Senior Bowl...just cause:)

[randymon]

Not sure how many of you watched or even cared but I always like to watch and see "potential" future Broncos auditioning for a spot on an NFL team. Very interesting game as the rbs dominated on both sides of this contest. D.Johnson- No. Iowa, Abdullah- Nebraska, Cobb-Minn, Artis- Payne- Auburn and Vargas- Yale were all impressive,esp Vargas ( listed as FB ) with 2 tds. All the backs showed good power between the tackles and good hands catching the ball. Abdullah def had more speed imo but D. Johnson is a close 2nd. Now I know Denver is prob happy with what they have in their stable so its just an observation. Qbs were less than impressive except I thought Grayson from CSU look very good on opening drive and as far as I know ( kinda missed most of last part of 3rd and most of 4th) only played 2-3 series, never to return but finished 8-15 for 118 yds. I know Denver has showed interest in him as wel as others and imo he didn`t disappoint. Looked more NFL prototype than the others that I saw. As long as I watched,I never saw a D sack so the O-linemen for both sides were very impressive in pass pro and run blkging. Good group for the most part. As far as DB`s I thought converted qb to db Marshall from Auburn looked very good when he was on field. Also White from TCU and a couple others impressed. The fact that all the dbs that raised some eyebrows are smaller backs than the new NFL man crush for the bigger,longer Db`s was noticed. A couple Te`s impressed and although the #1 Te coming into the game Walford from Miami didn`t catch any passes I saw, it wasn`t his fault as the qbs were`nt sharp and I noticed he always found opening and could easily have scored a td if the qb had seen him. The Te from Delaware showed good hands and athletisism as well. Well, that`s it for now and welcome any other thought on those who had the time to watch the game. Ciao for now

 

[randymon]

Easy boys!!! I was only expecting a few replys not an onslaught from hell!! You need to just back off a tad and give me some space please. I`ll get back to you all when I can,ok? Geez!

 

[DownSetHutch]

Sorry randymon, I missed the Senior Bowl (and the East-West Shrine game), so I couldn't give you any feedback there. I do like to "scout" the players in the draft though, so I'll be doing some research between now and then. I'll be looking forward to comparing notes with you and others when I have more opinions on the talent pool.

I can see you're chomping at the bit to talk draft, lol. Hang in there bud.

 

[cdumler7]

Sorry Randymon been all over the place lately with new baby less than a week away. Didn't get a chance to watch the game itself but did get to see some of practice throughout the week so here are some of my observations...

I think the TE position is going to be deeper than some thought. For the most part many had Maxx Williams (still my favorite TE in the draft) and Walford. I'm starting to hear a few other guys get some praise such as Nick O'Leary of Florida State, Nick Boyle (quickly rising up my board), and a couple of others. I think because a few of these guys showed up more than some thought this makes it even easier for the Broncos to let Julius Thomas walk to another team (he pretty much said the worst thing he could have this past week saying he could see himself as an Oakland Raider since that is the team he grew up loving).

The OL group looked great from what I understand. A few standouts in my opinion and one I am hoping the Broncos get in the 2nd or 3rd round of the draft.

The one I am hoping for is Laken Tomlinson of Duke. The guy showed really well at the Senior Bowl week. In fact the top-10 prospect Danny Shelton even commented that he was the toughest guy he went against all week. Tomlinson is known for having surprising athleticism (fits well in the ZBS) but showed he also has some strength to really hold up in the middle.

Max Garcia of Florida is another. He can play both guard and Center (positions we could be needing at least depth at). Maybe doesn't quite have the athleticism to hold up in the ZBS but the guy has a nasty streak to him and I like those kind of lineman.

Tre Jackson of Florida State is another guard that I think we could possibly look at. He had great technique all week and held his ground against some bohemoths.

If we go OL early La'el Collins is a guy that could start at RT and start day 1. The guy would be a huge upgrade in the run game and has good enough athleticism to hold up in the passing game.

Daryl Williams of Oklahoma is another 2nd or 3rd round pick that could be rising pretty soon. He had a good week and looks like a prototypical RT for the NFL. He is very refined in his run blocking and is pretty decent in the pass game as well.

Here is the list of players the Broncos spoke to while down there...
Denver Broncos
Detrick Bonner, FS, Virginia Tech (EW)
Jamon Brown, OT, Louisville (EW)
Sam Carter, S, TCU (EW)
James Castleman, DT, Oklahoma State (EW)
David Cobb, RB, Minnesota (SR)
Max Garcia, C/OT/G, Florida (SR)
Markus Golden, DE/3-4OLB/OLB, Missouri (SR)
Garrett Grayson, QB, Colorado State (SR)
Geneo Grissom, OLB/DE/3-4OLB, Oklahoma (SR)
Bobby McCain, CB, Memphis (EW)
Steven Nelson, CB, Oregon State (SR)
Denzel Perryman, OLB/ILB, Miami (Fla.) (SR)
Adam Shead, G, Oklahoma (EW)
Devin Smith, WR, Ohio State (SR)
Za'Darius Smith, DE/3-4OLB, Kentucky (EW)
Lynden Trail, DE/3-4OLB/OLB, Norfolk State (SR)
Clive Walford, TE, Miami (Fla.) (VINT)
Daryl Williams, OT, Oklahoma (SR)

 

[cdumler7]

Also agree with you Randymon in the game from what I can tell the RB's really showed up big. One guy I do think we could look at is Vargus. He fits perfectly into a Kubiak type system. May need to put on a bit of size but he offers great versatility with being a good runner, blocker, and receiver.

Another mid-late round guy I wouldn't mind us taking a look at is Carl Davis NT of Iowa. Even if we resign Knighton I do think we will need another NT for this defense. It is looking more and more like we are actually switching to a more traditional 3-4 defense and with Knighton only playing 48% of the defensive snaps then we will need a back up who can step in and take some good snaps. He offers great versatility as he is very good against the run notching 9 tackles for loss this past year and then also wasn't too bad in the pass rush department as well.

 

[randymon]

First off, thanks Hutch and CD. Looking forward as draft gets closer to swapping thoughts on players,potential Bronco pks,etc. Great list Cd on guys Broncos have had contact with so far. Read they liked 3 Miami guys with Perrymon and Walford being two of them along with the CSU Qb Grayson. Going to look up Tomlinson of Duke also. Sounds very intriguing. Also, pretty sure I saw Carl Davis as a potential pk for Denver in a early mock for Denver. Thinking at this point anyway, Denver looks pretty strong to go O-line, DT and TE in first 3 rds. Maybe even Grayson if he's there in 3rd? Going to be fun to research,speculate,etc when SB is over and it's all we got to grab hold of football wise.