Movin’ On Up!

For the first time in a decade since the Broncos last finished 6-10, and furthermore since the selection of Mike Croel from Nebraska in 1994, the Broncos are in the top ten selections of the NFL Draft with a week of play left to go.  There are a couple of scenarios which would be beneficial to be aware of as the end of the season nears:

• If the Broncos lose, and Bengals win against Miami next week – Denver will have the #9 selection.
• If the Broncos and Bengals both lose – Denver will have the #10 selection overall.
• If Denver were to beat Minnesota, given the match-ups with other teams in and around our area, it’s likely that the worst we’d pick would be #15 overall.

After last night’s ghastly offensive line performance, and the rumored answer that Mike Shanahan gave during the game to the question, “What do you want for Christmas?” – which was indeed an offensive line – it might be an even more safe assumption to believe that the Broncos will be looking for a tackle early in the draft.    I had reported a while back that I had good word that the Broncos were severely interested and were scouting Sam Baker and Ryan Clady hard, and I think those statements have been justified over the past several weeks – and last night was no exception.

Even if the Broncos win next week, they’ll be in position to grab a great talent in this draft.   It’s not a strong senior crop, but overall – it’ll be a great draft due to the plethora of junior talent available.   With this being the most disappointing season since the beginning of the rebuilding process post-Elway, the only thing we have to look forward to now is the draft; but then again – with Shanahan and Sundquist’s track record – we’ll probably mess that up as well.

Just a reminder, the Broncos currently lack a third and sixth round selections, but hold additional selections in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds.    It has also been reported by various outlets that the pick from Oakland due to the performance of Gerard Warren can escalate from a fifth to a fourth rounder.  Stay tuned for the official word, and be ready to hear about the draft after the Broncos close out at home against the Vikings next Sunday.

Over the next month or so, I will be doing extensive coverage on the Broncos and the NFL Draft.   A trip to Mobile for the Senior Bowl is still possible, but unlikely.   Even so, I will be bringing the most fresh and best draft news around from target players, to mock drafts and my own draft value analysis based on the Broncos’ performance this season.   Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and have a fantastic New Year!