Thread: Earl Thomas III is no fan of the Broncos

PHOENIX — It’s preposterous to think about.

In the 2009 draft, the Broncos and coach Josh McDaniels so badly wanted to select Wake Forest cornerback Alphonso Smith they paid a heavy price to get him. The Broncos made a deal with the Seattle Seahawks. The Broncos got the Seahawks’ No. 37 overall pick in the second round in exchange for one of the Broncos’ first-round picks in the following year’s draft.

That 2010 first-round pick turned out to be No. 14 overall. The Seahawks took Earl Thomas III, who is only the best safety in the NFL. Ouch!

Smith, meanwhile, played his last game two years ago. The Broncos traded him after his rookie season to Detroit, where he played 2 1/2 seasons. Double-ouch!

rest - http://blogs.denverpost.com/broncos/...broncos/32370/

I think playing the "they could have drafted x" game is kinda dumb, especially when it comes after the first round. Every team in the NFL passed on Earl Thomas before he was drafted, so clearly no one knew he would be the star that he has become. Just because he was taken with the pick Denver traded doesn't somehow make us more dumb for not taking him than the other 30 teams who passed on him.

Yep, way to go McDouchnozzel.

McDaniels made a lot of dumb moves, but the Alphonso Smith one might have been the worst.

Originally Posted by BroncoWave

I think playing the "they could have drafted x" game is kinda dumb, especially when it comes after the first round. Every team in the NFL passed on Earl Thomas before he was drafted, so clearly no one knew he would be the star that he has become. Just because he was taken with the pick Denver traded doesn't somehow make us more dumb for not taking him than the other 30 teams who passed on him.

What? Earl Thomas was drafted 14th overall.

Salt in the wound. Could have been the beginning of a rebuilt defense, but McD decided to overhaul the offense that was already good. Safety was a HUGE monster gigantic need at the time too.

Originally Posted by Slick

What? Earl Thomas was drafted 14th overall.

Oops, sorry, I see now. Even still, there was no way of knowing that we would have had the 14th pick the next year or who would have been there. I'm not saying the trade for smith was a good one, but I kinda see it as highly irrelevant that Earl Thomas wound up going in the spot we traded. I'm sure when McD traded that pick, he expected Denver to be picking much later than 14th the next year.

Originally Posted by Buff

Salt in the wound. Could have been the beginning of a rebuilt defense, but McD decided to overhaul the offense that was already good. Safety was a HUGE monster gigantic need at the time too.

That trade was for a defensive player though...so he was trying to rebuild the defense.

Originally Posted by BroncoWave

Oops, sorry, I see now. Even still, there was no way of knowing that we would have had the 14th pick the next year or who would have been there. I'm not saying the trade for smith was a good one, but I kinda see it as highly irrelevant that Earl Thomas wound up going in the spot we traded. I'm sure when McD traded that pick, he expected Denver to be picking much later than 14th the next year.

He traded a first round pick for a second. Completely idiotic move on his part. The fact that Smith sucked out loud only made it worse.

I agree with you in the fact that it's easy to criticize draft picks in hindsight, but the Smith pick and the move to make that pick are indefensible IMO.

Originally Posted by Slick

McDaniels made a lot of dumb moves, but the Alphonso Smith one might have been the worst.

That he did. But he also made some good moves. I don't really understand this whole line of thinking. I mean, yeah, we traded a pick to get a player that was a bust. Sooo? It happens. How is it on Denver that Seattle ended up drafting a guy that blossomed. No one saw that coming, not even Seattle. I could probably point to many times Denver got it right, or rather, got lucky....TD, Rod Smith, and so on and so forth.

Originally Posted by Slick

He traded a first round pick for a second. Completely idiotic move on his part. The fact that Smith sucked out loud only made it worse.

I agree with you in the fact that it's easy to criticize draft picks in hindsight, but the Smith pick and the move to make that pick are indefensible IMO.

And I'm not defending the trade. I just don't think it's fair to use the fact that Earl Thomas was picked a year after he made that trade as some sort of ammo against it.

Originally Posted by smith49

That he did. But he also made some good moves. I don't really understand this whole line of thinking. I mean, yeah, we traded a pick to get a player that was a bust. Sooo? It happens. How is it on Denver that Seattle ended up drafting a guy that blossomed. No one saw that coming, not even Seattle. I could probably point to many times Denver got it right, or rather, got lucky....TD, Rod Smith, and so on and so forth.

I understand the draft is a crapshot. See my second post. I'm going to vacate this thread. I don't want to rehash this crap again.

And on the other hand, had Alphonso Smith wound up being a star, not a single person would have had an issue with giving up a future first rounder to get him. It's just so easy to criticize draft trades and picks in hindsight. Clearly McD thought he was going to be a star with the hefty ransom he gave up to get him. It didn't work out, but those are the breaks sometimes.

Originally Posted by Buff

Salt in the wound. Could have been the beginning of a rebuilt defense, but McD decided to overhaul the offense that was already good. Safety was a HUGE monster gigantic need at the time too.

Yep. ******* Capt Clueless right there.

Originally Posted by Slick

He traded a first round pick for a second. Completely idiotic move on his part. The fact that Smith sucked out loud only made it worse.

I agree with you in the fact that it's easy to criticize draft picks in hindsight, but the Smith pick and the move to make that pick are indefensible IMO.

Not too mention taking Dick Quinn in the 3rd to which i believe he moved up to get there too.