Searching for 'Potential' in Late-Round QBs

[Denver Native (Carol)]

INDIANAPOLIS -- After taking quarterbacks in each of the last two drafts -- including Brock Osweiler with a second-round selection in 2012 -- the position is almost certainly not atop the Broncos' priority list.

That doesn't mean that Executive Vice President of Football Operations/General Manager John Elway and his staff are not looking at quarterbacks. But finding the right ones is an inexact science, and as much intuitive as empirical.

"They've got to be able to throw the football and process information, but the one thing that sticks with me, and that [father Jack Elway] always said, is that you look at the Hall of Fame, and the common denominator about everybody in the Hall of Fame is that they're all great competitors," Elway said. "There's not a guy in that Hall that wasn't a great competitor.

rest, plus Elway video
http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Searching-for-Potential-in-Late-Round-QBs/7c769f12-17ba-4347-b5d0-6f20f752063e

[SoCalImport]

"There's not a guy in that Hall that wasn't a great competitor."

I agree. Cuz I know stuff

[Dzone]

So, with 3 qbs on the roster, what does it say if the broncos take a late round qb?

[MOtorboat]

So, with 3 qbs on the roster, what does it say if the broncos take a late round qb?

Nothing.

[OrangeHoof]

The only late-round QB that intrigues me is A.J. McCarron of Alabama but I don't know how low he is going to go. Yes, he had a ton of talent around him but he was a guy who led two National Champions and seemed to come up with the big play late in games more often than not. Because it is probably one of our last priorities (PK and P being the other two), I hope we don't waste a draft pick on a QB. A UDFA so there's another warm body in camp, that's okay but there's no need to draft a QB. We're as loaded as we need to be at that position.

[Dapper Dan]

I think Elway plays the game. He never says he rules anything out. The other teams never really know what he's doing.

[Simple Jaded]

So, with 3 qbs on the roster, what does it say if the broncos take a late round qb?

Means they're gonna trade Manning for a RT so they can be dynamic for the next decade and a half.

[G_Money]

Zach Mettenberger. If he drops because of the knee injury, that dude can flat-out play. I'm not sure what kind of a leader he is, but both Murray and Mettenberger would be intriguing to me on the third day (partially because I think Oz might be a pidgeon-crap-covered statue at this point and I don't know that he's got what it takes to be a pro starter).

He has some character concerns, but so does Big Ben. He has injury concerns - so does Big Ben. If you offered me Ben in the 5th or 6th out of college, with a busted knee and a groping-someone-in-a-bar charge from his first year in college, would I have taken him?

If he'd just come out of a pro-system that he thrived in under one of the better OCs to move from the NFL to college, I'd say yes. If something weird happens and Mettenberger drops that far, I'd have to be interested.

~G

[Simple Jaded]

Zach Mettenberger. If he drops because of the knee injury, that dude can flat-out play. I'm not sure what kind of a leader he is, but both Murray and Mettenberger would be intriguing to me on the third day (partially because I think Oz might be a pidgeon-crap-covered statue at this point and I don't know that he's got what it takes to be a pro starter).

He has some character concerns, but so does Big Ben. He has injury concerns - so does Big Ben. If you offered me Ben in the 5th or 6th out of college, with a busted knee and a groping-someone-in-a-bar charge from his first year in college, would I have taken him?

If he'd just come out of a pro-system that he thrived in under one of the better OCs to move from the NFL to college, I'd say yes. If something weird happens and Mettenberger drops that far, I'd have to be interested.

~G

Mettenberger would be ideal, for me it has to be a prospect with size and arm strength, but with Mettenberger you'd also be getting a player that you could (and will probably have to) stash on IR for a year, like Quanterus Smith. This gives you time to let the QB situation take focus.

[RebelRocker]

Mettenberger would be ideal, for me it has to be a prospect with size and arm strength, but with Mettenberger you'd also be getting a player that you could (and will probably have to) stash on IR for a year, like Quanterus Smith. This gives you time to let the QB situation take focus.

That's a great point. If a guy like Mettenberger/Murray falls to us late in the draft, that would be an ideal situation. We get a talented prospect with upside, we can stash them on IR for a year, thus saving a roster spot for another position AND we use a pick on one of these guys after we've addressed all of our needs. If this happens, it would be the definition of a value and luxury pick.