With no draft choices in the seventh round, the Broncos front office was able to start on its list of potential college free agents to pursue at the conclusion of the draft.
As soon as Mr. Irrelevant was announced, Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway and General Manager Brian Xanders began working the phones and a few hours later the team announced that it has agreed to terms with 12 undrafted college free agents.
UPDATE: Later in the evening, the Broncos added a 13th, Toledo wide receiver Eric Page.
“It’s very important because there’s still draftable players on that board that we’re trying to get,” Xanders said. “We put them in A’s, B’s, and C’s. We’re trying to recruit those guys and have them become Broncos. We’ve had some success there and every team does. It’s an important part for us. Chris Harris is an example, last year he led all DBs in tackles. You have Colquitt who’s a good punter, and Woodyard. All the way through there’s been some historical ones. We hope they compete with these draft picks and try to create their own role on this football team. Coach is great about playing the best guys. So they have an opportunity for that and they’ve worked hard in their careers. There’s some guys who are still on our board.”
A college free agent has made Denver’s active roster out of training camp the last eight seasons, including cornerback Chris Harris last year. Overall, 13 rookie college free agents have made the Broncos’ active roster out of camp since 1997.
Below are some quick hits on each player the Broncos signed following the draft:
Defensive end Jamie Blatnick, Oklahoma State
Blatnick finished his career at Oklahoma State with 118 tackles, 24 tackles for a loss and 16 sacks. He led the team with 13.5 tackles for a loss and eight sacks as a senior in 2011. Blatnick was a three-time Academic All-Big 12 selection during his time with the Cowboys.
Long snapper Aaron Brewer San Diego State
Brewer appeared in all 50 possible games during his four-year career at San Diego State. He finished with 15 special-teams tackles and was a four-time All-Academic Mountain West Conference selection during his time with the Aztecs.
Linebacker Elliot Coffey, Baylor
A two-year starter at Baylor, Coffey earned All-Big 12 honors and was named the 2011 Alamo Bowl Defensive MVP. He led the Bears with 114 total tackles and ranked fourth in the conference with 8.8 tackles per game in 2011. Coffey totaled 224 tackles, 12.5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, four interceptions, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery during his college career.
Linebacker Jerry Franklin, Arkansas
Franklin led Arkansas with 101 tackles in 2011, marking the second straight season that the linebacker topped the 100-tackle mark. He finished his Razorbacks career with 382 tackles, including 31.5 tackles for a loss, 10 sacks, five interceptions, two forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries.
Safety Duke Ihenacho, San Jose State
Ihenacho became the first San Jose State player to earn three first-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors. Played 47 games for the Spartans and finished with 268 tackles, 15 tackles for a loss, seven interceptions, three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and two defensive touchdowns. He and his brother, Carl, a defensive end at San Jose State became the first known brother tandem in NCAA history to lead the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) or Division I-A in separate major statistical categories in the same week. Following the games played on October 18, 2008, Duke shared the national lead with four interceptions in seven games and Carl tied for the top spot in tackles for loss with 14.0.
Linebacker Steven Johnson, Kansas
For the second year in a row, the Broncos pick up a Kansas defender as Johnson will try to duplicate the success of Harris, who appeared in all 16 games for Denver in 2011 after making the roster as a college free agent. Johnson attended the NFL Combine, where he ran a 4.58 40-yard dash and put up 16 reps of 225 lbs. A team captain for the Jayhawks in 2011, Johnson led the Big 12 in tackles with 124 stops his senior season. He finished his four-year career with 229 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks.
Cornerback Coryell Judie, Texas A&M
Judie played seven games in 2011 for Texas A&M and finished with 22 tackles, one sack and five pass breakups. He also contributed in the return game, totaling eight kick returns for 201 yards (25.1 avg.) as a senior. Judie finished his college career with 79 tackles and four interceptions in his two seasons with the Aggies. He returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in 2010, a 100-yard return and an 84-yard return.
Tight end Anthony Miller, California
Miller earned a spot on the watch list for the John Mackey Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top tight end for the second straight season in 2011. He played 46 games, registering of 64 receptions for 774 yards and five touchdowns during his time at Cal.
Offensive lineman Mike Remmers, Oregon State
Remmers finished his career with 37 consecutive starts and his 44 total starts rank sixth in Oregon State history. Remmers was a finalist for the Burlsworth Trophy, which is given annually to the best player in the country that began his career as a walk-on. He earned All-Pacific-10 Conference honors as a junior in 2010.
WR Gerell Robinson, Arizona State
The third Sun Devil added by the team during the draft process, Robinson finished his career with 135 career receptions for 2,071 yards and 12 touchdowns in 47 games (25 starts). Robinson and Broncos second-round Brock Osweiler connected for 77 receptions for 1,397 yards and seven touchdowns, all career highs for the receiver. His 1,397 receiving yards marked the second-highest single-season total in school history and the 77 receptions tied him for third most in a single season by a Sun Devil.
