Broncos Focus on Draft - DP

[EddyMacDontPlay]

Elways going in the right direction here for sure. Let's just hope he's got the right staff to go along with the plan.

[theshiverman]

Broncos' focus remains on NFL draft for off-season acquisitions
Posted: 01/20/2012 06:18:00 PM MST
Updated: 01/20/2012 11:17:22 PM MST By Jeff Legwold
The Denver Post



Their scouting staff spent this past week in St. Petersburg, Fla., at the East-West Shrine Game practices and will spend the coming week in Mobile, Ala., at the Senior Bowl workouts, where John Elway, general manager Brian Xanders, coach John Fox and assistant coaches will join the personnel staff.

And many have wondered what the Broncos' plan is for the offseason.

At least when Elway and Xanders speak of the offseason play, it is to maintain the discipline to build a franchise through the draft and to put one successful draft class on top of another and another and another as the years go by.

That is also easier to say than to actually do, which is why so many teams try it at times before diving into free agency, checkbook in hand, in an effort to buy their way out of trouble.

Free agency will continue to be a good thing for the most prominent free agents and a hard-earned victory for players in the history of collective bargaining negotiations. It is not, and the Washington Redskins are always the first examples offered by many in the league, a way to consistently put together a team that can compete for the playoffs.

The proof is consistently in the standings.

From his first day on the job, Elway has stressed the importance of the draft. He stressed it again Monday in an extended question-and-answer session to wrap up the season.

The test will come in the coming months. There will be the lure of the recent playoff spot, one that included the emotional, feel-good, upset win over the Steelers in the wild-card round.

Players and Elway said the win over the Steelers was the loudest — Elway said it was the "most excited" — the stadium had been in their time with the team.

But teams get in trouble over the long haul when they make marketing and emotional decisions instead of football decisions. Football decisions usually dictate how many victories a team accumulates.

And if the Broncos give in to at least a segment of public sentiment that they are close to being a consistent playoff team and dive into free agency at the expense of the draft and the development curve of younger players, that could be a trap.

Most personnel executives around the league believe the Broncos are closer to missing the playoffs than to being a consistent playoff team because of their depth issues across the roster, as well as their uncertainty over what the offensive playbook will look like moving forward and what personnel that plan will require.

For their part, the Broncos have made it clear they enjoyed the playoff run, but also have shown restraint in recent days.

Fox said the team had "a long way to go."

Elway called the playoff games a youthful team played in the last two weeks "a tremendous building block," but also added "we're not where we need to go."

And Xanders characterized the approach for free agency with, "we plan to be aggressive and smart at the same time." Xanders also referred to making "value signings."

That would seem to indicate the draft is on the front burner as is developing their players. And while that may not be the plan some want for the team, it's one Elway appears committed to.

Jeff Legwold: [email protected]

Fix the middle of that D-Line, the foundation of that Defense is what needs to be built up first, look at the 4 teams in the Championship games this weekend, they all have a good soild D-line

[lvbronx]

I think the comment that bothered me the most was made by Xanders where he stated they would look for "value signings in FA".

I think I'm about to go on another offseason tirade. This team should have generated a lot of revenue this last year and there's no excuse for continuing to be tightwads in FA. Frankly, we were lucky Bunckley fell into our laps, otherwise we would have been really screwed.

I agree. We had a home playoff game which is huge as far as revenue is concerned.

Shanny and mcd are off the books. So is Orton's $8 million or so.

And we were more than $20 million under the cap last year. That was more than enough to sign Mebane and Sproles. I would have like to have had both of them on the team this past season.

Between the extra revenue from the home playoff game and the money we save on ex coaches and QBs, we should have tons of money to spend. This will be a good year to really judge if Bowlen has turned into a tightwad or not. There's no excuses this year.

[broncolee]

Hopefully they re-sign Bunkley and Ty Warren stays healthy next season. I would have loved to see what they could do together.

We might have gotten a glimpse of it in the last six weeks if they didn't have to put Warren on IR because of injuries at other positions.

Building through the draft is the right way to go.

The Broncos have been burned by free agency enough. It should be a compliment to the draft not the focus building a team.

