, 2006 and 2007 appear to be solid drafts, and this is a young team for the most part. As we all saw Monday Night, the future of the Broncos is definitely bright, and the present doesn't look too shabby either.