Part two in today’s series explores reasons why the Denver Broncos should not draft an offensive tackle in the 2008 NFL Draft. Enjoy!

I’m trying to muster every bit of objectivity I can, but believe me, it’s hard. I desperately want the Broncos to take the best offensive tackle on the board when they’re on the clock next Saturday. But if there’s one solid argument against taking an OT, it’s this: the Broncos aren’t used to doing it in the past. And they’ve been successful in following a path of finding gems in the later rounds that they can develop for a few years.

The one time Mike Shanahan did address the offensive line in the first round was a well-known disaster. Tackle George Foster was drafted in the first round in 2003, and couldn’t be traded fast enough last offseason. He played well enough at times early on, but it quickly became clear he wasn’t the answer.  Would he be willing to take that risk and pay that much again?

Finally, if the Broncos have someone higher on their board when it rolls around to their turn, they’ll take him.  If Rashard Mendenhall or Jonathan Stewart or Keith Rivers is their guy, and he’s staring them in the face, they’ll take him without hesitation and count on their tried and true methods of finding offensive line help in the late rounds.

Today’s three part series focuses on offensive tackle. We’ll tell you why the Denver Broncos should use their first round choice in the 2008 NFL Draft on an offensive tackle, why they should not, then let you tell us with our fan poll. Enjoy!

When building an NFL football team, I’m a big believer in fortifying a few key positions first: a franchise quarterback, a dominating left tackle, and a dynamic, pass rushing right defensive end. The Broncos have Jay Cutler. They have a real pass rushing threat in Elvis Dumervil. But at left tackle, we’re left with unknowns.

Matt Lepsis has retired, and in his wake has left a depth chart full of questions at his position. Ryan Harris is a promising prospect, and the coaches are said to be high on him, but they only have college tape and practice to rely on. Will he be fully recovered from his back surgery? Will it be something we have to worry about for years on end? Chris Kuper played decent at left guard, but I didn’t see enough last year for me to believe he’s the answer at LT. Erik Pears played poorly at RT.

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Having received no offers from the restricted free agent market, and with that market coming to a close tomorrow, Hamza Abdullah signed his tender offer, the Denver Post reports. As it stands now, he’ll make just shy of $1 million in 2008 and become an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

The Broncos worked long through February at trying to lock up both Abdullah and Chris Myers. Neither would agree to the Broncos’ long term offers. The Broncos can still work with Abdullah on a new contract, and may even be tempted to designate him with the franchise tag if he plays well next offseason.

The Broncos still have two restricted free agents yet to sign their tender offers – cornerbacks Domonique Foxworth and Karl Paymah.

One less thing…

I’ve been hearing buzz about Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen for quite awhile… namely, the type of buzz that would see Allen leaving KC in a trade for draft picks. I didn’t really buy into it at the time, but today’s news is the type that’s hard to ignore.

Jay Glazer of FoxSports.com has been told by Allen himself that the league’s reigning sack leader is in talks with the Bucs and Vikings on a trade.

“It’s a situation that works out best for both sides,” Allen told FOXSports.com. “I can go to a team that is competing for a championship right now. The Chiefs can get valuable draft picks to rebuild with.”

I do not understand the logic behind this in the least. Sorry, Chiefs fans. There are two parts to building a team. 1) Find excellent talent. 2) KEEP that talent. And the Chiefs are letting their best player go for draft picks. It makes no sense whatsoever.

For the record, I wanted the Broncos to trade a 4th or 3rd round pick last offseason for the defensive end… it’s amazing how much one person’s stock can skyrocket with one league-leading sack-filled season. Now I’ll be happy just to see ‘The Mullet’ out of Kansas City and the AFC West.

Sports Illustrated is reporting that Ravens quarterback Steve McNair is announcing his retirement today.  He is probably better known for leading the Titans within 1 foot of a super bowl victory against the  St. Louis Rams in 1999.  While McNair has no official connection to the Broncos I thought it was worth reporting.  I’ve always thought Steve is one of the class acts in the NFL even if I don’t necessarily care for his current team.  Here’s hoping for a happy retired life.  The 35 year old QB had a strong 13-3 season in 2006 with Baltimore but last season had multiple injuries struggling to a 5-11 record.  McNair has always been known as an iron man, fighting through injuries his entire career to play in games he probably shouldn’t have.

