After the first wave of free agency, what is now the Broncos top priority?

[montrose]

The first wave of free agency has come and passed for the Broncos. Following the Broncos initial moves, what is the team's top priority throughout the remainder of free agency and heading into the draft?

OT - Matt Lepsis has retired and no new tackles have been brought in to compete with Ryan Harris and Erik Pears.

WR - Javon Walker is gone, Rod Smith is likely done but Kerry Colbert was signed.

DT - No new DT's have been brought in and Marcus Thomas finds himself in legal trouble.

LB - Boss Bailey and Niko Koutouvides were signed while Ian Gold was let go.

S - John Lynch is back and Hamza Abdullah is likely to return. Marquand Manual and Marlon McCree were brought in as well. Nick Ferguson is likely gone.

K - Jason Elam appears headed elsewhere with only Matt Prater on the roster.

P - Sam Paulescu is currently the only punter on the roster.

KR/PR - Edell Shepherd has some return experience while Andre Hall and Glenn Martinez remain.

*EDIT* Typo in the poll under LB. Should say, "Are Niko and Boss enough to improve the unit?"

[c_lazy_r]

I hope they focus on the Oline. We have the offensive skill players to score with anyone in theleague as long as the line can dominate.

[Kaylore]

Tackle...both kinds.

[DBBBSBS]

After watching the last two seasons, i think the biggest need area will be DT. Yes i agree we need OT as well, but i haven't seen broncos spend first round picks on OL. So my thought process is we will go for DT in the first followed by OL and WR/KR in the next few rounds and later rounds spend more on oline and special teams (K)

[Liquid Courage]

Tackle...both kinds.

Agreed. I was looking for the 1A and 1B option.

[Florida_Bronco]

Should mention that Marcus Thomas is not in legal trouble, that issue appears to be over and done with.

I think our biggest needs, like Kaylore said, are tackles. We need at least 1 other DT and a new RT.

[DBBBSBS]

I would like personally broncos trading down from the 12 spot to get a couple of picks to address the line areas. I dont know about others, but i have seen DeMario Pressley of NC state and i like this kid.

What do you gurus think ? Where do you think he will go ? He is not 1st round talent for sure. So if we trade down from 12 to say around 25, can we get a late 2nd rounder as well for our overall #12 ?

In which case we can get a decent OL and decent DL and another area of need by 2nd round itself. Am i expecting too much ?

comments....

[BroncoBuff]

Good poll ... DT is the clear choice in my view.

We just first-day drafted a LT who's favorably compared to Matt Lepsis. So unless we drafted him to be a career backup, Clady/Williams/Otah will be headed elsewhere. RT is another question ... Khan has said they're gonna give Kuper a shot at LEFT tackle, adding him to current LTs Harris and Pears ... but I just can't see Harris or Pears at RT ... Kuper at RT makes more sense. :nono:


And yet again, I'd like to draft Trevor Laws and Dre Moore, and sign both Larry Tripplett and Michael Myers. Josh Mallard will be interesting to watch in August, too.

[Atlas]

Denver needs to sign a vet DT and then head into the draft with opens eyes. I see them taking an OT at #12 or trading down for a WR or DT.

[broncosteven]

Denver needs to sign a vet DT and then head into the draft with opens eyes. I see them taking an OT at #12 or trading down for a WR or DT.

Last week I thought they would trade down.

After signing 2 LB's and 2 Safety's i am wondering if they don't find a way to move up to grab best OT or DT on board.

[elsid13]

It got to be depth at the DT position.

[broncosteven]

I would like personally broncos trading down from the 12 spot to get a couple of picks to address the line areas. I dont know about others, but i have seen DeMario Pressley of NC state and i like this kid.

What do you gurus think ? Where do you think he will go ? He is not 1st round talent for sure. So if we trade down from 12 to say around 25, can we get a late 2nd rounder as well for our overall #12 ?

In which case we can get a decent OL and decent DL and another area of need by 2nd round itself. Am i expecting too much ?

comments....

That is how I thought it might play out last week. I wonder if Shanny doesn't move up to get a DT that can start this year and be a force in middle.

[cabronco]

Tackle...both kinds.

Ya what he said. :thumbsup:

[Smiling Assassin27]

Defense, Defense, Defense.

Until this team is top 5 at stopping the run, it will lose.

[broncs2bowl]

I sure hope it is DT and nothing else before it is addressed

[The MVPlaya]

OT and DT definitely... the grimiest positions in the NFL.

[DBBBSBS]

That is how I thought it might play out last week. I wonder if Shanny doesn't move up to get a DT that can start this year and be a force in middle.

You may be right, but i want them to go down not only for picks but also because we can pay less money instead of the monster contracts. In my view we reached for jarvis moss last year and i dont want that happening again. The fact that we went up last two years for cutler and moss makes me think we will go back or stay put. But staying at #12 is what i would hate. Wish last year instead of a moss we went up to get patrick instead.

