Grading Bronco Draft

[randymon]

On paper I`am going to say a B- but, as with most teams pks, potential is good. I like Roby as he fit need and many thought db as a 1st pk and also Roby as a favorite among quite afew people. I think most are surprised at wr in 2nd but since Denver did, I like upside and tangibles with Latimore( I know some bummed Moncrief fans out there). After that, Barrow intrigues me but the other pks, since I don`t know much about them, jury is out. I thought we would see a rb somewhere in draft but could be Denver feels good about some potential UDFA that will be available. ( anybody draft Kapri Bibbs from CSU?) For the most part... with some big guys coming back from injury, great Fa pkups, somes rooks that should be improved and the draft, I think Denver is and has done a very good job in making a strong push to make it to another SB and win it in Feb. Am looking forward to preseason not just for new additions but also our vets coming back from injury and also the likes of Q. Smith, McCray, among a few that have shown good promise untill injury bug hit them. Great Draft!! Like many or most of you, we saw alot of our hopefuls get pkd or slide by us but we can rest assured that Denver/Elway/ scouting is a tad more expierienced and knowing than us. ( at least we hope so) JK. Now comes the LONG delay untill preseason so GO DODGERS,ROCKIES and ANGELS!!!WOOHOOO!!!!! PS......Also looking forward to your guys assessments on draft and who you think did the best in 2014 draft. Couple teams did very well IMO

 

[xBxtxDx]

Kapri Bibbs went undrafted and your draft grade is very curious considering that the Broncos filled every perceived hole with the exception of KR/PR (Sanders can PR and can get a KR in UDFA) and depth at RB (which can also be adequately filled in with an UDFA). They also picked 2 players for depth at two positions in Schofield and Paradis at OL depth and Barrow and Nelson at Nickel LB (which is way more fricken important to this D than a MLB Malibu). If you also consider that a couple of these guys will not make the roster just due to what we already have on this team, I do not even mind the moves we made. The first move did not bother me at all even though we lost a little bit of value and even thinking about the second, I do not mind it because next year we may actually have a bit more roster space to take on more draft picks.

We now are at a position of strength at CB for the future and can very likely afford not to have to sign Harris to a long term deal if he plays himself to too pricey of a contract.

We are at a position of strength for not having to put a lot of money on the table to retain Welker if we so desire after next year and IMO, will have an even better 1/2 punch with DT and Latimer than we did with DT and Decker.

If Franklin walks next year, we have Franklin 2.0 on the roster already able to cover RT and Guard. Will Montgomery is now expendable (I was not happy with that signing) with Paradis. I mean what is there not to love about hearing about a guy that they say maybe the hardest working person on the field and intelligent, for some reason this kid is screaming Tom Nalen to me.

Just because they are not names you are familiar with does not mean that they were not good picks. Plus, they lined up to a tee to the team needs. Maybe not in the order that would have been perferred, but it was how the draft fell to them. Also, I am of the firm belief that you can ONLY grade a draft prior to three years after by if you got the BPA following as closely as possible to team needs and if you go by that, it was a solid A draft.

 

[crush7k]

I thought the draft picks were pretty solid, considering that the team was picking late in rounds.

Roby is very intriguing to me b/c of his potential, and that his speed and size were already there. Latimer was a bit surprising, but I knew the team would have 5 WR's for the 53-man roster. With Decker and Holliday leaving, they probably felt they needed one more receiver.

Schofield and Paradis both add depth and versatility to the O-line. Barrow and Nelson also add depth with two 4.6 LBs to hopefully bolster the LB positions.

No big splash moves, but does add more depth for key positions that were in need. Hopefully it all produces quality starters for those positions.

 

[DownSetHutch]

I would give us a B+ on the draft, keeping in mind that our picks were 31st in each round (before trades). That's a lot less favorable than if they were even in the middle of the rounds, much less the top.

With that said, I think we did a good job of addressing needs as well as getting value, for the most part.

