I would like a mulligan on the Denver Broncos draft.

On the plus side, the Broncos first pick immediately becomes the most successful Knowshon in NFL history

The scroll along the bottom of the screen during the ESPN draft coverage encapsulated the Broncos' glaring need need perfectly…


Denver Broncos 2008 Final Rankings – Offensive 2nd Defensive 29th.

This means that last season there was only one team with a better ranked offense than the Broncos, and only three teams with a worse ranked defense. I know I’m being a bit speculative here, but perhaps that suggests that the biggest needs for the Broncos lie on the defensive side of the ball. Josh McDaniels, the very young and very new coach of the Denver Broncos apparently has a very different view of the Broncos needs. Holding the 12th and 18th overall picks in the draft, he only used one of them on a defensive player and of the ten picks the Broncos made, he used 60% of them on offensive players. The Broncos front seven, who are pretty much universally regarded as the weakest part of the team added exactly one player.

When you are a young coach at your first draft and many people are questioning your abilities as a head coach, I suppose you can go in a few directions. You can make defensible picks which address your weaknesses and have the people who discuss NFL drafts saying things like “solid draft” when they discuss your moves and get people believing that you have a good football head on your shoulders. The other option is you can make random and head scratching picks such as taking a running back with your highest pick and have people wonder if you’re in over your head. Don't get me wrong, I like Knowshon Moreno as a player, and I'm excited about watching him play for my team, but the Broncos taking a running back is like buying a Rolex even though your house doesn't currently have indoor plumbing. Sure, it's a nice thing to have, but there are more pressing concerns.



The thoughts I have heard and read regarding the Broncos draft fall somewhere along the line of “McDaniels is an idiot” on the least forgiving side to “perhaps he is a genius and sees something no one else can see yet.” When the best case scenario is that you’re a genius but no one else can see it yet, you haven’t had a very good draft. Add that to the fact that Josh chased away Jay Cutler, and I’m ready to wash my hands of him. Has a coach ever been fired before he actually coaches a single game? I’m ready to make history here.

Here is a recap of the Broncos offseason. Coaching icon Mike Shannahan kicked to the curb like a old bad of moldy tangerines, Josh McDaniels is hired and alienates the best player on the team to the point that he has to be traded away, coach then goes out and signs three free agent running backs but goes ahead and makes his first overall pick in the draft a running back. Coach trades away next years number one pick in a year when the Broncos may be one of the worst teams in the league, meaning that he may have traded away a top 5 pick in next years draft for number 37 overall. Team uses more than half of it’s picks on the side of the ball where they were strongest last season, and trades away two picks from next year leaving the Broncos with a league low 5 picks for next years draft as of right now. Oh yeah, they also have a brutal schedule coming up in which I have to really stretch to come up with as many as five or six wins. WORST. OFFSEASON. EVER.

At least the Nuggets are playing well right now. I remain a Broncos fan, but much like the United States government…I’m not too keen on the new regime. I hope McDaniels puts everything together and they make a playoff run, but as of now I wouldn’t be even a little bit surprised if he is looking for work this time next year after a 3-13 season.