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Published on 04/14/2011 at Thu Apr 14 10:20.
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On Drafting Based On Need Over Best Player Available

Posted Thu Apr 14th by

62349970

To draft Peterson, or not to draft Peterson, that is the question at hand. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

The 2011 NFL Draft is now just two weeks away, and the great debate among Broncos fans has been, “Should Denver draft by need or select the best player available?” Which can be translated as, should the Broncos draft Alabama defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, because defensive tackle is their biggest need?  Or, should they draft LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson because he is arguably the best player in the draft?

Four months ago I wrote an article touching on the above mentioned subject, an excerpt of it can be read below:

“[This is] about rebuilding a defense by starting in the trenches. A good pass rush can make any good cornerback look like a great one (just look at New Englands’ Devin McCourty).”

My stance on the matter is as follows; although Peterson is an outstanding cornerback and would be a great commodity to any defense, Denver’s defensive line is in shambles, and needs to be addressed more than the secondary. Seemingly, there is at least one former Denver Bronco that agrees with me.

Every week, the Denver Post gives readers a chance to submit “Fan Mail” for a current or former Broncos player; this week former safety John Lynch answered the fans‘ questions. When asked who he thought Denver should draft, Lynch noted that his instinct tells him they’ll trade back, before going on to say:

“Where I started to see the Broncos unravel was up front. I’m a huge believer that you have to be strong up the middle and up front. When I first came here, we had Trevor Pryce and Reggie Hayward on the D-line and we were looking pretty good. But we lost that talent up front.

“I mean, you can play with Hall of Famers in your defensive backfield, but if you don’t have talent up front, you can’t stop people. I think the Broncos have been putting a band aid on this issue for a long time. It’s something that needs to be addressed.” [Emphasis added]

That is coming from a future Hall of Fame defensive back who knows a thing or two about defenses. Lynch went on to say he thinks Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley would be the best option for Denver. While I would prefer Alabama’s Marcell Dareus, we are in consensus that defensive tackle is the position Denver must address.

That’s my view on the matter, share yours in the comments and vote in the poll below!

Assuming Denver does not (or cannot) trade down, who should they draft 2nd overall?

View Results

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  • ETL

    Overkill. Think of something else.

  • Jon

    Suggestions?

  • ETL

    Also, the Pats pass rush was one of their weakest spots this year. I don't get why you pick on Devin McCourty.

  • flbronc

    how about something on potential free agent targets (other than deangelo williams) once the cba is up?

  • http://Facebook.com/BroncosZone Jon

    By the time the CBA is up, there may not even be a free agency period… but if there is I'm sure we'll cover that.

  • http://Facebook.com/BroncosZone Jon

    I said he was a good cornerback, and New England's pass rush was Far better than Denver's, which resulted in NE's secondary looking much better than Denver's.

  • herc_rock

    Maybe you should start your own blog.

  • herc_rock

    “best player available” is a silly way to go about things if you don't need somebody at that position.

    A CB at 2 is wrong this year, I think.

  • ETL

    I would, but I saw how yours went.

    This blog is a great blog, but I don't get why this topic is being beaten to death.

  • ETL

    “best player available” is a silly way to go about things if you don't need somebody at that position.

    That usually is true if you're not selecting in the top 10. If you have a pick that high then usually anything can be improved upon. I'd rather have two amazing CBs then a bust of a DT. If the front office does the HW and truly believes in a DT at two, then by all means, if not, then trade down or select Peterson.

  • herc_rock

    You build a D from the front four back. Even Deion Sanders would get torched with the dogshit front four we have right now.

    You have to improve that first. Everything else is unnecessary until that's dealt with. Especially at 2 overall.

  • herc_rock

    Then by all means, fire off some asshole comment about the free content you receive here.

  • ETL

    I mean, I just did.

