Quick Thoughts on the Draft

[killacal]

im going to wait and see how these guys pan out before I get all up in arms about them and where they were picked. if u look around the nfl it is full of guys that are studs that were picked in late rounds, udfa's and never really heard of's like Danny Trevathan. how many of us knew anything about Trevathan before we picked him in the 6th round? Or players like Marques Colston when they were drafted especially if u look at where guys on the offensive lines of nfl teams where drafted, but they all turned out to be studs so im going to wait and see and let them develop and let our drafting dept and coaches do their magic

[Joshecalpoly]

im going to wait and see how these guys pan out before I get all up in arms about them and where they were picked. if u look around the nfl it is full of guys that are studs that were picked in late rounds, udfa's and never really heard of's like Danny Trevathan. how many of us knew anything about Trevathan before we picked him in the 6th round? Or players like Marques Colston when they were drafted especially if u look at where guys on the offensive lines of nfl teams where drafted, but they all turned out to be studs so im going to wait and see and let them develop and let our drafting dept and coaches do their magic

True though most major sources gave Trev a 6th round grade he has far exceeded that in a short time. Then again the dissatisfaction of Irving and then Mays pushed him onto the field in the first place, he still has become a standout since but may never had gotten that opportunity if it werent for the horrible play of others. Also, many have sited that if he had not pulled his hamstring on his pro day he may not have looked so slow and thus would not have been such a low draft pick

[#87Birdman]

True though most major sources gave Trev a 6th round grade he has far exceeded that in a short time. Then again the dissatisfaction of Irving and then Mays pushed him onto the field in the first place, he still has become a standout since but may never had gotten that opportunity if it werent for the horrible play of others. Also, many have sited that if he had not pulled his hamstring on his pro day he may not have looked so slow and thus would not have been such a low draft pick

But isn't that the case so often though. Chris Harris was the same way. It took so many of our corners being bad and him moving up and getting on the field. I wonder how many good players just really never got the chance.

[FR Tim]

I don't have a hard time at all. If they weren't confident, they would have re-signed Moreno, signed a FA like MJD, or taken one in the draft. I, for one, am not worried about it at all. Ball looked better and better as the season went on, CJ looked good in preseason and may be a hidden gem, I watched Hillman in college and believe he will improve as well when given the reps. Bring it on...they will be just fine...what and see!

We all have our opinions of the strengths and weakness of the team. The only opinions that really matter are Elway, Fox and Co.

As we just saw in the past few weeks of mock draft opinions, we all have our concerns. Mine is the RB situation. Others are locked into the ILB issue. Pretty much every position on the team has had its concerned fans and lengthy discussion at some point. We will all wait and see.

Doesn't mean any of us are finding another team to root for or wish failure on any players or positions just to be "right". At least I hope not.

[swbroncos]

With a couple of days to reflect on the draft, I have lightened up a little and believe it may be better than I originally thought.

If Roby can keep his head screwed on straight, he could be outstanding because the physical tools are there.

Latimer just got McShay's pick as the best second round pick in the draft. He's big and physical, and as Elway said was the best blocking receiver in the draft. McShay said in reviewing four different game tapes, Latimer did not drop one ball, and has great hands. Sounds like an eventual upgrade over Decker.

Schofield is growing on me. At 6'6"-301, he has the room to get up to 310, and that's good size for a RT, which I believe is where he will eventually settle. He has the footwork and the long arms. Jeff Legwold insists he is not a finesse player and is actually effective in the run game. Add to that the Michigan lineage of success of their O-linemen in the NFL, and we may have something there.

Lamin Barrow fits the mold of what Fox was successful with in Carolina, with MLB's like Jon Beason, etc. He plays hard and runs pretty well and is big enough. I respect all SEC players and he was a three year starter at LSU and was very consistent there. I have a good feeling about him.