[Broncos724]

Look, I agree that the draft is key to building a sustainable team of young talent for the future. That being said, the probability of missing in the draft is higher than it is with a player (especially an established player) in free agency because usually the free agent has already shown his ability to perform (or not perform) in the NFL. Also, the better players in free agency (certainly the more veteran ones) are much more well developed in their talent.

And I think it's a ridiculous assertion by the author that "[Free agency] is not...a way to consistently put together a team that can compete for the playoffs." He cites the Redskins as proof, but I bet the 2005, 3-13 Saints would beg to differ, especially after acquiring Drew Brees in 2006.

Not to mention some of the most impactful players in recent memory were free agent acquisitions like Darren Sproles, Julius Peppers, Michael Turner, Kurt Warner. Or going further back, our very own Gary Zimmerman, Reggie White, or Johnny Unitas.

The bottom line is that in both cases, the draft and free agency, it's about the organization's ability to recognize talent. Without that ability, neither the draft nor free agency will be particularly useful in building a consistent playoff team. And really, the Broncos have been lacking in that department for years now.

Those are all single players added to talented teams.....built through the draft. You can add impactful players from FA, but if, year in and year out, you trade most of your draft picks for FAs, you are gonna be hard pressed to build a good team.

[SinePari]

Those are all single players added to talented teams.....built through the draft. You can add impactful players from FA, but if, year in and year out, you trade most of your draft picks for FAs, you are gonna be hard pressed to build a good team.

Drew Brees was added to a 3-13 Saints team that was pretty mediocre most years before (8-8 in '04, 8-8 in '03, 9-7 in '02, 7-9 in '01...). So while they were not "talent-less," I wouldn't consider them overwhelmingly talented (at least no more than the average NFL team). After acquiring Brees in 2006, they went 10-6 and then won the SuperBowl three years later.

Also, you don't have to "trade most of your draft picks for FAs." You don't have to go after restricted free agents. Yes there are guys like Sproles who were tagged, but guys like Brees (and Turner and White and Peppers) were not. Unrestricted free agents are just that - free from any team - so you wouldn't have to trade your draft picks to get them. It's just about money at that point. And you know, they've been just as good as the restricted ones.

[Crazy8]

This really, really bothers me. I've been saying for a while now that I hope we don't become the Chiefs and Bucs. A team that had a very good year, only to fall flat on their faces the next year.

I hate to say it, but we could really miss the playoffs next year and STILL be a better team. We had the ball bounce the right way a few times, and we kind of caught people by surprise a little bit with the whole option game. For a period of time, no one knew how to play us.

Next year, we're going to have to pass the ball better, because no one's going to let us run the option or read plays too much. They certainly didn't at the end of the year. But the cool thing we can do is dictate teams coverages with the threat of the option/zone read.

[JayJack]

I hate to say it, but we could really miss the playoffs next year and STILL be a better team. We had the ball bounce the right way a few times, and we kind of caught people by surprise a little bit with the whole option game. For a period of time, no one knew how to play us.

Next year, we're going to have to pass the ball better, because no one's going to let us run the option or read plays too much. They certainly didn't at the end of the year. But the cool thing we can do is dictate teams coverages with the threat of the option/zone read.

This could very well be possible. And if that's the case, i'll be happy.

[PunchDrunk]

I think the comment that bothered me the most was made by Xanders where he stated they would look for "value signings in FA".

I think I'm about to go on another offseason tirade. This team should have generated a lot of revenue this last year and there's no excuse for continuing to be tightwads in FA. Frankly, we were lucky Bunckley fell into our laps, otherwise we would have been really screwed.

Priority number on in FA is to re-sign the players you already have. FA should really be about finding people who can play that can be had for cheap or grabbing the ONE missing piece. The main reason for that type of building is that Free Agents are expensive but rookie contracts are really cheap.

If you miss on a rookie (outside of quarterback) it won't set you back much but if you miss on a Free Agent who you sign to a 7 year contract, you may have to pass on re-signing a key player because you don't have the cap room.