  • ETL

    Yeah Deon would, anyone would. My point though is to evaluate the DTs well enough to not adding more dogshit to the front four. If Dareus, Bowers, and Fairley, are all not worthy #2 then select Peterson or trade down.

  • flbronc

    true enough… just throwing it out there. i would imagine that there will be some sort of free agent frenzy… contracts still expired at the end of last league year, so there are some players without homes. who knows about the rfa situation though…

  • http://Facebook.com/BroncosZone Jon

    Dareus is worth #2, imo.

  • http://Facebook.com/BroncosZone Jon

    You are right, I have been beating a dead horse. It's just hard to think of things to write about during this lockout… I tried a “Reliving the High Moments of 2010” series, but that was kinda a fail (there weren't many high moments last year).

    If you can think of a series or subject we should touch on, send us an email: BroncoTalk AT Gmail DOT com or, myself: Jon AT BroncosZone DOT net.

  • Neftalizvelez

    Lets get real here. If Josh and Xanders didnt set us back ten years we would be taking a Qb with the 2nd pick. Elway would love to do it. Only way it will happen is if someone gives us a pick for Tebow. Will that happen? Maybe a 5th round pick. I would take it and move on. Doubt it will. Only stud and cant miss is Peterson. Wanna go there? I would. If we dont move down and take as many fat boys on the d-line as we can. That is the bottom line. Lets get someone on stage on day one. Make it Peterson and let everyone know we are gonna play defense. Shut down defense. Coners are gonna cover. Safeties are gonna take your head off. Front seven is going to blitz and we are going to hit the Qb. We will get to the offense next year.

  • Doom92

    Marcell Dareus is as close to a cant miss for the BRONCOS as we've seen in a long time and hopefully will not get to draft in the top 20 for a long time again… Peterson is a stud but not right for the Broncos right now. I have finally agreed with something Herc said…

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  • 5280

    damn, people have nothing better to do all day but tell you on your own blog that ur blog sucks. i for one am not over the discussion. i mean, you know, with all the other crazy interesting things that are happening in the NFL today why would we keep talking about the draft(sarcasm).

    obviously i have my own opinion of what denver SHOULD do with their draft picks, but i think i can safely say that, pending a move WAY out of left field, they are not going to disappoint me with any direction they choose to go in AS LONG AS ITS DEFENCIVE. i really think they should go with dareus with the #2 pick. Everyone knows New England will be deing to get rid of at least one if not both of their 1st rounders so there are at least 2 chances for denver to trade back down into the 1st and grab another 1st round talent, which is what i preffer them to do. Realisticly, they could pick up dareus, trade one of there 2nd rounders to New England and pick up either the 17th or the 28th pick overall, and use it to grab someone like aldon smith or phil taylor or even robert quin assuming he might drop that far. and then they would still have a second rounder to pick up a line backer or a corner/saftey. i mean, if you want to really debate it, they could take that same pick and pick up brandon harris or jimmy smith(assuming they would want to take a chance on a kid with off the field issues). Because, if you have been educating yourself on jimmy smith, you would know that a lot of scouts and analysts have agreed that he has the same talent as patrick peterson. The problem with him lies in his commitment. The point im trying to make is that denver can pick up a lot of defencive talent in this draft and not have to trade up to do so.

    on the flip side if they did go with peterson with that #2 pick i would still be exstatic. He's very gifted. it would just take some time to fix the defence if they made that decision. hell, even if they did trade up and got fairley, bowers, or miller i cant say that i would be mad about that. nothing seems to be a wrong decision unless they do a nose dive and select mark ingram at 2nd overall and used the rest of their picks on recievers and lineman. i mean, with the #2 pick it's hard to piss people aff unless u dont know ur ass from a hole in the ground and i hardly think elway would do something so stupid.

  • Fan From Spain

    An article on potential free agents would be nice to read for a change (no sarcasm).

