Getting the Best Available Player

“We will draft the best players that are available and I know the coaches and the scouts give a lot of thought to different positions, but basically we’ll take the best player available.” — Pat Bowlen

I can’t really claim to be a draft expert — heck, I know less than 10 of the available draft picks this year. So, instead of talking about any specific players that Denver might be interested in, I would rather focus for a second on the philosophy of drafting.

NEED vs BEST AVAILABLE

I think we can all agree that Bill Walsh was a fairly brilliant NFL mind. He ran the 49er’s drafts from ’79-’89 (with picks that included Ronnie Lott, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice). Walsh firmly believed in drafting the best available player rather than focusing on a specific need position. He coupled this strategy with the philosophy that a coach must draft players that ‘fit’ their team’s organization and coaching style.

Walsh didn’t specifically need a QB when he drafted Joe Montana in the third round of his first draft, but he was the perfect fit for Walsh’s West Coast Offense… And I think we’ll all agree it worked out pretty well for them. :)

As a side note, in 1997 Walsh actually suggested the 49ers take Jake Plummer. They ended up taking Jim Druckenmiller (a washout in 2 years). It makes me wonder what a young Plummer would have done in San Fran… anyway, I digress.

So, following in the footsteps of the great Bill Walsh, we would expect Shanahan’s Broncos to continue this drafting tradition. And for the most part, I think Shanahan’s team tries to draft according to Best Available.

“I think we approach the draft the same way every year. We look for the best football players to help our team if they’re available, regardless of what position they’re at. You’re always looking for every spot and not concentrating on just one spot – I don’t think we ever want to do that. We work hard at trying to find players at every position, not just one.” — Gary Kubiak (former Offensive Coordinator)

There are cases though where a team’s needs are SO great at a specific position that it can be tempting to make exceptions and draft according to the team’s biggest needs first.

“I think everybody looks at need first … I think a lot of times people will reach for a guy because of need and it comes back to haunt them. There’s a fine line as to what you want to do.” — Mike Shanahan

Denver has certainly picked up a need-player from time to time. It worked out great in 2005 when we needed corners and draft three great backs with our first three draft picks (D-will, Paymah & Foxy).

However, just as often it doesn’t work out…

I know we got Quentin Griffin in the fourth round of ’03, but did you know that Willis McGahee and Larry Johnson were both available when we picked George Foster (so was Boss Bailey by the way). Imagine either of those Running Backs picking up the torch when Q did… I know, I know, hindsight is 20/20 and I would certainly mess things up if I ever had to draft for a NFL team; however, I think most people that have worked in Denver’s front office agree that it’s best to not focus too heavily on your need positions…

“You try and walk a tightrope between talent and best available player while looking at the needs of your football team. There have been drafts in the past where we kind of felt like the particular need was there and we felt like we needed to go in that direction. There’s times when you might force a pick here and there when you’re doing that. We try not to do that as an organization.” — Ted Sundquist (former General Manager)

The real trick is balancing the two…

“In the draft you have your needs that you have to go after but you constantly have to keep an eye on the board for a value. An example: You may be in the second round not even thinking about a running back and all of a sudden you look up at the board and see a running back that you had a first round grade on. You have to consider that guy. But you also have to think about your needs for the team, so it’s a 50-50 thing. You are constantly aware of what your needs are and you constantly have that eye on value no matter what round you’re in.” — Jim Goodman (Director of Player Personnel)

And accurately assigning player value is the key to picking up the best available player for the team. Remember the third round of the 2000 draft? We took WR Chris Cole. Ummm… that left Laveranues Coles and Darrell Jackson (not to mention Dante Hall) on the WR board. Was Chris Cole really rated above those receivers?

Grading who will transition into the NFL level of play is rough (I’m very glad it’s not my job). Luckily for us we have a pretty talented group of scouts that handle all the interviews, highlight reels and combine stats.

This team is headed up by father and son duo Jim & Jeff Goodman. Jim Goodman is Denver’s Director of Player Personnel and his son, Jeff Goodman, is filling in duties of our former General Manager this season. Together they are working hard to bring us the list of best available players according to position.

“We line them up by what we think they’re draft order will be and we rank them by position. If a situation comes up where you’re looking for a wide receiver in the third round but you’ve got a tackle with first-round ability you have to consider that first-round guy if you think he can come in and start immediately or be a solid back up.” — Jim Goodman

I’m excited to see what this year’s draft brings. I think we’ll have an interesting balancing act to preform this year between our obvious needs and players that might be of greater value in positions we may not immediately need. It’s years like this one, that can make the scouts and coaches either come out looking like super-human brainiacs or a bunch of silly fools.

I’m very glad I’m not making those calls. :)