You build your team through the draft and hope that all the pieces are there. If there happens to be a year where you need to have a corner back or a safety or a receiver to become a championship contender, then you look toward FA as an option.

The Broncos were a four to five year project that outperformed this year. That means that they have a long way to go before they start making huge splashes in free agency.

[PunchDrunk]

I hate to say it, but we could really miss the playoffs next year and STILL be a better team. We had the ball bounce the right way a few times, and we kind of caught people by surprise a little bit with the whole option game. For a period of time, no one knew how to play us.

Next year, we're going to have to pass the ball better, because no one's going to let us run the option or read plays too much. They certainly didn't at the end of the year. But the cool thing we can do is dictate teams coverages with the threat of the option/zone read.

That absolutely will be the case. Honestly, the Broncos have the talent of a 5 win team but opponents couldn't match up against our changed offense (which I think led to about 3 extra wins). Next year, we will probably only win 6 or 7 unless Tebow "gets it".

I hope that our defense gets better though. I'm tired of having such a crappy unit. (Not that they were crappy last year but I wasn't confident they were going to make a big play)

[it'sjustagame]

I think we should make a good trade to get alot of picks to build this team. We have a valuable piece that im sure most NFL GM's are just dying to get a hold of. Yes im talking of the annointed one Tim Tebow. Tebowmaniacs think he as the potential to be the greatest QB of all time. U know all those intangables he has is much more important than a skill set. Heck 3 years ago we traded a guy who had a TRUE Nfl skill set and supposedly his intangables were not very good. We got 2 number 1's and a number 3 for him. If Timmy is so great we should be able to get much more outta some one than that. Say 3 number 1"s a second and a 3rd. Hopefully we could also get the team to throw in a Pro ready QB that might be able to throw the ball into tight windows. Id be really disappointed to see the circus leave town but man we could rebuild this young team real well with all those draft picks Timmy would get us

[JakeNbake]

@johnelway
John Elway
Just arrived in Mobile for Senior Bowl. Mtgs with our coaches & scouts set for today. Important part of draft prep begins.
3 hours ago via web

oh ok

[PunchDrunk]

I think we should make a good trade to get alot of picks to build this team. We have a valuable piece that im sure most NFL GM's are just dying to get a hold of. Yes im talking of the annointed one Tim Tebow. Tebowmaniacs think he as the potential to be the greatest QB of all time. U know all those intangables he has is much more important than a skill set. Heck 3 years ago we traded a guy who had a TRUE Nfl skill set and supposedly his intangables were not very good. We got 2 number 1's and a number 3 for him. If Timmy is so great we should be able to get much more outta some one than that. Say 3 number 1"s a second and a 3rd. Hopefully we could also get the team to throw in a Pro ready QB that might be able to throw the ball into tight windows. Id be really disappointed to see the circus leave town but man we could rebuild this young team real well with all those draft picks Timmy would get us

In terms of football playing and trade value, Jay Cutler > Tim Tebow.

I don't think there is one team that would be willing to trade one first round pick for Tebow, let alone three.

We need to be consistently good in the draft and hope some players slip. There are some quality players to be had in the late first round.

[nyuk nyuk]

Same resaon they let go of Lloyd..
to work the younger WR's...
even at the cost of the many drops.

What?! Lloyd asked to be traded.

[MHSalute]

That absolutely will be the case. Honestly, the Broncos have the talent of a 5 win team but opponents couldn't match up against our changed offense (which I think led to about 3 extra wins). Next year, we will probably only win 6 or 7 unless Tebow "gets it".

I hope that our defense gets better though. I'm tired of having such a crappy unit. (Not that they were crappy last year but I wasn't confident they were going to make a big play)

I think our D is only a few pieces away from being elite. They showed flashes, but had definite holes teams like GB and Pats took advantage of.

Still hoping EFX goes out and gets Calais Campbell and Jason Jones instead of re-signing Thomas and keeping Warren and Vickerson. Jones would cost the same as Warren and we are talking 6M more to get Campbell vs signing Thomas and Vickersons 2M.

Those two inside on passing downs with Doom and Miller outside would look a lot like what the Giants do on passing downs...huge pass rush.