First Round NFL Draft Thoughts, Round 2 primer

Last night was the craziest first round of the NFL Draft that I can remember. I'll talk about the Broncos pick of Von Miller, what I hope they'll do tonight, and other surprising / good picks from the first round.

With the second overall pick, the Broncos decided to take Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller, as was rumored they would Wednesday. Reports have said that Miller topped the Broncos draft board as well as a handful of other teams' boards. In addition to Miller, the Broncos will also have 2009 sack champion Elvis Dumervil back which should significantly improve the pass rush and put more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Definitely something needed when it seemed like every quarterback the Broncos faced last year had whole minutes to decide where to throw.

I like the pick and I think as long as the Broncos can add a force at defensive tackle tonight, they should be in good shape. Miller will have immediate impact stepping in at strongside linebacker in defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's 4-3 scheme. Popular sentiment seems to be that Dumervil and Miller will be the bookend defensive ends on passing situations. The increased pass rush should also mask the deficiencies of the Broncos' aging secondary.

FIRST ROUND SURPRISES

The Atlanta Falcons pulled off a massive jump into the top 10 (No. 6) to select Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones. I like the pick and should make the combination of quarterback Matt Ryan, runningback Michael Turner, tight end Tony Gonzalez, and receivers Roddy White and Jones a lethal foe to any opposing defenses. Yeah they gave a lot to get Jones, but they had to. They're a good team without many holes. They can still get a quality defender in the third round tonight.

There was a run on quarterbacks in the top 12 picks. As suspected, the Carolina Panthers took Cam Newton with the first overall pick. Next, surprisingly was the Tennessee Titans selecting Washington QB Jake Locker with the eighth pick above Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert. The Jacksonville Jaguars traded with Washington to select Gabbert with the 10th pick. Florida State QB Christian Ponder was the fourth and final QB taken last night. The Minnesota Vikings couldn't move back in the draft but stayed at 12 and decided to take Ponder. I have no idea how these moves will work for each team, but I do think Gabbert is in the best situation. He can redshirt, get acclimated and take over in a year or two. We'll see how the rest pan out.

After the run on quarterbacks, the Detroit Lions must have jumped for joy to have Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley on the board, whom they selected at 13. The combination of Nick Fairley and Ndamukong Suh will terrorize the NFC--especially the NFC North--for the better part of a decade. May also accumulate a lot of fines.

DENVER'S DAY TWO

The Broncos have picks 36, 46, and 67 in rounds two and three tonight. I expect they may try to move down from one or both of the second round picks (36 and 46) in order to accumulate additional picks, especially in rounds four and five, where they currently have no picks.

For now, I'll assume that they stay where they're at. I think they should stay at 36 and take defensive tackle Marvin Austin from North Carolina. He didn't play last year due to NCAA sanctions but he'd be a great quality pick at that spot. He would be a huge upgrade to a position that is essentially vacant. Austin would take the pressure off of Dumervil and Miller and allow them to obliterate opposing quarterbacks. Also, he would improve Denver's porous run defense. They have to be able to stop the run, especially when they play the Cheifs and Raiders twice a year.

At 46, there are two options I'm hopeful for. I hope that Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph will fall to the Broncos. Besides some offseason injury concerns, he'd be able to step in and contribute right away. The Broncos need a tight end with last offseason's departure of Tony Scheffler, and this offseason's dismissal of Daniel Graham. Perhaps they could get better value later but Rudolph is the top tight end in the class and would have immediate impact.

Scenario two is that UCLA safety Rahim Moore would fall to Denver. The Broncos aging secondary is in need of some youth and Moore is scouted as the best safety in the draft.

Head Coach John Fox said the Broncos would take the best player available going forward and wouldn't reach based on need. Hopefully they don't do anything too cute but also fill some needs, on defense especially.

Tonight's goal: get at least three prospects who can start. At least two on defense, please.

Draft Eve: The Draft McDaniels Built

Only 19 and a half hours until the draft! Aside from all the lockout-injunction-litigation chaos, this is the only football action that's happened since the Super Bowl in February.

Thanks to one Josh McDaniels, the Broncos have the No. 2 pick and four picks in the first 67. (On a semi-related note, Peyton Hillis will adorn the cover of Madden '12). The luxury of the 2nd pick is that only one player is unavailable. Unfortunately, that one player gone could be the one Denver needs most. 

Mock drafts all over the internet have Carolina selecting Auburn quarterback, Cam Newton. I'd love for this to happen because all defensive prospects would be available for the Broncos, who had the worst overall defense last year. Not sure if I buy it. 

Yeah, Newton is electric on the football field. He's big, fast, and can throw the football. The only problem is he had one year of success in a major college conference. Sure, he won the Heisman and a national championship, but threw less than 300 passes at Auburn. Add that to the fact that Carolina drafted Jimmy Clausen with their first pick last year (their first pick was in the second round) and it just seems to me that they would look elsewhere. 

I have hoped and prayed that Carolina will draft Newton but we'll know for sure shortly after 8pm Thursday night. My hope is that the Panthers take anyone who's not Alabama defensive tackle Marcell Dareus. The guy is a huge physical specimen who would instantly upgrade the interior of the John Fox/Dennis Allen 4-3 front in Denver. 

The Broncos need Dareus to stop the run. Something they couldn't do very much of last year. When you play the Chiefs and the Raiders twice a year (top 2 running teams in the NFL last season), you need to be able to stop the run. That, and the best way to build a defense is from the inside out. I say if Dareus is there, they've got to take him. 

WHAT IF PANTHERS TAKE DAREUS...

This would be my worst nightmare but I know deep down that this is probably the pick they should make. I just want Dareus in Denver to take the pressure off of Dumervil who's coming off injury and the other scrubs on defense (excluding Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins). Let's suppose the Panthers take Dareus, where do the Broncos go from there?

My gut reaction would be go get LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson. The guy is a freak athlete and the Denver Post has reported Fox's praise for Peterson in comparison with Hall-of-Famer Rod Woodson, who Fox coached in Pittsburgh. He's serve as the eventual replacement of Champ Bailey and the combination of the two would be hellish to opposing quarterbacks. 

Today offered a new development. The web was all atwitter (on Twitter mostly) with predictions of the Broncos taking Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller. 

This is a pick that's grown on me over the course of the day but it just doesn't seem like as much of a sure thing as Dareus or Peterson. Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr.--both of ESPN--have said that Miller would be best suited for outisde linebacker in a 3-4 defense. The Broncos are switching from the 3-4 to the 4-3. 

Speculation says that Miller could still fit and contribute. Kiper, and NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock both have the Broncos selecting Miller in their latest mock drafts published hours ago. Kiper is hit or miss for me but I trust Mayock's judgement. Both cited depth at the defensive tackle position in this draft as the reason the Broncos would go for Miller and would select a DT with at least one of their second round picks. 

Elway said earlier this week that the Broncos first four picks must produce starters, especially on the defensive side of the ball. This time tomorrow, we'll have at least one defensive starter. Check back to see my thoughts on the selection. Go Broncos!