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Josh Temple

    Seriously, they could Dareus, Miller, or Peterson and I would be happy. As long as it's not a repeat of 2009 when they passed up Orakpo to take Moreno. We would have a much larger piece to this puzzle already taken care of. We also wouldn't have had to take Ayers with that other 1st and could've landed some other true talent. I still haven't given up on the kid but tell me you wouldn't rather have Clay Matthews right now.

  • TD30isMVP

    Maybe if I stay up really late tonight I will wake up on draft day…so tired of talking about it and dealing with the “buzz” around yet another rumor.

  • TheTroglodyte

    Write an article on this. Since 2003 6 DL have been picked in the top 5 with only 1 (Mario Williams) making the PB so far.

    So in the last 7 years (not counting QB's and OT's) the following positions have been drafted top 5 (with the amount of players to make the pro bowl in highlights next to them.

    DL – 6 / PB 1 – 16%
    DB – 2 / PB 2 – 100%
    WR – 4 / PB 3 – 75%
    RB – 5 / 1 – 20%
    LB – 2 / 0 – 0%

    According to these stats at least, Peterson is the safest pick in the draft haha.

  • 5280

    what makes your argument not matter, Trog, is the fact that nadomkong suh hasnt made the pro bowl and i think we can all agree that man is a freakin beast! so who cares about those stats, there trash. bottom line. no one will know what was the right decision until 3 or 4 years down the line. i just read in the denver post that all of green bays 11 starters on offence were drafted by the team. no free agents. thats a hell of scout team green bay has over there and thats what needs to be focused on by denver. drafting good physical long term talent. not what happend in the last however many drafts. if all the research, and all of the top scouts in the league agree that a certain player is worthy of a certain pick then you gotta go ahead and make the move. i tell you what, if green bay, or pittsburg, or new england had a shot at suh last year the would have taken him no question, regardless of what the draft stats have been for the last decade.

  • http://thingsatrexdoes.tumblr.com Mike Birtwistle

    I wouldn't swap Moreno for any player taken in that first round and I know I'm in the minority with that view. Matthews? Maybe, but I reckon he'd look ordinary as a Bronco when he's behind the Broncos D-Line.

  • TheTroglodyte

    lol if you took my post as an “argument” for Peterson, you need to chill out bud. Your point about Suh is irrelevant too, there are always exceptions to the rule.

    “if all the research, and all of the top scouts in the league agree” now you're just sipping kool-aid :p

  • Masaga91

    no he is not, he is a bust in the making

  • Masaga91

    so you people are saying that you prefer to draft a player that before the draft was a top 5 pick, but after the combine is a “#2 pick”, that sounds like a combine warrior to me, dareus is not good as suh and is not worth that #2 pick

    peterson is the best CB prospect since bailey and woodson, consider better than revis coming out of school, so i be happy to have a player like that in the broncos uniform, you don't ignore a talent like that you select it, elway knows that, and he knows that

  • http://thingsatrexdoes.tumblr.com Mike Birtwistle

    I wouldn't swap Moreno for any player taken in that first round and I know I'm in the minority with that view. Matthews? Maybe, but I reckon he'd look ordinary as a Bronco when he's behind the Broncos D-Line.

  • TheTroglodyte

    lol if you took my post as an “argument” for Peterson, you need to chill out bud. Your point about Suh is irrelevant too, there are always exceptions to the rule but Suh isn't in this draft and neither is anyone close to his skill level.

    “if all the research, and all of the top scouts in the league agree” now you're just sipping kool-aid :p

  • Masaga91

    no he is not, he is a bust in the making

  • Masaga91

    so you people are saying that you prefer to draft a player that before the draft was a top 5 pick, but after the combine is a “#2 pick”, that sounds like a combine warrior to me, dareus is not good as suh and is not worth that #2 pick

    peterson is the best CB prospect since bailey and woodson, consider better than revis coming out of school, so i be happy to have a player like that in the broncos uniform, you don't ignore a talent like that you select it, elway knows that, and he knows that