[nickademus]

DT is our biggest need IMHO with OT a close second. That said there is a big drop after Dorsey and Ellis so if we cant get one of thoes two I would like an OT and then a trade up for Mendenhall use our second on one of the second tier DTs So since the poll is what we need to do in the off-season and not the draft I will go DT.

[maher_tyler]

Was between T and DT...went with T because we drafted D line last year early on..if we pick up a DT before the draft we prolly go T.

[Orange_Beard]

Tackle...both kinds.

Right on. We need to stop the run and be able to run.

[BlaK-Argentina]

Both tackles... pleeeease adress both tackle positions!

[Bronco Yoda]

Tackle...both kinds.

Agreed. take the best on the board regardless of which side.

[Kaylore]

Defensive tackle takes a long time to get caught up in the NFL. Regardless of who we draft this year for that position, they likely wouldn't be very productive until '09.

Offensive line is a position that I think has a better chance to contribute right away. However I know the staff doesn't really feel that way. If there's someone they love and they take him early and want him to start, then there is a chance there, but I doubt they'll do that unless they have to.

My point is that anyone who is expecting this draft to have immediate impact in making our team better needs to temper their enthusiasm. The young guns need to learn football and it might take a season or two before they get there. That's why best player available is never a bad way to go.

[Dedhed]

I want to see us take an elite LT that will keep Jay free from blind side angst for the next decade. I firmly believe that if we keep this kids jersey clean, and thereby free from injury, he'll be one of the greats the game has seen.

[Hogan11]

No one crying for Elam? I'm surprised.

Kaylore got it right, Tackles, both kinds.....checkmate, game, set, match, close the thread.

[broncofan7]

We will trade down in the 1st round and draft a RB with our first rounder--mark it down.

[broncolife]

We will trade up to the 9th spot just to piss off everybody who wanted us to lose to Vikings

[Punisher]

No one crying for Elam? I'm surprised.

Kaylore got it right, Tackles, both kinds.....checkmate, game, set, match, close the thread.

Yea I'm Surprised too

[DBBBSBS]

My prediction for the 1st round pick is ....

we trade no 12 to tennesse for there 1st round 3rd and 6th round picks.

Tennesse picks Desean Jackson WR Cal and at #24 denver picks Kentwan Balmer DL N Carolina.

After this pick we will have a 3rd as well, along with a 6th.

[Northman]

At this point its a toss up between DT and OT so i just went with DT.

[Mr. Trout]

OT and DT. come on front office!! Football is won on the front lines and we have jack shiat.

[Houshyamama]

I'm in the minority I know, but on the offensive side I'd say we need a #2 WR more than a tackle at this point (not saying we don't need one). Marshall will get smothered with no help on the other side.

[Paladin]

I saw one mock that had Dorsey dropping to 12. The mock seemed reasonable, but was probably done by a kid at Hofstra....

My point is that it would make some sense to stick to 12 to see how the draft goes. When 12 comes, I would imagine some opportunities would exist to take a good prospect. or trade down for more picks. I am also reminded that it takes a partner or three to trade, and not everyone will want to trade up to 12 unless there is a player there that they covet. As I said on another thread, I think the Broncos will have a list of three or four players they'd like to have. Likely two DTs, a RB and maybe an LB. If one of those are there, they will jump. If not, I can see them looking for a trade. I suspect they will need to console themselves with Mendenhall.

I said DT because that is an area I would love to see them stregthen, but I am not militant about it.....

[Broncojef]

I never was a Lepsis fan and have even less confidence in Pears/Harris. We need LT, RT, DT, DT, RB, WR, P

[Billy Clyde Puckett]

Both OT and DT are weak, but without improving at OT you will have an end to Cutler's career and be wishing the Broncs had someone as good as Griese at QB.

[BroncoBuff]

I never was a Lepsis fan.
I didn't know people like you really existed. I'll bet you buy Geico insurance ...

http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/telebuddy/archives/caveman.jpg
. . . . . . . . Broncojef

[Broncojef]

I didn't know people like you really existed. I'll bet you buy Geico insurance ...

http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/telebuddy/archives/caveman.jpg
. . . . . . . . Broncojef

LOL Thanks BroncoBuff, yeah I know with his college team and all he had fans but I wasn't one of them. Actually happy to see him leave and want the stud replacement I've been waiting for all these years since Zim. Your annointing of Pears or Harris being similar to Lepsis just plain scares me.

[Broncojef]

Does Zim or Tony Jones have a son we could draft...now there were some Tackles!!

[chaz]

our biggest need hasn't changed. OT may not be even solid, and protecting Jay has to be high on our list, but it isn't awful DT is embarrassing right now.

[Fusionfrontman]

Too many positions..ugh. Both sides of the line MUST be addressed!

