The way I see it Smith is a first round talent and so trading a first round pick is fine in my book. McDaniels wants to win from the start and trading in this way is the way to go.

Keep up the good work with these blogs.

Great discussion. I’ve enjoyed reading your thoughts and appreciate your kind words, too. It will be fun to watch and find out which of the new players will be contributors. I try not to get too excited about the draft picks/college free agents and I try not to get too down about them at this early point in the process.

monodono…I won’t refute what Mark said because I’m just not sure. I’ll have to check into Casey’s status. I had not heard that he said he is definitely coming back yet, let alone sign a contract. But he might have done one or both of those things.

royalbroncofan1…no problem. I know Stan wouldn’t say Smith was a really good player at Wake if he weren’t one. Hopefully that translates to the NFL.

imready…I usually take the approach that I trust someone until they show he isn’t worthy of that trust. Just because things went south with Cutler doesn’t mean to me that McDaniels can’t be trusted or doesn’t know what he is doing. Time will tell.

I’ll say this…if for no other rerason than his own job is on the line, I trust that Coach McDaniels is making the very best decisions that he believes need to be made. Many of those decisions have been big, as in franchise-changing big. But at this point, that doesn’t make any of them right or wrong. The fun is in finding out.

Broncs55…well put about Ayers.

m.c. the great…you make a good point about the defensive line. It is still my biggest area of concern. But I think about what my colleague Dave Logan said recently. Dave said that good football players are found everywhere. It’s simple but true. You don’t have to be a high round draft pick, have big stats in college or anything like that. You have to be able to play when the games count. And there are a lot of guys that show they can do that despite initially being unheralded.

I was glad to see the Broncos signed some free agent defensive linemen. And they still have some returning players who will be in a completely new scheme. I want to see if any of these guys emerge as solid to top-notch players. If they do, then the Broncos could be really good. If they don’t, then get keep an extra pencil handy when keeping track of the opponent’s yardage.

myleshigh…I completely understand your position about trading a future first round pick for a lower selection in an earlier year. At the same time, if the staff had Smith rated as one of the higest, if not the highest cornerback, then why not take him now? We all know that the future is now in the NFL. Don’t tell me about how many first round picks you have next year, show me you want to be good this year? The Broncos did that and for that reason alone, I like the move.

When you add up the type of player and person Smith seems to be (remember he returned kicks and was a standout punt/kick blocker at Wake), let’s see what this young man can do.

bntbroncos…I just don’t know if there are plans to try certain guys at different positions than the ones they have been playing. There’s always a possibility but it’s just too early for me to say.

Perspective is the exact concept I’ve been trying to keep at the forefront of my mind. Sure, we’re all fans at some level and we want the Broncos to be good. But no matter what we think, we just don’t know because there has been no opportunity to get a true feel for what individual players or the team will be like.

TonyTZ7…I have no inside knowledge but if Marshall were going to get a lengthy suspension, I have to believe the Broncos would have known that before the draft. We shall see what transpires.

bigvon…I think the Broncos’ offense will do a good job o controlling the football and they also have guys who are capable of making the big play. Nobody had even heard of Matt Cassell before last year and there weren’t many people who believed he was able to accomplish what he did. He wasn’t perfect, but he was, in most games, at least solid. I think the Broncos offense will be pretty good.

To me the big question surrounding Peyton Hillis is his health. He suffered a pretty bad hamstring injury. But during the last mini-camp, I asked him if he believes he’ll be fully healthy and ready to go this season. He said he believes he will be. Remember, though, never say never when it comes to anything in the NFL.

The Bronco Brit…it really is tough to know about free agents. Sometimes guys are good enough to get drafted but don’t. Remember Rod Smith was an undrafted free agent. Most free agents don’t go on to have the kind of career Rod had but you just never know. Sometimes it takes a guy a little while to settle in and develop.

chemaster…there was a lot of talk before the draft about the Broncos taking Ron Brace in the second round. With the trade they made with the Seahawks, they still could have taken brace but opted for Smith. That tells me the Broncos thought Smith was a better player. We’ll see how it turns out.

Thanks again to all.

Mike

TIME OF POSSESSION ! ! !

GO BRONCOS ! ! !