Round 1: Drafting Bradley Roby filled a big need and it was a good value pick.
Round 2: Moving up to draft a WR was a head-scratcher at first, but after reading up on him and seeing his highlights, I think it was a good move. I think Elway called him a complete receiver and the best blocking receiver in the draft. I liked Decker as our #2, but Cody Latimer may actually end up being an upgrade, and that's saying a lot.
Round 3: We definitely filled a need here. I'm just not sure we got the best position player available, or the best value for where we were drafting, with Michael Schofield. I'm relying on faith in our scouts and management on this one.
Round 5: Lamin Barrow. He was ranked as high as 5th among ILBs. That seems like good value here, and he can help fill a big need. He may see some immediate PT on Special Teams.
Round 6: Matt Paradis, C, Boise St. Competition and depth for the Center position.
Round 7: Corey Nelson, OLB, Oklahoma. He could be used as a LB/Safety in certain 3rd down situations. Also could see time right away on Special Teams.

Overall, I think we did good, and probably more than any of the other recent few drafts, I can see the logic in all of the picks. I can't wait to see how these guys contribute to the team.

 

[xBxtxDx]

I would give us a B+ on the draft, keeping in mind that our picks were 31st in each round (before trades). That's a lot less favorable than if they were even in the middle of the rounds, much less the top.

With that said, I think we did a good job of addressing needs as well as getting value, for the most part.

Round 1: Drafting Bradley Roby filled a big need and it was a good value pick.
Round 2: Moving up to draft a WR was a head-scratcher at first, but after reading up on him and seeing his highlights, I think it was a good move. I think Elway called him a complete receiver and the best blocking receiver in the draft. I liked Decker as our #2, but Cody Latimer may actually end up being an upgrade, and that's saying a lot.
Round 3: We definitely filled a need here. I'm just not sure we got the best position player available, or the best value for where we were drafting, with Michael Schofield. I'm relying on faith in our scouts and management on this one.
Round 5: Lamin Barrow. He was ranked as high as 5th among ILBs. That seems like good value here, and he can help fill a big need. He may see some immediate PT on Special Teams.
Round 6: Matt Paradis, C, Boise St. Competition and depth for the Center position.
Round 7: Corey Nelson, OLB, Oklahoma. He could be used as a LB/Safety in certain 3rd down situations. Also could see time right away on Special Teams.

Overall, I think we did good, and probably more than any of the other recent few drafts, I can see the logic in all of the picks. I can't wait to see how these guys contribute to the team.

The Schofield pick had me saying intitially. Then I heard Kiper and his flunkies on ESPN start talking about him. They basically said Taylor Lewan and Schofield were the only players on the Michigan line worth anything and then they started talking about Schofield at the Senior Bowl. They said he basically was turning heads because he was able to take all comers man on man and dominate. Even though it was Kiper and Co. saying it, it changed my view of the pick and I became very ok with it.

 

[cdumler7]

Wow will need to get caught back up on everything to do with the Broncos draft today. My wife decided this weekend to book us for lots of fun things meaning I didn't get to watch much of the draft. I tried recording the draft but of course my recording of the 1st round cut out right before the Broncos pick. Haven't had a chance to watch the other rounds yet. The only actual pick that I got to see live was that of Schofield.


So just some beginning thoughts and will write more on it later as I have to get ready for work.


Bradley Roby--I could not believe this guy was still available at our pick. I know most everybody wanted us to trade up for Mosley but from what I hear the Cowboys wanted Elway made one of his best decisions of the draft to not take the deal. We would have gotten hosed on the deal. Roby truly is a top 15 player of a very loaded draft if he can get his head completely into the game. He has some growing up to do and some coachable things to learn but he reminds me of DRC in came to us unrefined but the coaches worked with him turning him into a top corner in the league. All the talent is there just need some work on getting to that talent level.


Cody Lattimer--Not the pick I expected when we traded up. Not so much a position of need at the moment but next year definitely becomes one. So on a team lacking many holes picking talent to fill holes in later years makes total sense. Again another guy needing some work on the finer details of the position but the talent is there. The last couple of weeks leading up to the draft this guy started being in the talks for 1st round. Heck in the last mock draft on Walterfootball they had him going 22 to Philly. So again the talent is there for him to be a great player. Year one gives us once again another great red zone target for Peyton. Wins the jump balls and is a great run blocker.


Schofield--Maybe one of my least favorite picks when it happened as there were other OL players I liked more. I was watching the NFL Network though and hear ESPN said a lot of the same things about this kid. They had nothing but glowing reviews of him. Mayock said at the Senior Bowl week this was a kid that caught their attention. He maybe only lost one battle all week in 1 on 1's and did pretty darn good in the run game as well. Needs some time in the weight room but hey that is what we have trainers for. So the more I hear about this kid the more I like him.


