Lonestar
04-25-2008, 02:35 PM
Mike Shanahan, as expected, offered few clues Friday about whom the Broncos' first-round draft pick will be Saturday.
But he strongly hinted who it won't be: the invisible man.
Nearly every draft, the Broncos select players with whom they've not spoken face-to-face, leaving their No. 1 utterly shocked once the phone rings on draft day and it's the Broncos calling.
Jay Cutler and D.J. Williams are two prime examples of the double-secret-probation approach.
But Shanahan said the undercover operation was a necessary evil, in most cases.
Given the team's draft positioning this year, he insisted it's a surer bet they'll have spoken with their eventual choices this time around.
"That has been our philosophy," Shanahan said of the usual silent treatment. "This year's a little bit different. When you're picking the mid-20s, lower 20s or 30s, you don't want anybody to know, or give away your hand. But we're picking 12. I'm not very happy with the pick, obviously, but when you do have that pick, you at least have some idea who might be there. Therefore you do talk to more people, more players, than you did when you're in the mid-20s."
Two of the Broncos' potential first-round targets at offensive tackle, Boise State's Ryan Clady and Vanderbilt's Chris Williams, were among the 30 visitors allotted each team to its facility for pre-draft interviews.
Also coming through the door was Boston College's Gosder Cherilus, a potential second-round target at the position with overall pick No. 42.
Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall, one of the top offensive prospects and a potential target at 12th overall, also came through Dove Valley.
So maybe Shanahan is being forthright this time around.
Or maybe he isn't, since double-speak was palpable, and understandable, at his pre-draft news conference, where saying nothing is the ultimate goal.
There were a few items that could be cleanly disseminated from Shanahan.
Foremost: He's high on the offensive tackle group.
The question is whether a player like Virginia's Branden Albert or Pittsburgh's Jeff Otah is worth the first-round pick or waiting is the prudent choice in a deep position.
"The question is," Shanahan said, "do you value somebody in the second round that's pretty close to somebody in the first round, so do you go a different direction in the first round? That's the kind of question every team looks at."
One of those "other" directions could be running back, where not only Mendenhall but Oregon's Jonathan Stewart might be too good to pass up.
"Would we be interested in a running back? Sure we would," Shanahan said. "It all depends on who's there. And you take the look at the value of some of these running backs in the draft, I think it'll be one of the better drafts for running backs. There's good value in the first round. But there's good value in the second round. And there's so many running backs there might be value in the sixth and seventh round, depending on who you have targeted."
And the Broncos have plenty of second-day picks this year - seven, including two each in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds.
It's a stark contrast to last season, when the team ended up with only four overall selections.
"We think there's big-time value in the fourth and fifth round," Shanahan said. "You can get guys that really help the football team."
It will be the first test under the new power structure in the Broncos front office, with player personnel chief Jim Goodman and his son and assistant general manager, Jeff, taking on more prominent roles in the wake of Ted Sundquist's exit as GM.
The group will have to be on point, especially this year, considering the reduced time period allotted teams between picks - 10 minutes in the first round, seven in the second round and five minutes per team thereafter.
Not that Shanahan is concerned.
"Jeff and Jim have been here," the coach said. "Jim's in charge of the draft. He can talk about every guy just like that. He's on the road all year. He's got a chance to organize it the way he wants and do the things he wants to do. And he's done a heck of a job with it."
Overall, Shanahan added he's expecting a "typical" first day of the draft league-wide as far as movement. Denver's war-room staff already has gone over such scenarios as far as player availability and potential movement and gauged the temperature for trades league-wide so there will be no last-minute surprises.
"It's the same thing we've always done," he said. "We have a game plan and we're going to try and execute."
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Sounds to me like mikey seting up next years scape goat to me..
But he strongly hinted who it won't be: the invisible man.
Nearly every draft, the Broncos select players with whom they've not spoken face-to-face, leaving their No. 1 utterly shocked once the phone rings on draft day and it's the Broncos calling.
Jay Cutler and D.J. Williams are two prime examples of the double-secret-probation approach.
But Shanahan said the undercover operation was a necessary evil, in most cases.
Given the team's draft positioning this year, he insisted it's a surer bet they'll have spoken with their eventual choices this time around.
"That has been our philosophy," Shanahan said of the usual silent treatment. "This year's a little bit different. When you're picking the mid-20s, lower 20s or 30s, you don't want anybody to know, or give away your hand. But we're picking 12. I'm not very happy with the pick, obviously, but when you do have that pick, you at least have some idea who might be there. Therefore you do talk to more people, more players, than you did when you're in the mid-20s."
Two of the Broncos' potential first-round targets at offensive tackle, Boise State's Ryan Clady and Vanderbilt's Chris Williams, were among the 30 visitors allotted each team to its facility for pre-draft interviews.
Also coming through the door was Boston College's Gosder Cherilus, a potential second-round target at the position with overall pick No. 42.
Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall, one of the top offensive prospects and a potential target at 12th overall, also came through Dove Valley.
So maybe Shanahan is being forthright this time around.
Or maybe he isn't, since double-speak was palpable, and understandable, at his pre-draft news conference, where saying nothing is the ultimate goal.
There were a few items that could be cleanly disseminated from Shanahan.
Foremost: He's high on the offensive tackle group.
The question is whether a player like Virginia's Branden Albert or Pittsburgh's Jeff Otah is worth the first-round pick or waiting is the prudent choice in a deep position.
"The question is," Shanahan said, "do you value somebody in the second round that's pretty close to somebody in the first round, so do you go a different direction in the first round? That's the kind of question every team looks at."
One of those "other" directions could be running back, where not only Mendenhall but Oregon's Jonathan Stewart might be too good to pass up.
"Would we be interested in a running back? Sure we would," Shanahan said. "It all depends on who's there. And you take the look at the value of some of these running backs in the draft, I think it'll be one of the better drafts for running backs. There's good value in the first round. But there's good value in the second round. And there's so many running backs there might be value in the sixth and seventh round, depending on who you have targeted."
And the Broncos have plenty of second-day picks this year - seven, including two each in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds.
It's a stark contrast to last season, when the team ended up with only four overall selections.
"We think there's big-time value in the fourth and fifth round," Shanahan said. "You can get guys that really help the football team."
It will be the first test under the new power structure in the Broncos front office, with player personnel chief Jim Goodman and his son and assistant general manager, Jeff, taking on more prominent roles in the wake of Ted Sundquist's exit as GM.
The group will have to be on point, especially this year, considering the reduced time period allotted teams between picks - 10 minutes in the first round, seven in the second round and five minutes per team thereafter.
Not that Shanahan is concerned.
"Jeff and Jim have been here," the coach said. "Jim's in charge of the draft. He can talk about every guy just like that. He's on the road all year. He's got a chance to organize it the way he wants and do the things he wants to do. And he's done a heck of a job with it."
Overall, Shanahan added he's expecting a "typical" first day of the draft league-wide as far as movement. Denver's war-room staff already has gone over such scenarios as far as player availability and potential movement and gauged the temperature for trades league-wide so there will be no last-minute surprises.
"It's the same thing we've always done," he said. "We have a game plan and we're going to try and execute."
*************************************
Sounds to me like mikey seting up next years scape goat to me..