Draft Day is FINALLY Here!

[cdumler7]

Honestly this might be my favorite Elway draft so far. When you add in the fact that we were the last pick in every round I really love the value we got.

Round 1--I think most everybody here knows that I was a big Paxton Lynch fan. I've wavered a little on him as he closed out the season pretty bad but I have been pounding the table for this guy since October. I give this pick an A for a few reasons. Paxton fits our system perfectly with his physical make up. I also love that he is a guy that doesn't panic behind a bad pocket. Not like he had the best OL in front of him yet he had the best QB Rating of any QB in this draft when teams blitzed him. He completed close to 70% of his passes and threw 11 touchdowns to only 1 interception when blitzed. Throw in highest QB rating on designed roll outs of any QB, and highest QB rating on deep passes (anything over 20 yards) of any QB in this draft. So again fits the system. He also didn't cost an arm and a leg to get like the 1st 2 QB's. Finally he is a very cost effective player for the Broncos. Even if he is only an above average QB the fact that he costs so little allows us to keep our defense together and surround this guy with talent.

Round 2--This pick had me baffled and still does somewhat. the more I read the more I realize just how much teams really loved this kid beyond the Broncos. Our first 2 picks though are huge projects that could turn out incredible but the odds are a bit against us. I love what I have seen but right now going to give this pick a C mostly because he is coming off a serious injury and is such a project. I am more in using the late rounds to find guys like that.

Round 3--Love this pick. DC and I have talked in the past how much we love Safeties that played Corner as well in college. This guy is our Center Fielder and could be day 1 our best Coverage Safety on the team which we desperately needed with Bruton leaving. Got to love that 2 picks in a row were called the best picks of the round and they were both at the end with Simmons being one of them...A Grade for me.

Round 4--Anybody who doesn't give this an A hasn't watched this kid run. Perfect scheme fit, huge value, and honestly will push Anderson for the starting job from the get go. Maybe this makes Anderson actually show up to Camp in shape knowing his job is on the line. A Grade

Round 5--Again another great pick by Elway. I honestly loved the start of this draft. McGovern is a guy we have all talked in the past about scheme fit and a guy that we would like to get. Just thought he would go much earlier. So again A grade for meeting need and value.

Round 6--Not sure what to think of this one. I'll be honest don't know much about the kid other than a few highlights that I have watched so far. I have read everywhere about his ability on special teams so at least he offers quite a bit in that area. I have also read though not the best blocking FB and to me that is a bit more important than his special teams ability. I want a guy that blows people up in the hole and makes those linebackers think twice when seeing this guy running at them. C Grade

Round 6--Another Corner/Safety combo. PFF said they graded him as the best Corner in college football in 2014 before he switched to Safety. Maybe this is like a Chris Harris situation where his switch because of need on the team really hurt his value and we just got ourselves a very nice piece of the puzzle. Adds depth though to 2 positions and looks like a good football player that was also a captain of the team. A Grade

Round 7--Not a fan of this pick. I don't mind the position but Dixon was not the guy I would have thought we would draft. Just seems like there were better choices but hey it is 7th round and if this guy can beat out Colquitt it definitely helps out our Cap Situation. C Grade.

So again overall big fan of this draft and think all 5 of our first picks eventually are starters for this team.

 

[cdumler7]

Also I will say this draft showed a few things beyond just those that we drafted...

1) It shows that we do think Trevathan's replacement is already on the team. We must really like our options in Davis, Anderson, and Nelson.

2) it does seem that Elway wants to give Lynch every chance possible to start by not adding a 4th QB that will take reps away during training camp. I keep thinking they have to add another veteran but they must believe in this kid a lot and that of Sanchez as well.

3) Not sure what this all says about the Broncos and the TE position. Either we really didn't like the TE's in this draft or we really like the guys we got. This was probably my biggest shock was us not taking a TE at some point.

4) Finally this gives us a great chance to be aggressive getting some of our priority players locked up long-term. Elway has already mentioned that the next move is to get Miller, Marshall, and Sanders locked up long-term. I'm betting that is why we didn't take a WR in this draft in the hopes that we can get Sanders to stay. That would be incredible!