I believe Matt Paradis has a chance to eventually start for us at center. He impressed our O-line coaches so much during his visit, the Broncos drafted him in the sixth round rather than the seventh or trying to sign him as an UDFA.

Corey Nelson has a chance to make the team and make an immediate impact on special teams due to his speed.

To me, Bipps was a draftable player. and the Duke players, RB Thompson and the DE Anunike could surprise as Duke was a good football team last season.

I think this is a pretty good summary of our picks. I don't like how light Schofield is but he has room to grow. He already redirects and moves people well in the run game. His long arms will help him. As he gets stronger in think he can be a good RT in a year. We got some good potential with our udfa's and I'm excited to see what they can do. Roby and Lattimer have the tools to be some of the best at their positions. I think our first four guys will all help our team this year.

[Joshecalpoly]

The Schofield pick could of been worse with Matt Hall available. The truth is though the guy did not have a stellar combine (he was described as top heavy and did not display very strong legs to prove scouts wrong) and I think most people will argue Patchan who had a better combine and had similar measurables completely fell off the board because of his lack of weight (despite the fact his frame could hand the weight much better). If he hadnt saved himself at the pro day, ild say it was a waist. Still when you have a guy who needs to add weight being described as top heavy there is a problem.

Latimers major perceived problems are his injury and lack of effort though every ball he did try to catch he caught cant say with the right direction he couldnt be a good pick up.

By the 4th round there was no ILB prospects that had any real experience dropping back against ranked competition besides Barrow. Hes got great athleticism and upside and I love the pick, would I have preferred someone like Bradford yes but that ship sailed at that point.

I like Paradis cant say I think he would not have fallen out of the draft if it werent for us. Though the best RB's available at this point were Prosch and Storm Johhnson, not necessarily great pick ups.

I like Nate Askew or Lokombo a bit more then Nelson but the kid can still fly which has ST merit and could even be a ILB contender.

[JayJack]

True though most major sources gave Trev a 6th round grade he has far exceeded that in a short time. Then again the dissatisfaction of Irving and then Mays pushed him onto the field in the first place, he still has become a standout since but may never had gotten that opportunity if it werent for the horrible play of others. Also, many have sited that if he had not pulled his hamstring on his pro day he may not have looked so slow and thus would not have been such a low draft pick

Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. What force Trevathan on the field was Von failed drug test. The Backers were Von, Woodyard, and Irving. Once Von got suspended, it became Woodyard, Irving, and Trevathan. When Von came back, it was Woodyard, Von, and Trevathan. When Von got injured, it was Irving, Trevathan, and Woodyard/Lenon.

[Rich_C]

Hes good depth but not sure about starter hes had flashes but is mostly a good late game hammer. Could use Fluellen in UDFA hes a fairly talented competition with Anderson hes essentially the anti Hillman lacks breakaway speed but has everything else

That is why Anderson is such a great asset to our team. He can run quickly for his size, gains great yardage between the tackles and can wear down a D-Line. Where I believe Anderson struggled last season was with the complexities of a VERY complex pro style offensive playbook. If you're not used to that in college then it can be a real challenge. I suspect we will see a substantial leap from him this season.

Overall I like it. Broncos added some depth and potential at almost every position of need discussed before the draft.

- Roby is a high risk/ reward player. Will contribute this year. A top 15 talent in a position of need that dropped into their laps. IMO he plays a lot of minutes from day one. Nickle or Dime sets and a capable starter if Talib or Harris can not go.

- Latimer- big fast WR with great hands and blocks well downfield. Will contribute. Especially if one of the three starters gets hurt. He competes and IMO passes Caldwell by mid-season at the latest. Big potential as Red zone target.

- Schofield and Paradis will compete for roster spots. Potentially solid o-line depth. Both are solid, smart technicians with reputations as team leaders and smart football players. Going to be interesting to see Schofield develop. Elway used a 3rd on him for a reason.

