Broncos on Day One of the Draft

Since John Elway (also known as the greatest quarterback who ever lived) retired, the Denver Broncos have been in no-man’s land.

I don’t mean that no one has proven worthy as Elway’s rightful heir, though obviously that’s true. More, the Broncos have tried to balance the needs of building for the future against keeping hope for the present.

Considering how long some teams take to rebuild, the Broncos have done a good job maintaining a winning team. But considering the demands of both the future and the present leaves us with bizarre drafts like the one we’ve just witnessed.

Obvious example: our first-round pick, Jay Cutler, the former Vanderbilt quarterback. Cutler, of course, was considered one of the top three QB prospects in the draft. His selection is curious, though, considering Jake Plummer not only led us to the AFC championship game last year, but became the first passer to beat Tom Brady in the playoffs.

What’s my take on Cutler? Honestly, I’m not sure. He’s clearly more athletic than Matt Leinart. And while he wasn’t all that successful in terms of wins in college, he was playing for Vanderbilt. Likewise, his statistics are pretty run-of-the-mill: Leinart’s passes routinely went for longer gains. That's odd, consdering how many have praised Cutler's arm strength. So is the numerical disparity due to Leinart’s superior receivers, or is Leinart fundamentally a better passer than Cutler? I don’t know.

Quarterback’s an odd pick for a team in our spot. Yet if Cutler becomes a top performer at the most valuable position in the game, then the pick was worth it no matter whom we passed on.

And there are good reasons for optimism. Young quarterbacks usually struggle. Is that because they’re young, or because they play for terrible teams? Think of this: the rare quarterbacks who, in recent years, have enjoyed early-career success-guys like Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, and Carson Palmer-played for solid teams and, more importantly, received fabulous coaching.

I have complete confidence in Mike Shanahan’s ability to mold quarterbacks. John Elway, Bubby Brister, and Jake Plummer were all most effective playing for Shanahan. Elway was a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer before Shanahan came to town, yet still made dramatic statistical improvement his last few seasons. Brian Griese didn’t really pan out, but the Broncos had the former Michigan passer, weak of arm and will, in the Pro Bowl by his third season. I think his failings are clearly his own. The coaching staff’s only mistake was sticking with him for too long.

So while other players could have filled more immediate needs, Cutler may become a fine passer in Denver for years to come.

Our second-round trade for Javon Walker was a masterful move, assuming he’s in good enough health to produce. Walker’s career stats show both annual improvement and an ability to catch the deep ball. He’s a lot like Ashley Lelie, except he can catch. (And he likes money-while Lelie is missing out on a $100,000 bonus this year for not working out with the team, Walker was famously blasted by Brett Favre for wanting more money last year. Too bad for Walker it didn’t happen this season, now that everyone questions what kind of team player Favre is.)

In the third round the Broncos selected tight end Tony Scheffler of Western Michigan. I have little to say but that he’s big and atheltic. He shouldn’t start right away or anything, but we’re solid enough at the position that we have a little time for him to develop.

At the end of the first day of the draft the Broncos had made improvements solely to their passing game. After Brady and Roethlisberger picked up huge chunks through the air on us in the playoffs, I would have thought stopping the pass would be a greater priority. What do you think? Did the Broncos have a good first day or did they blow it?