• Darrell Jackson‘s ready for a fresh start in Denver. [Rocky Mountain News]
• His one-year deal is worth $1.5 million, with a possibility of another $500K in incentives. [NFL.com]
• Rumors are swirling the Broncos may take RB Jonathan Stewart. [Hashmarks]
• Has Branden Albert trumped Ryan Clady as the #2 OL on some boards? [ProFootballTalk]
• Is the NFL ready to move back to Los Angeles? [LA Times]
• Darren McFadden talks about his visit with the Raiders. [YardBarker]
• It’s Tradition Tuesday at House of Georges, a Broncos-Chiefs blog and friend of BroncoTalk. And this quote was well worthy of inclusion in the Daily Links: “Every time I get a little bummed about the current state of my favorite football team, I simply glance toward our divisional rivals in KC and suddenly I’m walkin’ on sunshine. I mean, we stink, but we’re better than the Chiefs at every single position on the field save for ends of the defensive and tight variety.” Simply classic. [House of Georges]
• NBA: Nuggets win their 50th game for the first time in 20 years. [Yahoo! Sports]
• MLB: Colorado-based team takes it to San Diego-based team 10-2. Now if only that happened in the NFL. [Yahoo! Sports]
  

I’m going to be the first to admit that I’m just not enough up to speed on everything to even try to do a mock draft; once you get past the second round, everyone is just a bunch of names and it’s hard to get real information on these guys. I really respect you guys who have the time, energy and passion to pay attention to who those guys are. To me they’re just a bunch of guys.

That said, I’m going to make a prediction where I do feel more comfortable: Not who, but what.

We have 9 picks in the draft. I’m going to predict that, after trades, we pick 8 players. In no particular order:

• 2 OL
• 2 DL
• 1 RB
• 1 WR
• 1 S
• 1 CB

My least comfortable spot is the CB — I really want to say KR but that’s not technically a position. So I am taking this gamble — with no education, just a gut feeling — that the guy we draft as a return specialist will be a CB. But that one, I’ll grant, could also be a WR. And that said, there’s need to get a young CB in there to guard against the fact that we could lose Paymah and Foxworth at the same time.

What do you think. Should we have a pool?

As draft day approaches, BroncoTalk will be giving you game tape highlights of some of the bigger (and smaller) names around the draft. Back to defense in today’s installment: North Carolina defensive tackle Kentwan Balmer.

The first video shown is the Fox Sports Sports Illustrated (thanks Kyle!) overview highlight reel detailing strengths and potential obstacles.  The second clip after the jump contains Balmer’s NFL Combine highlights.  The third video is a few more highlights along with a pseudo interview with the tackle.

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Should the Denver Broncos select a defensive tackle in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft?

We’ve given you the reasons they should. We’ve given you the reasons they shouldn’t. Now we ask you. Maybe they trade up. Maybe they trade down. Maybe they stay put and select a DT at 12 anyway. Would you approve?

Vote in the poll below or use the main page.

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Tomorrow: Offensive Tackle

Part two in today’s series explores why the Broncos should not draft a defensive tackle in the first round.

The simple answer is that, by luck of the draw, a defensive tackle simply isn’t available at the 12 spot that is worth the 12th overall pick in the draft. Sedrick Ellis will certainly be gone, as early as #5 to the Chiefs, and Kentwan Balmer is pegged in the 20’s of the first round. There isn’t a prospect that fits the 12th pick in the draft.

Or is there?

I’m reminded of former Buffalo Bills coach and GM Marv Levy. In 2006, the Bills stirred the draft pot by selecting S Donte Whitner with the 8th overall pick. Most people had him pegged as a late first rounder, and Levy and the Bills took a lot of heat for reaching for such a player.

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