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Mile High Draft Views: Defensive Backs

As we drift behind the front seven and into the secondary, we start to see an area where the Broncos may have some decent-sized needs.  Those needs have been stopgapped for 2008, but it is not unheard of to draft towards a position that could become a major need one year in advance.

You’re probably thinking about safety first and foremost.  John Lynch took a pay cut to play what figures to be his final season of football, Nick Ferguson was allowed to leave in free agency to Houston, and Hamza Abdullah is a restricted free agent that will turn unrestricted in 2009.  Two stopgaps come in the form of Marlon McCree and Marquand Manuel, but neither strikes anyone as a safety that can strike fear in the hearts of pass catchers. 

Of creeping need, however, could be cornerback.  Turning again to restricted free agency, both Domonique Foxworth and Karl Paymah qualify under that banner.  Without them, depth is extremely precarious behind Champ Bailey and Dre Bly.  If the team feels that neither may be able to be retained to a long term contract, it may be prudent to groom their replacements starting on draft day.

I would not advocate drafting a corner or safety in the first day.  However, if there is a talent that can play special teams or (more importantly) be a returner, the Broncos should be within reason to pounce.

It is probably a good thing that the Broncos pounced on McCree and Manuel for the short term, because this draft has to be one of the weakest in safeties that I have seen in a long time.  Tom Zbikowski of Notre Dame looked the most hopeful to me, but he fell off the map his senior year after his publicized side career as a boxer, and you have to wonder how committed to football he his.  He does look promising on special teams, however.

Cornerback, on the other hand, has a platitude of rookies available for the taking.  My favorite out of the top tier (if he’s even being considered top tier) is Antoine Cason of Arizona, who has long been a gadfly in Pac-10 offenses.  He may not have the pure physical stats as some of the other likely first round corners, but he makes up for it in smarts and field presence.  It’s always dangerous to compare anyone to the caliber of Bailey, but Cason would come the closest to wearing that badge of honor.

After witnessing how Bailey plays the position, I have also come to appreciate corners that can also be physical.  Charles Godfrey of Iowa probably fits that bill the best amongst corners that might be available by the fourth round.  Terrell Thomas of USC also falls into that department, but the challenge for him will be if he can stay healthy.  On the other hand, if the Broncos want to look for a cornerback to use for returning purposes, the answer may lie in the likes of a Tracy Porter from Indiana.  As you can see, there are plenty of different directions the team could go.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 9:10 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.