Offensive lineman Wayne Tribue, Temple
Tribue earned All-Mid American Conference honors after playing in all 13 games for the Owls in 2011. He has an interesting story, as he spent time as a child in Egypt where some of his fondest memories came from riding camels. Tribue received the 2012 Temple Teammates Community Service Award and was named to the 2011 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.
Offensive lineman Austin Wuebbels, Missouri
Earned All-Big 12 honors during the 2010 season, which was his first year as a starter for the Tigers. He finished his career with 26 consecutive starts over his final two years. Wuebbels was a four-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree at Missouri.
UPDATE: Later in the night, the team announced that it had agreed to terms with a 13th undrafted free agent, wide receiver Eric Page out of Toledo.
Wide Receiver Eric Page, Toledo
Page finished his college career with 306 receptions for 3,446 yards with 25 receiving touchdowns. Toledo’s all-time receptions leader, Page caught 125 passes for 1,182 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2011. His 306 catches tied for the all-time Mid American receptions record. Page earned first-team All-America honors as a kick returner in 2010.
-Stuart Zaas
Tags: College Free Agents
I’m glad you all feel like I do and are getting excited! Wolfe’s interview was awesome and i love how nasty he seems. I bethe was furious at the Ravens!!!! i cannot wait to play them now!!!L As for Osweiler working with Rivers, I’m not too worried. One, he throws like he does so it’s good for him to get mentorship from him. That was all before we knew we were going to get Peyton.. At the time I thought it hilarious for Tim to be working out with Rivers, now I just find it interesting that Brock was there too. Love how much time Peyton and Decker are spending together. Good bonding that will pay off big time in September.
Good night Bronco Country ill try and make it around more lol as if any1 cares bout the insight i don’t have
Skillz… It’s been good! Come back!
Why do people always insist that Champ should move to safety??? He is still one of the premier shut down corners in the league and plays at an extremely high level. I say as long as he continues to do work, then leave him at corner no matter how old he is….
I don’t think that Champ goes anywhere. He will have the option IMO. And I agree I think Champ is still the best out there. May not be as fast but by far wiser.
From my Man Freddie Filo!
“Please do not confuse my Personality with my Attitude… My Personality is a direct reflection of my Character while my Attitude is simply a reflection of yours” Freddie Filo
Food for thought…
“when a person simply argues the facts, there is never a need to defend one’s oppinion”
and for fun…
“it is better to be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt…”
I’d say all-in-all a very good draft. I think we acquired some immediate impact talent and helped with some positional needs. I really do think the offensive guys we drafted will definitely help out Manning. I still am not sold on Bolden, he has some great talent, but as we’ve seen when selecting guys that have injury issues, and him missing all of last season and some of the previous season with ACL and MCL issues has me a little concerned. Is he one injury away from the end of his career? Like the Osweiler pick, hopefully he can be Manning’s successor. We’ve drafted 5 QBs in the past 6 drafts, hopefully we can decide to keep one. Still his throwing motion reminds of Rivers or something about it almost like he’s shotputting the ball. Still I think he finally maybe the franchise QB that we decide on keeping. Think it was a good draft, we’ll have to see how good when we start getting into OTAs and preaseason.
I’ve had a chance to look more into the players we drafted and it seems as though we managed to snag some decent talent. But, as we all know, we won’t really know what we have or what we missed out on until they get their shot on the field.
The main thing is that EFX addressed a lot of positional concerns……..and I think we got a beast with Wolfe at DT….and that’s what we were screaming for before the draft. Great to see we got another RB that looks to be an explosive player. And we really did need to draft a QB to start learning behind PM cause we all know that Haine is a band-aid for now. Not sure if Webber will ever get a shot or if he’ll be a permanant practice squad player.
I think our team did a great job this year……….but only time will tell.
Not too familiar with how the whole college FAs work. I guess, if you don’t get drafted, you can essentially go to whatever team wants you? Should be some diamonds in the rough there too!
skilz: Got your BBBP.
Well, a few days has passed and our emotions have subsided over what was a very unexpected Bronco draft. It’s interesting to see what the “experts” think of each draftee.
