The Morning After: Broncos In Bed with Tebow, Josh McDaniels a Genius

All the hype, all the rumors, and all the guesswork came to down to a single camera shot at last night's NFL draft. A smiling Tim Tebow, who was on the phone at the time with Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels, was all the crowd needed for an audible gasp moment.

And shortly after that, the polarizing Florida quarterback became the next member of the Denver Broncos.

But how did this happen? From the outside it looks like a mistake. Let's observe the moves needed to get to this place. It was a multi-step process that involved Denver flying across the draft boards.

First, the Broncos trade the 11th overall pick to the San Francisco 49ers for the 13th overall and the 113th selection, a fourth rounder.

Next, they trade further down the ladder, swapping first round picks with the Philadelphia Eagles, who had the 24th overall pick. In addition, the Broncos receive the 70th and 87th picks, both third rounders.

Then the Broncos finally decide to move up. McDaniels former team, the New England Patriots, trades the 22nd overall pick to the Broncos in exchange for the 24th and 113th picks.

With the 22nd overall pick in the draft, Denver takes wide receiver Demaryius Thomas out of Georgia Tech. The 6-foot-3 Thomas looks like the likely replacement for ousted Brandon Marshall. Of course, this pick was surrounded in controversy as well, with the immensely talented Dez Bryant still on the board. McDaniels, however, opted for character and proven work ethic over supreme skills. This won't be the last time that is a motivator.

Now the Broncos are still sitting on the same draft choices they had to start the evening, minus their first-rounder, which became the No. 22 slot. They have gained the 70th and 87th selections from the Eagles and are prepped for another deal.

So what do they do? They trade away a pick from the second, third and fourth rounds - picks 43, 70, and 114. What do they get in return? A first round selection from the Baltimore Ravens, the 25th overall selection.

Tim Tebow's name is called.

McDaniels and owner Pat Bowlen just converted a second round selection into a first-rounder, moving up 18 spots to secure the former Heisman winner.

Also, they showed their confidence in Tebow.

All that maneuvering and all that drama left the Broncos with two first round selections and an overall stronger looking draft board.

It was a move of pure genius. Amidst all the outcries, what needs to be recognized is that McDaniels knew that he wanted to choose Tebow and managed to move into the first round without doing any harm to the overall picture. The Tebow pick was going to happen. So he turned it into a blockbuster move.

There is no doubt that there will be plenty of scrutiny surrounding the choice itself. However, the trade logic certainly played out in the favor of the Broncos. They were able to sow confusion to profit the most that evening. There was no loss of picks, that's the remarkable achievement. It was all just shuffling.

Some will argue that the Broncos should have used all those extra picks on other players, but that was never in the cards. The Broncos are following McDaniels' vision.

In this case, that means they are in bed with Tebow. And McDaniels is the genius suitor willing to take a risk.