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Broncos Draft Preferences

Tomorrow, all of the hyperbolic pondering about the draft will end, and the final major piece of the offseason shape will be in place for the Broncos and the other 31 teams. It is now time to take a stab on the players that could be available when the Broncos select on Saturday and Sunday, based on realistic availability.At the 12th overall, there is a lengthy list of players that I would be happy with at that selection—and all but one of them are linemen (in no particular order):

Glenn Dorsey
Sedrick Ellis
Chris Long
Darren McFadden
Ryan Clady
Chris Williams

I will also add Branden Albert of Virginia to this list, as there is word that he might enter the Broncos’ desires. He played guard as a Cavalier but in Denver he could easily shift to tackle and most likely not lose a step in the process.

We’ll be realistic and declare that there is no way that any of the non-offensive linemen are falling out of the top ten. Dorsey and Ellis aren’t likely to fall past the Bengals and Saints, McFadden seems like the fallback plan for the Jets at #6, and you have to think that Al Davis is going to indulge in Chris Long if he’s available at #4.

The Chiefs might take one of the three O-linemen at #5, but the remainder of the teams seem likely to pursue elsewhere. That should leave the Broncos at least one of Clady, Albert, or Williams to select. I’m sure several Broncos fans would love the team to trade down and pick up that third round pick that they lost, but the problem is that the next three teams at 13-15 (Panthers, Bears, Lions) are all in the market for O-linemen and the top three could all be gone after then. Therefore, my preference is to stay at #12. Ryan Clady gets the slight edge for me, but I’ll be perfect happy with Albert or Williams as well.

If the Broncos want to pick up a third rounder, the best tactic might be to instead trade their second round pick, and try to get a trade like when the Chargers gave up a bounty to the Bears to move from the late 2nd to the early 2nd to get Eric Weddle. However, if they stay at #42, I say they still need more help at defense tackle, and to go with Trevor Laws. If he is unavailable, then I would go the wide receiver route, with either Early Doucet or Earl Bennett.

Barring trades, the Broncos don’t pick again until #108 and #119 in the fourth round. I would take Mike Hart with one of those picks. Depending if the team went DT or WR in the second round, I would look for the opposite with the other pick—either DeMario Pressley or Lavelle Hawkins.

If either Pressley or Hawkins are available in the 5th (#139 and #148), then they should be selected. In the fifth, it also might be time to take a kicker. I could be way off here, but the best things I’ve heard from come from Brandon Coutu—and when in doubt with a Mike Shanahan draft, go to the SEC.

Going deeper than the 5th is pure guesswork, and I have no idea if the players I’m thinking of will be available. So I’ll just take a wild guess that will likely be far off, but there’s no harm in speculation and I’m far from the only one guilty of it. As such, my final preferred draft board:

#12: Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State
#42: Trevor Laws, DT, Notre Dame
#108: Lavelle Hawkins, WR, California
#119: Mike Hart, RB, Michigan
#139: DeMario Pressley, DT, North Carolina State
#148: Brandon Coutu, K, Georgia
#183: Johnny Dingle, DE, West Virginia
#220: Ben Moffitt, LB, South Florida
#227: The best punter available

Happy Draft Day to all! Keep an eye out both on this page and on MVN’s NFL Draft section, as I may be around to make comments on pick that the Broncos and other teams make.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 3:13 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.