The picks keep coming in our second annual community mock draft here at Canal Street Chronicles. The Denver Broncos are now on the clock with the eleventh pick. CSC member vicvega26 is responsible for making today's selection. Make the jump to see who he's chosen.
Thank you very much for your participation, vicvega26.
With the eleventh pick in the CSC community mock draft, the Denver Broncos select ...
Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State University
Since we are talking about the draft first I'd like to point out something I think is funny about last years draft. We gave up our 5th round pick for Thomas Morstead. A lot of fans were upset about this, myself included. It's one of those things where we all have to say, "Ok Mr. Payton, you told us so."
Not only did he punt really well (I almost wrote "for a rookie" here but I don't think that is needed) but he also kicked off and for the most part did that really well. He had a huge play in the biggest game of the season. And to top it all off, the Eagles get the worst 5th round draft pick they could possibly get. It might as well have been a 6th rounder. The reason for that is the New Orleans Saints are the World Champions! I just can't say that enough. The New Orleans Saints are the WORLD CHAMPIONS!!
On to the Denver Broncos. They were the "Surprise/Surprise/Not surprised" team of last season. They seemed to be in disarray coming into the season. They had a very young rookie head coach coming in and butting heads with the "franchise" quarterback as he's walking through the door (I think they may have dated the same girl in college or something but I have nothing to back that up so don't quote me) and their best player is always, well, he's a...umm...kind of a...sort of a...uhhhh...lets just go with distraction. He's one of the most dominant receivers in the game, no doubt, but he's a problem none the less. Did I say problem? I meant distraction. Distraction!!
So I think jumping out to a 6-0 start was shocking to pretty much everyone. After a 6-0 start there were people believing that the Broncos were for real. Surprise! Then they dropped their next four, with one of those losses at the hands of the Washington Redskins who were 2-6 at the time. Surprise! People who thought they were real: they weren't. They started out hot and burnt out by the end. Typical post-John Elway Denver Broncos. Not surprised.
The Broncos have a solid team and are headed in the right direction but they have some holes to fill. They have some holes to fill now and some holes that are developing, particularly in the secondary, that they need to start filling for the future. They could possibly take a "quarterback of the future" with this pick should one be available but I don't think they should. Kyle Orton didn't play that bad last year throwing 21 touchdowns to 12 interceptions and ending with an 86.8 quarterback rating. Also, I'm having a hard time believing in any of the youngsters coming out in this draft.
With the recent departure of veteran center Casey Wiegmann they could definitely use some interior offensive line help but I believe you can find solid interior linemen in the later rounds. If Brandon Marshall were to leave, which is always possible, then they could really use a wide receiver like Dez Bryant. They have their running back of the future in Knowshawn Moreno but he could use a "bruiser" to sub out with to make the tough carries. Again though, I think this can be addressed in the later rounds.
Even though the defense was the strength of the team last year there is definitely work to be done there as well. The run defense allowed 128.7 yards a game which was good for 26th in the league. And they capped the season off allowing Jamaal Charles of the Kansas City Chiefs to run all over them to the tune of 259 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. You would have to think that was due to poor play on the defensive line. They could use a defensive end that plays in the opponents back field. They made the switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 last season so generally you don't expect for your defensive ends to put pressure on the quarterback but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to get into the backfield. But when you think about the 3-4 the most important player on the field may just be the nose tackle. You need a one man wall there so they can take up two or even three blockers freeing up your linebackers to make tackles. The Broncos may feel they solved both of these problems in free agency by signing LSU's own, defensive end Jarvis Green from the New England Patriots and three time Pro Bowl nose tackle Jamal Williams from the San Diego Chargers.
I like the Broncos linebackers. That would be the only position on the team that I don't think should even be considered before round four in this years draft unless a Sean Weatherspoon drops to the 45th pick which better not happen with the Saints picking at number 32.
The secondary is good but for how long? A couple of them I would say were great. We saw many years of good football from Ty Law. Even though Brian Dawkins made the Pro Bowl this year and has been knocking heads off for many moons, it has to be getting towards the end, right? And Champ Bailey will go down as one of the best. In my opinion he is the best corner since "Primetime." You may have taken note of the past tense of those last few sentences. I'm not saying these guys can't play anymore but the clock is ticking. The secondary will definitely be addressed but after Eric Berry and Joe Haden are gone, I can't see anyone worthy of the 11th pick.
The Broncos put a first round tender on Brandon Marshall which means they are willing to let him go or they would have used the max tender of a 1st and 3rd round pick. I believe any team that is in need of a wide receiver, maybe the Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys, or New York Jets, will have to value Brandon Marshall more than a late first round pick. I mean lets face it, you aren't going to get a receiver as good as Brandon Marshall in this years draft and obviously things aren't going to work out for him in Denver.
Now I know the general consensus is that the kid from Oklahoma State is just another problem child but I believe that is kind of blown out of proportion. Not to mention if you want a top tier wide receiver, he is probably going to have an attitude problem in one way or another. So the pick for the Broncos is Dez Bryant.