NFL Draft: Day 2 Recap

After moving all over the place in Round 1 of the draft, the Broncos sat tight with their three picks across the second and third rounds.

These two rounds were all about Josh McDaniels offense again.

The Broncos only second round pick (selection 45 overall), Denver selected offensive tackle/guard Zane Beadles from Utah. I like the move because we needed to beef up our offensive line for McD's power running scheme and could add some youth to the interior offensive line.

In the third round, the Broncos had the 80th and 87th overall selections. With the 80th, the team (finally) addressed the need at Center by selecting J.D. Walton from Baylor. Props to Woody Paige for pointing this guy out a couple weeks ago. As I said, we needed a center in the worst way and while we didn't get Maurkice Pouncey from Florida, we got the next best thing. Josh McDaniels said Walton was the second-rated center on their board behind Pouncey. Again, good patience by the club letting their guys come to them.

The NFL Network guys made a good point saying Walton played the second and third players drafted this year in his college career at Baylor. Those players being Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy respectively.

The last, and most surprising pick (in my opinion), the team took WR Eric Decker from Minnesota with the 87th pick. I was only surprised because they took Thomas in round one as a big play, big receiver and Decker is at least another big receiver at 6'2" 215 lbs according to ESPN.com. Drafting Decker gives the Broncos 8 receivers (but only 7 if you omit Matthew Willis who was on the practice squad).

I am curious about what they'll do with some of the other receivers now that they've added two this draft. Guys like Brandon Lloyd, Brandon Stokely, and Jabar Gaffney could be in danger but they'll all get their chance to solidify their spot. Josh McDaniels said that the team had Decker rated pretty high, had good hands and is smart. He gets the Josh McDaniels stamp of approval wich adds some height and depth to a good but thin receiving corps.

I think Thomas will take over at the No. 1 spot, Decker could eventually be at No. 2 as long as he heals well with Eddie Royal (currently No. 2) moving to the slot receiver position which could suit him nicely. We'll have to wait and see where this goes. OR, Eric Decker could become Tony Scheffler's replacement. I read that his coach at Minnesota was once Mike Shanahan's tight ends coach. Either scenario will be great for the offense and whichever quarterback is behind center.

I do expect the Broncos to address the need at inside linebacker in the final rounds Saturday. I'm ok with McD getting guys for his offense because that was a need more so than defense was. Our offense last year was very pedestrian where our defense was ranked No. 7 overall. The defensive line was completely revamped through free agency with last years starters adding depth, and the secondary was taken care of in the draft and free agency last offseason.

The Broncos only have 2 picks on the final day of the prime time draft. They might move around, they might not but so far I think they've addressed a lot of needs and vastly improved the team.

Go Broncos!