Well the Josh McDaniels era was just a colossal failure for the Broncos in so many ways it’s hard to quantify. But I’ll try. McDaniel’s quickly traded away the Bronco’s two best players, Jay Cutler (say what you will but he has a rocket arm and led a decent team at best to the NFC championship game) and Brandon Marshall, who had a down year with the Dolphins this year because he literally had no one to throw to him. Chad Henne was either throwing it 5 yards over his head or Chad Pennington was throwing it 5 yards in front of him on every play. He subsequently drafted Tim Tebow who had a few nice moments last year but it still wouldn’t surprise anyone if he was spreading the Gospel as a missionary in Africa in three years. McDaniels subsequently became involved in an ugly power struggle with defensive coordinator Mike Nolan right before the season and sent him packing to the Dolphins. The Broncos then endured one of it’s worst defensive seasons ever, highlighted by a historically poor pass rush. The Broncos allowed the most points and the most yards of any NFL team this past season, pretty good barometers of a God awful defense.
Enter the steady hand of John Fox, former coach of the Panthers. Due to all the reasons listed above, Fox is expected to address his defense early and often in the 2011 draft. The decision is not easy. Even with Dareus off the board in this mock draft, they have a few gems to choose from with the second overall pick. If you look at precedent and history as a guide, then you need look no further than the 2002 draft, the last time John Fox was the coach of a team with the #2 overall selection in the draft. That year, he was in Carolina and selected Defensive End Julius Peppers out of North Carolina. Pepper’s turned into a perennial Defensive Player of the Year award challenger and this past offseason commanded one of the most lucrative free agent contracts ever given to a defensive player. This year, there just happens to be another disruptive physical freak of a defensive end from a ACC school who spends an awful lot of time in the opposing backfield - Da’Quan Bowers from Clemson. Simply put, Bowers had one of the most dominant years for Clemson this year that a defensive player has ever had on the college level - he was an absolute beast all year. He was the nation’s leader in sacks with 16 and was a force in every game Clemson played.
All that being said, Bowers will not be the Bronco’s selection at #2. Shortly after the season, he underwent knee surgery for a torn meniscus and he was expected to be ready for the Combine. He wasn’t - stating that he needed more time to prepare, but he would definitely be ready for Clemson’s Pro Day. Guess what? He wasn’t ready for that either, pushing his workout back yet again until April 1st. His agent has been scrambling to quell reports that his knee is more fucked up than he’s letting on, but the fact is if it’s already taken this long and experienced this many set backs, he might as well drape a red flag over that knee when doing his official NFL visits later this month.
(INSERT OFFENSIVE NAME) #2 OVERALL MOCK DRAFT PICK: PATRICK PETERSON - CB, LSU
Too high to draft a cornerback? Maybe for your normal highly rated corner, not for a prospect like Peterson. Peterson is considered by many to be the best cornerback prospect since Charles Woodson, but Deion Sanders might be the better comparison because of Peterson’s ability to return both kicks off and punts. Generally, cornerbacks aren’t valued this high because they can be taken out of the game by the opposing team just throwing to the other side of the field. The Broncos happen to have Champ Bailey on the other side, recently signed to a new extension, so teams won’t be able to do that. Due to Bailey’s presence, the Broncos represent the team that Peterson can actually have the biggest impact on of any teams drafting in the top 5. Additionally, there are more ways to improve a pass rush than just to add pass-rushers. If the opposing QB has no where to go with the ball, the pass-rushers that are there have more time to get to QB - this why John Fox ultimately makes Peterson his first ever draft pick with the Denver Broncos.
Entire Mock Draft
- Carolina Panthers - Marcell Dareus
- Denver Broncos - Patrick Peterson
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