Ted Sundquist

The “Draft” series of posts was meant to give you some insight into a few past picks that didn’t necessarily have the success or longevity that many of you might have expected. No excuses — they are what they are. However, I can assure you that as much evaluative detail, analysis and overall work went into the selection of those players as did the likes of Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Jarvis Moss or Tim Crowder.

Our system of collecting the information, utilizing the data and eventually setting the draft board is as thorough as any in the League. How do I know this? Because the many scouts and coaches that have come to the Broncos from other clubs and other systems have told me so. Your Denver Broncos will not be outmatched in this area, period. (Remember, I was an Intelligence Officer in the Air Force. Gathering and analyzing is what we did.)

That said, I promised I would touch on some of my own philosophies/feelings surrounding the draft, and it is important to understand that these are mine and mine alone. They have been incorporated into the way we implement the business of “scouting” and in the manner in which I advise our Head Coach when we’re “on the clock.”

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Needless, senseless, tragic. Some of the words that best describe my feelings regarding the passing of Sean Taylor. We all only know too well the emotions of the Washington Redskins and their fans at this moment with our own loss of Darrent Williams. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and teammates.

And now, Maurice Clarett. Clarett’s much maligned career at Ohio State has been well documented and I won’t go there, only to state that we were fully aware of what had transpired over his brief stint with the Buckeyes. What I will say is that this organization knows RB’s and has proven that enough without having to be questioned on the ability to do so.

Clarett had burst on the scene in ‘02 as a 1st team All-Big 10 selection and Freshman of the Year, while helping the Buckeyes to a National Championship win over Miami. He had 1,237 yards rushing, averaged 5.6 yds per carry and he tallied 16 TDs on the ground. He caught 12 balls for 104 yards and 2 scores to supplement his rushing statistics. He had the size, vision, instincts and patience that had added up to success for others in our system. The staff sat down with him at the Combine and listened to his explanations regarding his past, as well as sought personal input from many who had dealt with Maurice, not only at OSU but in high school as well. I think we all found him to be engaging, intelligent and contrite, while fully aware that there were character issues that would have to be handled correctly in order to maximize his potential. However, we did not leave Indy with the sole intent of taking Maurice Clarett.

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Once again I thank you for your feedback. There were some outstanding points made and some questions brought up that deserve discussion. What I hope to do over the next few entries is to get you caught up on where we’re at, describe some of the thought processes that brought us to this point and then move forward with where we might take the team in the future. I’d like to set a “baseline” so to speak and I do feel a lot of your inquiries will be answered as we move ahead. So just have a little patience, but keep bringing me your thoughts.

Georgia Bulldog George Foster was selected with our first round pick in ’03. Foster was the perfect combination of size, speed and length (6’5” 330 lbs 5.03 40 yd dash, freakish numbers for the position) and had been a 2-year starter for the Bulldogs in the SEC. We were looking to replace Ephraim Salaam and felt firm that we could do just that with the selection of Foster. However, remember no OL has come into our system as a rookie and started right away (1st round through FA). NFL.com and Street and Smith’s both saw George as a first-round pick and Kiper, ESPN and FOX all projected him in the second prior to our own selection.

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Before I continue with some more draft thoughts, I wanted to point out a few things from some of your responses to my first posting.

References to Mel Kiper or any other national publication’s projection of a draft choice is only to emphasize what the prevailing thoughts were at the time on a player. Never have the Denver Broncos used one of these prognosticators to select a draft choice. It’s from these same sources that we catch the most criticism and yet many seem to forget what their own viewpoints were at the time.

Next, I greatly appreciate the feedback, both positive and negative, from the fans. I expect and accept both. My goal is to provide you with a “method behind the madness” that you sometimes don’t get from other sources.

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Our recent roller coaster record, coupled with some of the struggles we’ve endured on defense seems to have brought out the strongest of naysayers concerning the Broncos and the annual college draft. National, local and even in-office critics say that our current plight is a direct result of our inability to evaluate and ultimately select young college talent. They point to the numerous misses, reeling off the names as if “on the clock” themselves, yet never providing the circumstances or thoughts surrounding a particular selection. If only it were as easy as choosing a QB, RB, 2 WR’s and a shutdown Defense. Now that would be a true “Fantasy” League!

Here are a few historical tidbits & subsequent facts to help fill in the gaps.

In 1998 coming off our Super Bowl win, we were awarded the distinction of selecting 30th (last) in the first round. Rod Smith, Ed McCaffrey and Willie Green had been our 3 receivers and the staff felt the influx of a young player at the position would strengthen the unit overall. Marcus Nash had been a highly productive 3-year starter at the University of Tennessee. Peyton Manning’s go-to guy had the size, athletic ability and big-play production we were looking for at the position. He was the 2nd leading all-time receiver in Tennessee Vol’s history.  Street & Smith’s had projected him a late first round pick. The Sporting News (TSN), Pro Football Weekly (PFW) and Mel Kiper all had Marcus as a solid to high second round pick. Since Denver wasn’t scheduled to select again until #61, we felt Nash wouldn’t be available & took him betting on the considerable upside. Last of the three receivers deemed worthy, the others were Randy Moss and Kevin Dyson (both selected prior to #30).

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