One final guy I will write about then will talk about the others later but need to get to work.


Lamin Barrow might end up being one of our best picks in this draft. There were only a handful of players at the ILB position that actually stand a chance of turning into a 3-down type player and he is one of them. He has the size, aggressiveness, block shedding, and even is pretty darn good in coverage. Needs to add some strength to anchor a little more in the run game but I think in a year or two this is our starting MLB for the next 10 years. I believe that much in this kid. I've watched a handful of his games and especially in coverage he really stands out. Exactly what we needed in a linebacker from this draft.


Overall I give this draft a B+. We didn't have a whole lot of holes but the ones we did I think we filled with quality players.


Also just a quick FYI...One of our Undrafted Free Agents we picked up is Kapri Bibbs for the running back position. I know you really like the kid randymon so we got him!

 

[randymon]

Kapri Bibbs went undrafted and your draft grade is very curious considering that the Broncos filled every perceived hole with the exception of KR/PR (Sanders can PR and can get a KR in UDFA) and depth at RB (which can also be adequately filled in with an UDFA). They also picked 2 players for depth at two positions in Schofield and Paradis at OL depth and Barrow and Nelson at Nickel LB (which is way more fricken important to this D than a MLB Malibu). If you also consider that a couple of these guys will not make the roster just due to what we already have on this team, I do not even mind the moves we made. The first move did not bother me at all even though we lost a little bit of value and even thinking about the second, I do not mind it because next year we may actually have a bit more roster space to take on more draft picks.

We now are at a position of strength at CB for the future and can very likely afford not to have to sign Harris to a long term deal if he plays himself to too pricey of a contract.

We are at a position of strength for not having to put a lot of money on the table to retain Welker if we so desire after next year and IMO, will have an even better 1/2 punch with DT and Latimer than we did with DT and Decker.

If Franklin walks next year, we have Franklin 2.0 on the roster already able to cover RT and Guard. Will Montgomery is now expendable (I was not happy with that signing) with Paradis. I mean what is there not to love about hearing about a guy that they say maybe the hardest working person on the field and intelligent, for some reason this kid is screaming Tom Nalen to me.

Just because they are not names you are familiar with does not mean that they were not good picks. Plus, they lined up to a tee to the team needs. Maybe not in the order that would have been perferred, but it was how the draft fell to them. Also, I am of the firm belief that you can ONLY grade a draft prior to three years after by if you got the BPA following as closely as possible to team needs and if you go by that, it was a solid A draft.

Yeah BtK, that was reason for B-. because I just hadn`t researched the later pks very much. The more I read about Schofield the more impressed I am. At least my grade was higher than some others Really excited about some of these UDFA esp,like cd mentions below, Kapri Bibbs!! Anyway, solid as always BtK

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

I never get too excited for the draft. I keep track of the Broncos picks but that's about it. It's all a crap shoot no matter where you draft. I don't begrudge those that do grade the draft and who try to figure it out, but it's anyone's guess. Bill Polian said last week that he went through the last twenty drafts and it really is just about a 50/50 proposition. I think it's hilarious when fans of a team react so strongly to a player their team drafted by cheering or booing as if they know.

I can't believe what a spectacle the draft has become. Kudos to the marketing machine known as the NFL. Where else would guys like Kiper and McShay get a job. I also am not a big fan of Mayock. During the Thursday Night games he is so self congratulatory, what I saw in this kid, blah blah blah. About half of the telecast is the draft re-lived.

 

[cdumler7]

HOF-ELWAY-7 I will say I do think Kiper and guys like him make it hard to really get a true picture of the players teams draft. They and others give them a grade of where they should go in the draft and unfortunately for us as fans we make decisions based on where many of those type of guys value them. For me I do love the draft but hate when players start getting labeled as steals or reaches as we just have no clue where they would have been rated by actual teams.


Having now had a little more time to watch some of the games of our prospects I will say I had not watched much on any of these guys other than Roby. I now have watched probably 10 of Roby's games and definitely see why he made it to pick 31. The guy is a high risk player not just because of his character concerns but his play on the field reminds me of Brett Favre. He will have games where he is the hero and just looks unbeatable and then the next game have you pulling out your hair wondering what in the world was he doing on the play. This is a guy that more than any other player in our draft coaching will determine the impact of him on our team. They coach him up and he seriously could be a pro-bowl corner in this league. If he doesn't take to the coaching though then we could be looking at the next Tony Carter on our team.