 

[randymon]

Actually, couldn't of summarized it better if it was even possible. The non-Te surprised me as well but that makes me feel even better about Huerman, who I've been a big fan of his " potential " since his signing. Got high hopes for this kid to make a big difference for this offense. Great couple days but now the withdrawal begins.

 

[iknowftbll]

On the TE position group, they really seem to like Heuerman, even though he is unproven. Also, maybe this is the year they finally get Virgil Green into the passing game a little. I trust our coaching staff but remain mystified why this guy is not a bigger piece of the offense. At any rate, Green is a solid blocking TE and that's huge in this system. I just hope he gets some love thrown his way a little more this year than years past.

I agree with you, CD, about what it says about Trevathon's replacement. I suspected as much already since the Broncos made no attempt to resign him. Elway said in the days leading into FA that Trevathon would be allowed to test the market. Translation: We have a plan for his spot in the defense.

I'm also glad we didn't take a WR. This team is loaded at the position, with top-flight talent (DT, Sanders), high potential talent (Latimer), and higher than average reliable depth (Fowler, Norwood). I suspect either of those two would be welcomed #2s on a lesser roster.

At this point this single biggest concern on offense is not the lack of any given position group but the continuity. While this is the 2nd year in Kubiak's tenure, his offense has not yet been fully phased in. Plus there are a lot of new faces on that side of the ball. I am actually relieved to see the Broncos sticking with Sanchez for this reason: he's got a jump on the playbook. It is vital this unit quickly gel because there are some stout defenses early in the schedule. It may take our defense bailing us out early a few games before this unit solidifies. And even though Manning's skill set was greatly reduced and a poor fit for Kubiak's offense, his departure represents an immense leadership vacuum on that side of the ball. Sanchez seems like he's embracing that role. DT doesn't seem to have the personality to step into that leadership role, but Sanders and Anderson both are likely candidates to saddle up.

Ultimately I am as confident in this team as I've ever been. 2016 is going to be a lot of fun.

 

[cdumler7]

I definitely like the look of the offense much more this year compared to last.

2 Concerns I still have for the offense though

1) Depth on the OL. McGovern definitely helps in that category but we don't really have a proven OT back up at this time behind Okung and Stephenson. Throw in then a ton of youth on the inside that we are hoping has really taken a nice leap forward in year two.

2) Like you mentioned iknow this really isn't year two in this system. We had that stupid hybrid system that did jack squat and kept trying to switch between that and Kubiak's system. It just was not working for our guys. They did not look comfortable. So we pretty much did hit the reset button on our offense. I mean we could have 5-6 new starters in the system this year depending if you consider Garcia a starter from last year or not.

Like I said I like the look more and the odds that this offense will function better than last year. It is going to have a lot of growing pains though so have to see if our defense can cover early on as this group learns to gel together.

 

[iknowftbll]

Absolutely, CD. We are closer, but we are being naive if we think on offense it's still going to be a work in progress. On the line we are clearly at the beginning of what looks to be a 2-3 year build. That doesn't mean they won't have their moments now, but it's probably fair to say a team with a better pass rush may be able to exploit this offense. The remedy for that is 1) Sanchez' mobility and 2) the run game. And I think we've set ourselves up for success there. Anderson and Booker is potentially a lethal combo. A solid blocking TE (Green) and a true FB (Janovich) in the system should give us a hint at what direction Kubiak would like to take this unit.

I do think it'll be a greatly improved offense this year. With the upgrades on the line (agree depth is still an issue) and the deep stable of RBs, I think we'll see a top-10 ground game and a pass game that will be 12-16 or so in the rankings, but likely far more efficient than last year's. That kind of production should lead to more scoring opportunities and that in turn will help this nasty D stay fresh.