Barrow and Nelson are both the coverage LBs that everyone was clamoring for. Both have speed and should contribute. Both on STs and potentially Barrow pushing Irving for playing time. Should be some nice competition with McCray and Johnson.

Nice solid draft IMO. Considering the Broncos pick so late in a round and only had the seven picks to work with I am fine with it. Also consider they are already a deep talented team. Not many spots for a rookie to take anyway.

My biggest concern is the lack of a RB. I guess they are going with UDFAs. Possibly a minimum salary vet FA before before training camp. I till have a hard time believing this is the plan at RB. Too inexperienced and thin for my tastes.

I almost got the impression that we only put a huge amount of effort in trying to find a decent CB and a Decker 2.0. After that the guys we picked seemed to be lower ranked and developmental players to various degrees. As I have said leading up to this draft we needed a taller CB and a Taller faster cover LB. - IMO we failed at both. With the tight end position being such a predominate one in today's NFL expecting either of our new and shiny 6 foot or 6 foot 1 Linebackers to be able to cover in passing situations is a stretch. Especially once you factor in a height difference of 3, 4, 5 inches taller and weight difference of 10-30 lbs. Our corner-backs are another example of being vertically challenged. I believe Warren Sapp & Willie McGinest both said that you can coach technique if a guy is willing and wanting to learn but you cannot make a guy grow. If he cannot reach the ball it doesn't matter how good he is.

To me I thought it was a good idea to bring in another quality corner as that position was exposed by San Diego in that Thursday night game. The Broncos will be a high scoring team with Manning, they will often jump teams early, forcing them into passing situations so having good man to man corners and pass rush is key. If the Broncos get down, well guess what they keep passing the ball. This is not a run oriented team, they need pass rushers and CBs on D.

I am looking at the RB's brought in as UDFA's and most of them are in the 220- 230ish range. That tells me that the Broncos have learned their lesson and are wanting to beef up in the backfield. Speculation only but probably to rectify what you hinted at above. The Broncos last season passed first and ran to keep team honest. This season I think it might be different.

lol a couple good preseason games and now he's a capable #1back ? The guys a Capable player to even make the team. Lol. Kapri bibbs is better.

I am not so sure about Bibbs being the better back. A good number of the runs I saw Bibbs run in college were attempts to break round the edge of the O-Line. He isn't fast enough to do that in the NFL. I have a sneaky suspission that we might have 2 UDFA RB's making the team this season if they play well. One likely to the 53 and 1 likely to the PS but you never know. Looking at Juwan Thompson he is looking to me what we wanted Ronnie Hillman to be for us. Hillman clocked in at 4.45 for his 40 and Juwan clocked in at 4.41. They are the same height but Thompson plays and is used to playing at 225ish. Just my opinion but I see the Broncos basically using Thompson and Hillman and picking the best back after the OTA's/ Pre-season.

[BroncoSynapses]

Another wr that had poor route running was D. Thomas. He seems to be ok so far so maybe poor route running doesn't condemn a player to failure.

[Joshecalpoly]

Another wr that had poor route running was D. Thomas. He seems to be ok so far so maybe poor route running doesn't condemn a player to failure.

It does if they player is willing to put in the work, some have accused him of not caring enough (taking off plays and not trying to get balls that were not easy to get) and some have questioned his fluidity to be a route runner. Though really hes a high risk high reward player, we may have gotten Robinson who was less risky but has less potential

[Joshecalpoly]

Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. What force Trevathan on the field was Von failed drug test. The Backers were Von, Woodyard, and Irving. Once Von got suspended, it became Woodyard, Irving, and Trevathan. When Von came back, it was Woodyard, Von, and Trevathan. When Von got injured, it was Irving, Trevathan, and Woodyard/Lenon.

If that were true then why did Irving get less playing time then Trevathan in 2012? Trevathan was named a starter in the preseason and it was made aware they wanted Irving to take over till Von got back, Irving then got pushed off the field more with the emergence of Phillips.