I now have had a chance to watch quite a few of Latimer's games as well and have to say this kid blows me away. I can't believe he wasn't thought of more by teams. I think if he went to a team with any kind of quarterback he might have been in talks of being the 3rd receiver taken in this draft. He has some of the best hands I have seen on a college prospect in all of the games I have watched for years. He is deceptively fast for a guy his speed and I do think he will be somewhat like D. Thomas in teams will take bad angles not expecting such a big guy to run so fast. One of the best things though that I saw in his game is he is selfless. I saw him on many occasions throw his body in harms way to help a teammate out.


Schofield is still the pick that I question of all of them in this draft. He adds quality depth at 4 of the positions on the line I just don't know if I see a possible starter out of him. Painter honestly is the guy I see competing for the starting RT spot this season and possibly winning it. I wish I could combine Painter (athleticism) with that of Schofield (technician) as you would have one heck of an OL player but then again those are the guys who go top 10.


Barrow is still one of my favorite players we picked. He has some major learning to do but I saw improvement throughout his college career and seems like a guy who takes well to coaching. With Del Rio being a former linebacker I see this kid having a chance to be a quality starter. I do think he will see the field a lot more than people expect and will make a few plays that give us a glimpse of what he can be for us beyond this year.


Beyond that the last 2 guys are going to be quality depth. Paradis has some potential but I don't see him pushing for the starting role this year. Maybe next year though that Center position could be a major one to watch for camp battles.

 

[cdumler7]

Also just a couple of quotes from the draft that make me think the Broncos really got the players they wanted in this draft.


On Lamin Barrow--John Elway said that coach John Fox "made about 18 laps" around the Broncos' draft room while nervously waiting to see if he fell to their spot."


I can't remember the exact quote but I think Elway on getting Latimer said they sat in the draft room for an hour just watching his name and hoping he would keep falling. Once he fell enough they just couldn't pass on moving up especially knowing Miami was planning on taking him the very next pick.


Had somebody also point to me Fox is starting to sound like Al Davis in him repeatedly saying "We got faster" after the draft.


I mean we did get a corner that runs a 4.34, a receiver that runs a 4.39, and 2 linebackers that both run around a 4.6 forty. So yeah we definitely added speed to the team but the difference in my opinion is that speed is matched up with actual production on the field. That is where Al Davis failed in he only saw the speed number and could care less about the product on the field.

 

[Malibu]

Draft grades mean nothing to me. They hopefully filled positions that needed to be filled and well see 3-5 years down the road how they all pan out.

 

[cdumler7]

Draft grades mean nothing to me. They hopefully filled positions that needed to be filled and well see 3-5 years down the road how they all pan out.

Obviously they mean little to nothing at this point. They are just fun to do during a down time in the NFL. Now as for the actual prospects that we drafted to me they filled both immediate need while also future needs with this draft.

Roby has a chance to be our 2nd maybe 3rd corner on the team week 1. He offers high upside to be a very good #2 with a chance to be an even high end #1 corner for the team. He has all the skills you need just needs coached up.

Latimer fills a hole left by Decker in that he is very good in the Red Zone. That is where Decker thrived and what we couldn't replace during Free Agency. He also then offers up good value after this season when most likely Welker is done and gives the Broncos to move Sanders to the slot while having good receivers on the outside. We don't need him to be an all-star this year which is good because again he needs some coaching especially on route running.

Schofield offers up a guy that will compete for a starting spot at both guard and tackle. Lacks the ideal strength you want in an OL player but this is what the NFL is for in putting him with some trainers to add some bulk. Very good technician so just needs to add strength.

Barrow offers a guy that year 1 could fight for playing time in the Nickel defense as he showed in college some decent ability to cover. Beyond that if he can add some strength offers a guy that can develop into a 3-down MLB for us.

Paradis offers decent depth. Not a wow type player but is a big time overachiever. Pushes hard and is a very smart player. Probably won't start any time soon but offers a guy that can step in and do well if an injury happens.

Nelson to me was a question pick as I think he would have been an UDFA because of injuries. He offers some decent upside though and should be able to help on Special teams.