Leading up to Thursday, April 28, when the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft will kick off, we will take a look at who some of the “experts” have the Broncos selecting with the No. 2 overall pick.
In the first batch of mock drafts, four players are mentioned at Denver’s position — Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley, LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson, Clemson defensive end Da’Quan Bowers and Nebraska cornerback Prince Amukamara.
On CBSSports.com, Rob Rang sees Fairley swapping out his orange-and-blue national championship jersey for orange-and-blue Broncos duds. He calls the defensive lineman “the most talented player in this draft.” Chad Reuter puts Peterson at that spot.
On SI.com, Andrew Perloff has the Broncos taking Bowers.
He writes: “John Fox’s first pick as Carolina head coach was Julius Peppers. The 6-foot-4 Bowers led the nation with 15.5 sacks last season and could have a Peppers-like impact on a defense that ranked last in the NFL in sacks.”
ESPN.com’s Todd McShay forsees Fairley heading to Denver, while Mel Kiper predicts that Peterson will be the pick. (Note: Both McShay and Kiper’s mock drafts require ESPN Insider to access the full list)
Their respective explanations:
McShay: “Denver needs to overhaul its defensive front, and while new coach John Fox has not yet named a defensive coordinator, Fairley has the versatility to play in a 3-4 or 4-3 front. Fairley is quick, disruptive and plays with an edge, and he could not be blocked by one man during the college season.”
Kiper: “Denver CB Champ Bailey is a future Hall of Famer, but he’s a free agent entering his 13th NFL season and Peterson has the physical skills to be an immediate starter in the secondary and a force in the return game. Denver has enough needs where it could go several directions with this pick, but getting the best size-speed combo in the draft, a guy who can help immediately, is a smart play. Simply an electrifying talent.”
FoxSports.com’s Peter Schrager agrees with the Peterson pick, while AOL/Fanhouse writers Chris Burke and R.J. White go a different route with Amukamara.
White says pairing Amukamara with Bailey would “immediately give the Broncos the best corner tandem in the league.”
We’ll keep tabs on the mocks as they progress and the draft draws closer.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: 2011 NFL Draft, Denver Broncos
Really, to tell you the truth, Cutler did bring all of this upon himelf. If he wasn`t such a bonehead this might be a smaller mountain than what it is. The real fight in all of this is public perception. All in all people look at what happened in Denver and now this injury and pouting on the sidlines. I`m also glad that I`m a Bronco fan. Actually I`m greatful. He`s the Bears problem now.
They are calling him Quitler…LOL. I totally agree with Bay..probably the injury was really bad..but to be on that sideline and could not even give any moral support to the team..that is sick.
This is a little off topic from Cutler but it has come to my attention that Carolina only has 5 pics. What are the chances for trading players for a couple of second and third round picks and then trading Orton and a second and third to get the two best d-linemen in the draft? Lol that would just be a fantasy.
There is only one scenerio for trading Orton straight up, and that is for a teams 2nd round pick. That is his worth. Any other way you are robbing yourself. We need our players to trade for picks only. The more picks we have the better. No flipflopping 2nds for this round or whatever. Straight up players for picks and nothing else. We are in the same boat as the Panthers so what you said doesn`t make bussiness sents. The way you put it doesn`t add up and there is nothing to barter with. We`d be shooting ourselves in the foot. Robbing Peter to pay Paul kind of thing. There`s nothing there.
I`m gonna take a guess here. How the Carolina Panthers have been acting lately and being as cheap as they are the last 3 or 4 years, it wouldn`t surprise me at all if the Panthers traded away the #1 over all pick so they don`t have to pay a #1 over all player top money. I bet they trade back. I`ll even go as far as saying they trade back to the TEENS OR 20`s in the FIRST ROUND. Just a hunch.
Sorry let me clarify. We pick up a couple of 2nd/3rd round draft choices through FA then trade Orton + a second maybe, and maybe third round draft choice for Carolina’s #1 and to get bowers and fairley. But who knows what would happen that was just the best scenario i could think of for our D-line.
Not FA trades.
First of all is Carolina even interested in aquiring Kyle Orton as there staring QB. And as for the Bronco`s, having the #1 and #2 over all picks would be very expensive. I like the idea. It`s a fun dream to have but not realistic.
it would be far easier and much more realistic to get free agent DE Charles Johnson and draft Nick Fairley. Then we have achieved our goal in filling in those positions with two studs at the DT and DE.
And on top of that we need depth at those same positions. So if we got those two players it wouldn`t stop there at those positions to begin with. But it`s a start.
anybody know why eddie royal had surgery
I’m a little concerned about John Fox as our head coach. The only team that did worse that us is the Panthers, wich is were Fox came from. But McDainals came from New England and and look what he did
I am astonished that some suggest a CB pick at #1.
With the DL talent available that would be a big mistake.
A great D lineman makes everyone around him better.
A CB can’t do that. If the Broncs draft a CB #1 I’m going
to find another team to root for.
D-line has needs but so does our under sized and aged secondary, as long as defense is worked on in the off season and blocking schemes I’m happy . The Teams in our division their wr’s are BIG our future cb draft picks need some height and girth . GO BRONCOS
:coffee:
:salute:
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