NFL Draft: Denver Broncos Team Draft Retrospective

This article is part of a series that looks at each NFL team’s recent draft history with the hope of extracting information about the way they think and the players they value.

The analysis is limited to the past five drafts in the interest of relevance, and the first three rounds because that’s where most impact players are taken.

This entry will focus on the Denver Broncos.

Draft History

In the past five years, the Broncos have taken the following players in the early rounds. Their positions and the rounds in which they were drafted are listed next to their names.

2006:   Jay Cutler, QB (1)

            Tony Scheffler, TE (2)

2007:   Jarvis Moss, DE (1)

            Tim Crowder, DE (2)

            Ryan Harris, OT (3)

2008:   Ryan Clady, OT (1)

            Eddie Royal, WR (2)

2009:   Knowshon Moreno, RB (1)

            Robert Ayers, DE (1)

            Alphonso Smith, CB (2)

            Darcel McBath, S (2)

            Richard Quinn, TE (2)

2010:   Demaryius Thomas, WR (1)

            Tim Tebow, QB (1)

            Zane Beadles, OT (2)

            J.D. Walton, C (3)

            Eric Decker, WR (3)

Breakdown by Position

Here is the number of players the Broncos have drafted for each position:

Defensive end: 3

Offensive tackle: 3

Wide receiver: 3

Quarterback: 2

Tight end: 2

Center: 1

Cornerback: 1

Running back: 1

Safety: 1

Impact

Jay Cutler looked like one of the league’s top young quarterbacks in Denver, but new coach Josh McDaniels promptly ran him out of town. Tony Scheffler suffered a similar fate despite looking like a pretty solid tight end. Ryan Clady is one of the best left tackles in the league. Eddie Royal looked like a very good receiver under former coach Mike Shanahan, but saw a significantly diminished role under McDaniels. Knowshon Moreno is a fairly productive rusher—when he’s healthy. Tim Tebow played well in his limited action last year.

Trends

Denver’s five year history is divided between two coaches; the first three years were under Mike Shanahan, while Josh McDaniels led the team the past two seasons.

The two coaches had very different drafting strategies. While Shanahan picked only seven times in nine rounds, McDaniels, taking a cue from his old boss Bill Belichick, constantly traded down and stockpiled picks. He selected no less than ten players in six rounds the past two years.

One thing the two coaches had in common is that they were both successful in bringing in a young quarterback. Jay Cutler was very productive in his time as a Bronco, albeit sometimes careless with turnovers. Tim Tebow also looks to have a bright future, but it’ll be without McDaniels, who was let go.

Both of them also took care to provide targets for their young QBs. Shanahan found two good ones in Scheffler and Royal, but McDaniels has been shakier in that regard. They have also selected two offensive linemen each; again, Shanahan has the advantage, as he drafted the terrific Ryan Clady.

Defensively, Shanahan favored the front seven, while McDaniels paid more attention to the secondary.

2011 Outlook

In the aftermath of the dreadful McDaniels era, the Broncos are left with one of the worst rosters in the league. On the bright side, they’ll be picking very early in each round, giving them the chance to start rebuilding.

Unlike most clubs picking early, the Broncos have a talented young quarterback in place. While most new coaches tend to bring in their own guy, it would be absolutely ridiculous for John Fox to do so when he’s already got Tebow and needs to fill so many other holes.

The front seven is in absolutely terrible shape, and will need pieces for their new 4-3 look. The Broncos already have stud pass rusher Elvis Dumervil and are hoping Robert Ayers wakes up when he returns to his natural position as a DE. Still, the position is so crucial that they could use their second rounder on someone like Adrian Clayborn (Iowa) or Justin Houston (Georgia), a first round talent who is likely to fall after testing positive for marijuana at the Combine.

Defensive tackle desperately needs an upgrade, and at this point, it’s practically a foregone conclusion that Denver will use the second overall pick on Marcell Dareus (Alabama). If Dareus is half the player that last year’s number two pick Ndamukong Suh turned out to be, he’ll be well worth the pick.

The Broncos will also need new linebackers. Akeem Ayers (UCLA) would be a great pickup in the second round, as would Mason Foster (Washington) or Bruce Carter (North Carolina) in the third.

The running back position could be addressed as well, as John Fox seems to prefer a run first offense. Knowshon Moreno is a good back, but has suffered multiple injuries in his short career, and the Broncos could use someone to complement him. There’s a chance that Mark Ingram (Alabama) or Mikel Leshoure (Illinois) could slip to them in the second; if so, it would be very hard to pass up such value.

If they prefer to wait, there should be good options in the third, such as Ryan Williams (Virginia Tech) or Shane Vereen (California).

The interior of the offensive line could use some help, but with so many other needs, that will probably have to wait until the middle rounds.