Straight from the horse's mouth, pardon the phrase, Elway has announced that the Broncos have signed their 7th round draft choice, defensive end Jeremy Beal out of Oklahoma. There is no news as of yet to how much his contract will be or for how long it will last.
Beal had a very successful collegiate career in Oklahoma, but a poor Combine showing hurt his draft stock he he fell to the bottom. According to Xanders after the draft:
He was really the highest remaining guy on our board in the 7th Round. He's a productive guy that makes a lot of plays, we're surprised he fell down that far - that's probably because of the Combine or Senior Bowl stuff - but we really evaluate off the football tape and we're really excited to have him. link
Shortly after his selection at the draft, our own KaptainKirk said this:
Beal was considered one of the top defensive end prospects in this years NFL Draft. A 3-year starter for the Sooners, Jeremy earned 2010 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors while finishing 2nd in OU history with 29 career Sacks, and 2nd in school history with 56.5 tackles for loss. He also caused 10 Fumbles and broke up 14 passes in his career, intercepting one.Jeremy was a 1st-Team All-Big 12 selection in each of his 3 years as a starter and was the first player in Sooners history with at least 8.5 sacks in three different seasons. He is the first Sooner to accumulate more than 200 yards lost on sacks.
He is a solid tackler, stays low and gives full effort to grab ballcarriers. He has a tendency to cause turnovers with his hard hitting style and tries to strip the ball when the impact doesn't cause a fumble.The final kicker is Beal's intangibles. He is well-liked by his teammates and is known for his good work ethic. Jeremy has good football instincts and intelligence as well. With this pick the Broncos get a player who brings an "attention to detail" reputation in the film room and also a durable player who lines up every week and gives full effort.
With Beal now signed, the lower half of the Broncos rookies have now become officially Broncos.