 

[iknowftbll]

Also, let's keep in mind that we keep talking about marginal improvement on the offense, ball control, etc but let's not put it past this unit to have its explosive moments, too. This is going to be a full-fledged Kubiak offense, albeit one that is a work in progress. That means run plays to set up pass plays, and when that combo gets it going it can score fast and often. And with players like DT and Sanders (a WR combo that rivals Rod Smith/Eddie Mac) the potential this offense to rank in the top-10 in scoring too is very real.

 

[cdumler7]

My biggest thing about the offense is getting the turnovers under control. The offense was definitely terrible last year but the biggest issue was more just how many terrible spots they put the defense with a very costly turnover or pick-6 that put that much more pressure on the defense to have to make a big play. Limit the mistakes, control the clock, and honestly I think our defense could finish stats wise close to what we were last year even with losing a couple of guys. Depth on our defense is the only way we survived with how much time they were spending on the field. Cut down the possessions and obviously the points go down.

 

[Mingo]

Great comments from this board above.

I think drafting a FB - takes snaps away from TEs in this offense - therefore new TEs were not as needed. The guy from Iowa probably makes the PS - at least as he can block - reasonably catch the ball and play a HB role.

I wonder who the backup LT is going to be? Stephenson moving over? Sambrailo has a shot at RT IMO. I think the McGovern (I voted for him) pick really lines up some significant punch in the center of the Oline with Max and Paradis.

 

[iknowftbll]

My biggest thing about the offense is getting the turnovers under control. The offense was definitely terrible last year but the biggest issue was more just how many terrible spots they put the defense with a very costly turnover or pick-6 that put that much more pressure on the defense to have to make a big play. Limit the mistakes, control the clock, and honestly I think our defense could finish stats wise close to what we were last year even with losing a couple of guys. Depth on our defense is the only way we survived with how much time they were spending on the field. Cut down the possessions and obviously the points go down.

I agree with this. To cut back on turnovers is the single biggest improvement this offense can make over last year's. It's amazing how good that defense was, and agree that even if they are not "better" this year, it's not unreasonable to believe they can post similar numbers as last year's defense simply by the offense not putting them in as many bad situations as last year. This is especially true of scoring. How many points against the Broncos came off a turnover? It's a significant percent of the 296 points scored against them. Think about what a reduction in those types of opportunities could mean for that number. Now add to it not going 3 and out every other possession but chewing up some game time and even if you end up punting, picking up some first downs and pinning the enemy deep. Defense gets better. Imagine them capping off drives with scores. Imagine putting pressure on the enemy to score against that defense.

It all starts with protecting the ball. I hope that is an area of emphasis. I'm sure it will be.

 

[SpringStein]

Great comments from this board above.

I think drafting a FB - takes snaps away from TEs in this offense - therefore new TEs were not as needed. The guy from Iowa probably makes the PS - at least as he can block - reasonably catch the ball and play a HB role.

I wonder who the backup LT is going to be? Stephenson moving over? Sambrailo has a shot at RT IMO. I think the McGovern (I voted for him) pick really lines up some significant punch in the center of the Oline with Max and Paradis.

I thought it has already been announced that Sambrailo is moving inside and will play at LG. I think the front will be Okung, Sambrailo, Paradis, Max, and Stephenson. McGovern gives depth on the inside.

 

[Mingo]

I thought it has already been announced that Sambrailo is moving inside and will play at LG. I think the front will be Okung, Sambrailo, Paradis, Max, and Stephenson. McGovern gives depth on the inside.

Ok - but there has to be plan who plays LT or RT in case of injury. I say in that case - Stephenson moves over to LT and Sambrialo moves to RT - or maybe Sambrailo moves over to LT. This would bring McGovern into the lineup - presumable at guard.

 

[cdumler7]

Ok - but there has to be plan who plays LT or RT in case of injury. I say in that case - Stephenson moves over to LT and Sambrialo moves to RT - or maybe Sambrailo moves over to LT. This would bring McGovern into the lineup - presumable at guard.

Usually when an injury happens you want to move the fewest players around to make it work. My guess is Sambrailo would actually get first crack at LT so then you are only changing 2 positions instead of 3 on the OL.