BroncoTalk Offseason Award – Best Draft

The 2007 Draft is the Super Bowl of the offseason – its popularity and coverage has grown so much over the years that the NBA playoffs are showed on ESPN2 – while the Draft is given full coverage on ESPN through the second round. Think about that – one league’s PLAYOFFS are bumped down to secondary status so another league’s offseason event can get full support. Incredible.

As in all drafts, there were winners and losers this past April 28-29, and the losers have been well documented. My choice for best draft didn’t make a huge splash in the first round – hell, in my Top 10 draft picks countdown, they didn’t have a single entry. However, this team would be all over 11-15, with solid choice after solid choice.

The BroncoTalk Offseason Award for Best Draft goes to…

The Carolina Panthers

HONORABLE MENTION:
2) The Cleveland Browns
3) San Francisco 49ers

The Panthers hope Jarrett finds paydirt for them, too.

The Panthers cleaned up on Day 1, and the real difference is that they didn’t need to mortgage their 2008 draft to do it. The first trade of the day sent the Panthers an extra 2nd rounder for their 14th overall, and the Jets took outstanding CB Darrelle Revis. At 25, with the Jets’ pick, they selected Jon Beason, one of the top-ranked LBs who could play either inside our outside. With their two second rounders, they selected WR Dwayne Jarrett and C Ryan Kalil, both out of USC. Both could have been first rounders, so the Panthers really cleaned up. Finishing up on Day 1, they chose Defensive End Charles Johnson in the third round. They finished up with 2 5th rounders and a 7th rounder, and in a word, cleaned up.

Who would you rather have, Darrelle Revis, or Jon Beason, Dwayne Jarrett, and Ryan Kalil?

While maybe not as flashy as the Browns’ or Niners’ draft, both with 2 first rounders, the Panthers’ draft was full of all the guys that should have been in the first round. When the Chargers and Colts both select WRs, and neither of them are Jarrett (I mean, San Diego’s Craig Davis had 7 career TDs. Indianapolis’ Anthony Gonzales had 11. Jarret – a mere 41 career TDs), you know someone’s going to get great value in the second round with Jarrett falling.

The BroncoTalk Offseason Awards continue next week as I run down the best free agent signings (and, of course, the worst). My plans for the last few weeks is for reader input to help influence who wins which awards based on the nominees – look for this to start with the Least Improved Special Teams and Most Improved Special Teams in two weeks. Until then.