Strike 2: During the recently concluded NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos – head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton – followed the old script perfectly. As the saying goes, “Always draft the best player available.”
Not the “best player at a position of need” mind you. That’s what teams do who are trying to fill holes in their roster. Apparently in their own opinion, the Broncos have few such holes. Apparently they’re just fine with what they already had at running back, tight end and wide receiver, positions most pundits believed they would try to address in this draft. While the Broncos did sign a top flight tight end in injury plagued Evan Engram, formerly of Jacksonville, and a veteran wide receiver in former Minnesota Viking Trent Sherfield, they weren’t supposed to stop there if you believe the draftniks.
Yet when their turn came up in the first round, the Broncos drafted the best player available, highly rated Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron – despite cornerback being a position the Broncos were already pretty solid at. Barron was the best player available and too good of a prospect to pass up.
In subsequent rounds, Denver did add a running back and a wide receiver, just not the ones that most observers thought they’d choose. Broncos fans weren’t familiar with Illinois wide receiver Pat Bryant, or Central Florida running back RJ Harvey. Are they better long term prospects that say, Washington State wideout Kyle Williams, or Texas speedster Isaiah Bond or running backs like Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson or Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson? Bryant was thought to be a fifth-round pick, but Denver picked him in the third round. Colorado State’s Tory Horton, who ended up going to Seattle in the fifth round, was more highly rated than Bryant going into the draft.
Just because most fans hadn’t heard much about Harvey or Bryant before the draft, it doesn’t mean they weren’t the best player available when they got picked. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, the Broncos didn’t pick a tight end until the very end of the draft when they tabbed Utah’s Caleb Lohner – a converted basketball player with very little football experience. They also drafted a punter and a couple of edge rushers – another position where the Broncos are pretty well stocked at the moment. They picked players who have “draft and develop for the future” written all over them.
Clearly, Payton and Paton know more than we know about these prospects. But do they know more than the collection of pundits who gave the Broncos draft anywhere from a B- to a C-?
Perhaps the Broncos brain trust were so pleased with their free agency haul that they felt like they could simply draft for depth and for the future? This draft looked very much like one for a team that already has a championship quality roster. While Denver established themselves as a playoff team last season, did they have the look of a team that could topple AFC West kingpin Kansas City? Do they now?
When training camp arrives, the position battles won’t necessarily be for the starters, but more for the backups. The Broncos appear pretty pleased with the front line players who will line up for the first snaps of the new season on the opening Sunday. Broncos Country will be watching closely to see if they’re right.
