Broncos have few players left from recent drafts
By Jeff Legwold
The Denver Post
POSTED: 09/01/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
The Broncos' 2009 draft has produced two starters: running back Knowshon Moreno and linebacker Robert Ayers, above. (Denver Post file photo)
The 2010 Broncos are not exactly a team built from within. You would expect that to be the case when an NFL franchise has recently had coaching and general manager changes.
A new regime may prefer the type of players the previous regime did not.
But as the roster cutdown to 53 players approaches this weekend, it's clear the Broncos will be, in large part, a collection of players brought from other teams when all is said and done.
Start with the 2004 draft, the one with linebacker D.J. Williams in it. He is the only one of the 10 players the Broncos selected in that draft still on their roster. Most of the rest are out of the league.
The Broncos have no players left from their six-player draft class in 2005, which included the late Darrent Williams. The Broncos have only two players left from their 2006 draft class (Chris Kuper and Elvis Dumervil), three from their 2007 draft class (Jarvis Moss, Ryan Harris and Marcus Thomas) and two from their 2008 draft class (Ryan Clady, Eddie Royal and Spencer Larsen).
The Broncos selected 36 players in the draft from 2004 to 2008. Only nine remain on the roster, just 25 percent*. Sure, players get injured and coaching staffs change in the NFL. But that total is still low when compared with the teams that have sustained success in recent years.
The Broncos selected 10 players in the 2009 draft, Josh McDaniels' first year as Denver's coach. Two of the 10 already are gone. Others appear to be in danger of not making the team.
Denver's 2009 draft has produced two starters: Knowshon Moreno and Robert Ayers. But Moreno, a running back from Georgia and the 12th pick overall in 2009, has missed both of his NFL training camps because of injuries.
Even with a quality showing from McDaniels' two draft classes when the 53-man roster is completed, the Broncos could go into their Sept. 12 season opener at Jacksonville with fewer than half the players in uniform having arrived with their draft picks.
There are plenty of ways to build an NFL team. But over the long haul, it's more difficult without using your own guys as the foundation.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
* an improvement for the overall DAY one picks while mikey was here of 15 %
Read more: Analysis: Broncos have few players left from recent drafts - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci...#ixzz0yKKRojY2