The 2013 NFL Scouting Combine is underway in Indianapolis and Denver Broncos head coach John Fox took the podium to talk about his team. While the focus of the combine is college prospects that could be drafted in the 2013 NFL draft, Fox revealed what he thought about the players the Broncos selected in the 2012 NFL draft.

Ronnie Hillman was drafted to be the heir apparent for the aging Willis McGahee, but took a backseat to Knowshon Moreno when McGahee went down with an injury in Week 11. The move to start Moreno over Hillman came as a surprise to many, but was relatively successful. Expectations for Hillman were high, and there is still hope that he can be more than just a situational player in 2013.

Although Fox didn’t come out and say it directly, Hillman isn’t going to be handed the starting job in 2013.  “We’re anticipating he’ll be much improved and be able to play more extended time,” Fox said (via Broncos.com). If Hillman isn’t much improved and isn’t able to get extended playing time, then the Broncos may have wasted their draft pick.

Despite the fact that McGahee will turn 32 in October, had ball-security issues in 2012, is coming off an injury and will make $3 million in 2013 according to spotrac.com, it’s not Hillman’s job to lose. Despite the fact that Moreno will make $3.3 million and averaged just 3.8 yards per carry in 2012, it’s not Hillman’s job to lose.

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One theory is that you can never have too many pass-rushers. That’s probably what makes it so interesting that Peyton Manning reached out to Dwight Freeney and suggested that he join the Denver Broncos after he was released from the Colts.

Manning was probably kidding, and Freeney downplayed his fit with the Broncos to PFT Live by noting that the Broncos have a couple of good pass-rushers already. Despite the presence of Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil, it’s an intriguing idea because the Broncos did play rookie Derek Wolfe—a defensive tackle—at defensive end last season.

The Broncos were also a bit one-dimensional and struggled to generate a pass rush when teams were able to slow down Miller, as was the case against the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs. Adding another pass-rusher to the mix could certainly make the Broncos better, but would Freeney (or a player like him) be a good fit?

Part of the problem with bringing in Freeney is how it would negatively impact Miller. The Broncos use a variety of defensive fronts so they can utilize Miller as a pass-rusher. The most common defensive fronts the Broncos use are the four-man fronts, with Miller often serving as a stand-up defensive end or blitzing linebacker.

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There’s no denying that the Oakland Raiders are rebuilding, and by definition that means to reconstruct out of new materials. Those new materials are college prospects, many of which will participate in the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine that kicks off today in Indianapolis.

The Raiders will be looking for players that can help them accelerate the franchise rebuild, because they can’t afford to waste any of their draft picks—including their first, first-round draft pick since the new regime took over last year. Despite a deck stacked against them, a disappointing 2012 campaign has left second-year general manager Reggie McKenzie and second-year head coach Dennis Allen with very little margin for error.

Although Mark Davis isn’t as reactionary as his father, the expectation is that the team will show progress in Year 2. Considering the Raiders still don’t have a full deck of cards when it comes to salary cap space or draft picks, improvement is far from a given. The Raiders will have to use every tool at their disposal to find the right players—one of those tools is the combine.

The combine consists of three major components: interviews, medical examinations and athletic testing. In the past the Raiders were more concerned with the athletic testing than the interviews, with Al Davis routinely selecting the fastest players tested at the combine. Most of the track stars the Raiders selected in the past failed to make an impact on the football field, to the surprise of very few.

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Going against Mike Mayock and Daniel Jeremiah, both of NFL Network fame, seems like a bad idea. Each worked in NFL scouting departments and know what they are talking about when it comes to evaluating draft prospects.

But Mayock and Jeremiah are human—and they are wrong about Florida defensive lineman Sharrif Floyd being a good fit for the Oakland Raiders.

Mayock suggested that Floyd would be a good fit for the Raiders with the third overall pick on his national conference call and Jeremiah’s most current mock draft has the Raiders taking Floyd. It makes a little sense for the Raiders to draft Floyd, but only if they fail to re-sign Desmond Bryant in free agency.