Derek Wolfe, DT
Positive: Consistanmtly disruptive presence, pro-work ethic, pushed pocket, flying under radar, if draft were a few weeks later would have possibly been a 1st round selection, led all DTs with 21.5 tackles for loss, NEVER QUITS
Negative: Average quickness, flexabilkity, playsd short armed, average lower body strength, streaky hand placement
Brock Osweiler, QB
Positive: Excellent accuracy on short timing routes, willing to release ball befoire WR becomes open, good touch dowm seam and corner routes, good accuracy and zip on crossong routes, strong arm, quick release, suprisingly athletic, HARD WORKED
Negative: Often stares down primary WR, easiuly caught from behind, only 145 career starts, needs to adjust to taking snap from under center, not adept at reading defenses, messy footwork, release not quick
Ronnie Hillman, RB
Positive: Good 2nd level burst, highgly productive, finbe vision and balance, crreative runner, dangerous in space
Negative: Can’t push pile, poor poass protection, indecisive about approach to line, only decent hands, FUMBLE ISSUES
Omar Bolden, CB
Positive: Changes direction with ease, frame to hold up any spot in secondary, good run dsupport, aware in zone, WILLING TACKLER
Negative: Torn ACL out all 2011, often lets action come to him, strength needs improvement, often injured since HS, INCONSISTANT ENERGY
Phillip Blake, C
Positive: Great size, engages quickly, MOBILE ENOUGH TO LEAD SCREENS
Negative: Overaged, average punch and grip strength, slow to react, inaccurate with hand placement, TOO CONTENT TO MERELY NEUTRALIZE DEFENDER
Malik Jackson, DE
Positive: Steady impriovement indicates best football ahead of him, NATURAL ABILITY TO CONTRIBUTE TO NFL AS A ROOKIE
Negative: Lean lower body, must improve core andf leg strength, Proine to penalties, OFTEN KNOCKED BACKWARDS AT SNAP
Danny Trevathan, LB
Positive: Flows around field and delivers huge hits despite small frame
Negative: Raw, slow to react, struggles in coverage
EFX wanted 4 draftees who would contribute to team. My highly biased and totally uninformed opinion:
Wolfe: absolutely
Oswieler: Absolutely not, 2-3 year project
Hillman: Asolutely
Bolden: Nope, too fragile
Blake: Has the ptential but will probably be backup
Jackson: Good role player if he continues to improve
Trevathan: Special teams stud.
kk – big game tonight buddy.. Get ready to hear the “goal” song playing over and over agian at MSG… And I just can’t get enough of Chris Kreider! The kid was just playing hockey at Boston College three weeks ago, to win the NCAA national championship, and now he is making a difference in the NHL playoffs! Unbelievable… That just does not happen, usually prospects go to the minors for a few years… Let’s go Rangers!!!
Remember Steven Johnson’s name this kid is a beast I hope he makes the team
hey OT……….I think the caps tie it up tonight. Holtby will be much better and Semin and Ovi get going. I see this series going at least 6, prob 7.
Oldsouth, Nobody ever knows who will, or , who will not be a bust in the NFL. All anylist that ive heard, likes our picks exspecially Boden. Wolfe is straigt out good, they couldnt understand why he was so far under the Radar though. Osweiler is a project with very high football IQ, weve got 3 guys that can start next yr, with another in rotation maybe 2. I know they didnt get anyone that people were talking about on the blogs, but they still gave us a B- on our draft. Thats why I myself, always let the Coaches and GMS make the decisions, I completely trust in the players that they drafted. And theirs positves and negatives to every player that was taken this wkend, I guess only time with tell, well time to go to work have a good day.
The Caps are good, but I’m hoping to hear a lot of this tonight:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zMxxE6vgl4U
heck miller………there’s positives and negatives about practically every player currently in the NFL. So, I take all that stuff with a grain of salt anyways. It’s all about how they gel with the team and how they can perform in games with the big boys……….it ain’t college anymore.
Or better yet
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=watSkvqZi_k
KK, I agree bro, I like our draft, excited about the uncoming season. I live in SO.CAL, their all over Hillman, and Osweiler, plus Wolfe everyone seems to like our draft.
I cant wait to see what Malik Jackson brings, I think hes like 6’5 300 pds thats nice.
I’m predicting a shut out for Holtby tonight OT! hahaha so no goal song will be sung, cept on the caps bench! lmao
Apparently Malik has played both DT and DE, so I’m curious as to what our plans are with him
I mean, it’s hard to make a splash in the draft when you pick 25th……….so I don’t mind that they traded back and essentially still got the guys they were eyeing anyways. They had their board and stuck to it………can’t fault them for that. Let’s give these rookies a chance at least to prove they were the right picks.
Haha! I love that song! The second link I posted is MUCH better.. Louder and you get to hear it twice!
Not much happening on the blog so far today…………..lots of people sleeping in? lol It’s already 2:35pm here!
Kod – I think I killed it with with all the hockey talk.. Either that or everyone is busy watching the Rangers goal song over and over…
Here something, they got our Bolden pick as one the best value picks of the draft!
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d828841a1/article/saints-raiders-others-find-good-value-with-late-draft-picks?module=HP11_cp
Mike Klis reporting from DP Broncos addressing some of the same positions as in 2009.
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_20511258/broncos-tried-fix-bad-draft-2009-2012-draft
Great write up on Derek Wolfe by Lindsey Jones at DP…..
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_20506096/broncos-top-draft-pick-derek-wolfe-reaches-his
I think Aaron Brewer will make the team as its long snapper and Duke Ihenacho and Eric Page will get on the practice squad. I can see Ihenacho as an eventual starter somewhere if not on the Broncos.