If Reggie McKenzie fails to re-sign Bryant and then simply drafts Floyd as a replacement, Oakland’s defensive line doesn’t improve. If the defensive line doesn’t improve, Oakland’s defense isn’t going to improve, unless McKenzie works magic to fix the secondary. The pick would only make sense from the standpoint that the Raiders would need a defensive tackle if Bryant doesn’t re-sign.

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John Elway has been putting short-term bandages on the Denver Broncos’ defensive tackle position for the last couple of years, and it might finally be time to find a long-term solution. While a deep draft class at defensive tackle is one way to address the position, the Broncos could also dip their toes into the waters of free agency to find their solution.

Free agents who may be available include Henry Melton, Richard Seymour, Desmond Bryant, Jason Jones, Sedrick Ellis, Wallace Gilberry and many others. Since the draft is deep at defensive tackle, the free agents could be a real bargain. The best value might end up being Glenn Dorsey, who has been miscast as a 3-4 defensive end for the past four seasons.

Dorsey was the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft and was supposed to be a dominant interior three-technique defensive tackle. After just one season at defensive tackle, Dorsey was moved to defensive end in the wake of Kansas City’s organizational change. Moving him back inside could prove very productive.

While the Broncos could just as easily move Derek Wolfe inside and look for a defensive end, a switch like that might impact Von Miller negatively. Wolfe was a great run defender, which made Miller’s job much easier. With Miller coming off the edge, Wolfe often had the opportunity to pass rush against interior lineman without much success, so moving him inside full-time might not be an instant success.

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The San Diego Chargers have a whopping 20 unrestricted free agents who will be free to sign with other teams in March. Since the Chargers were a disappointment in 2012, a lot of people think most of these free agents aren’t worth re-signing.

Of course, the Chargers can’t simple let 20 players hit the street because that would create far too many roster holes to fill. What makes a lot more sense is to re-sign a handful of quality players to make sure there are bodies and then try to upgrade with other free agents and through the draft.

There are specifically five players the Chargers should re-sign in free agency, all of which played reasonably well in 2012 and have potential to be better in 2013.

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One of the biggest problems with the Oakland Raiders in 2012 was the lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Due to salary cap concerns, the Raiders were forced to jettison their top pass-rusher last year, and they didn’t have the cash or draft picks to address the problem.

Reggie McKenzie tried his hardest to put a bandage on the problem by signing Dave Tollefson, but the pass rush was still anemic. McKenzie went out and signed veteran defensive end Andre Carter, but that didn’t help much either.

Fixing Oakland’s pass rush is going to take a lot more than signing a couple of bargain-bin free agents. It’s going to take a free-agent pass-rusher the Raiders probably can’t afford or a top draft pick to solve the problem, but the Raiders don’t have the cap room or draft picks to address every need.

The best pass-rushers on the team were probably Richard Seymour and Desmond Bryant last season, but not only are both defensive tackles, but they are also both free agents. The Raiders will desperately try to re-sign Bryant, but his value is rising.

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The Green Bay Packers will release Charles Woodson on Friday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, making him free to sign with any team. The 36-year-old defensive back might be declining, but his release had less to do with his skills and more to do with his contract situation.

Woodson was due to make $9.4 million in 2013, according to spotrac.com. Chiefs general manager John Dorsey was in the Packers organization with Woodson, so there is already a link between the two sides. The Chiefs might be interested, but getting Woodson to come to Kansas City could be a tough sell.

Woodson would be a good safety to play next to Eric Berry and ahead of Kendrick Lewis, but he reportedly wants to play for a contender and win another Super Bowl. There are teams in worse shape headed into 2013, but no team was further than being a contender in 2012 than the Chiefs.

If Dorsey can convince Woodson that a team that was 2-14 in 2012 is going to win the Super Bowl in 2013, than he is the best salesman of all time. Dorsey should at least try to sell Woodson on the Chiefs, because there’s no guarantee a contender is going to be interested in signing him.

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