[27atwater]

It's obviously DT and OT, but I say DT wins out. Nobody has discussed our "options" at DT. At OT, we have Harris, Pears, Kuper and will likely add one thru the draft...maybe at 12...maybe later. HOWEVER, there are no real options at DT to go alongside Thomas. Our OLine struggled at times last year partly because of injury and position changes. Our DLine struggles ALL OF LAST YEAR due to complete lack of talent. DT MUST be addressed first and foremost.

That being said, the "value" at round 1 OT and round 2 DT seems to be greater than round 1 DT and round 2 OT. By this I mean, we can draft an Otah or Williams or Cherilus (Clady will be gone) at 12 and still get a Laws or Harrison or Sims in round 2. If we stand pat at 12, there is no DT worthy of that spot and there are also no OTs w/ round 2 grades. It seems like there are 5 stud OTs and a bunch of mid rounders...

[Los Broncos]

I hope we go OL with the first pick.

[DBBBSBS]

I didn't know people like you really existed. I'll bet you buy Geico insurance ...

http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/telebuddy/archives/caveman.jpg
. . . . . . . . Broncojef

Hilarious! Hilarious! Hilarious! Hilarious! Hilarious! Hilarious!

[CHANGSTER]

Man, this is neck and neck. GO OT!

[TheChamp24]

Defensive tackle takes a long time to get caught up in the NFL. Regardless of who we draft this year for that position, they likely wouldn't be very productive until '09.

Offensive line is a position that I think has a better chance to contribute right away. However I know the staff doesn't really feel that way. If there's someone they love and they take him early and want him to start, then there is a chance there, but I doubt they'll do that unless they have to.

My point is that anyone who is expecting this draft to have immediate impact in making our team better needs to temper their enthusiasm. The young guns need to learn football and it might take a season or two before they get there. That's why best player available is never a bad way to go.

ding ding ding! We have a winner!
If anyone expects us to improve dramatically by adding a rookie DT, keep dreaming. We will be in the same boat last year as far as the DL is concerned. Granted, the kid may improve and in 2 years be productive, but I'm not holding my breath for him to come in and do much to help this year.

Someone else said it best when they said we need to bring in a veteran DT to man the spot next to Thomas until we get someone groomed to take the spot.

And I don't care how bad our DT depth is, if we don't have anybody worthy of protecting Cutler, thats what we need. I have no faith in Pears, Harris or anybody else at LT really at the moment. Someone may surprise, but that would be shocking to me.

[oubronco]

Defensive tackle has "ALWAYS" been the biggest need in Denver since i can remember

[Crushaholic]

We need an elite OT, but are we willing to pay for one? I'm predicting we'll trade down and pick up a couple of "second-tier" OTs...

[ShutDownPoster]

Even with Harris not starting a game yet in the NFL, I'm not so much worried about his talent as I am worried about his 'glass' back.

[Killericon]

DT has been the answer to this poll at any given point since we cut Pryce.

[2KBack]

Both OT and DT are weak, but without improving at OT you will have an end to Cutler's career and be wishing the Broncs had someone as good as Griese at QB.

This Cutler needs protection thing is getting out of hand. Don't get me wrong, a sacked QB isn't good for the team, but people are acting like Cutler is getting rocked more than the average bear. 27 sacks isn't exactly a record people and that number would have been less if Cutler wasn't so young and had a better feel for the rush, or when to throw it away. Big Ben was sacked almost 50 times and some people here wanted peices of that o-line. In 1997 Elway was sacked 34 times, and that was an all-pro line. This is the NFL, Cutler is gonna get sack at least 20 times a season, Brady was even sacked that many times. The line isn't as bad as people are saying.

I'm not saying you don't improve if you can, but people areound here act like we have a pop warner 0-line, and we don't.

[Kaylore]

ding ding ding! We have a winner!
If anyone expects us to improve dramatically by adding a rookie DT, keep dreaming. We will be in the same boat last year as far as the DL is concerned.
Actually we have three guys we picked up last year that all have talent and I suspect all three will improve and one of them will emerge as a solid starter this year. The issue is that two of them are defensive ends so odds are that that play won't improve much in the middle of the line. However with Moss, Crowder and Ekuban coming back we should see at least modest improvements there.

[ScottXray]

This Cutler needs protection thing is getting out of hand. Don't get me wrong, a sacked QB isn't good for the team, but people are acting like Cutler is getting rocked more than the average bear. 27 sacks isn't exactly a record people and that number would have been less if Cutler wasn't so young and had a better feel for the rush, or when to throw it away. Big Ben was sacked almost 50 times and some people here wanted peices of that o-line. In 1997 Elway was sacked 34 times, and that was an all-pro line. This is the NFL, Cutler is gonna get sack at least 20 times a season, Brady was even sacked that many times. The line isn't as bad as people are saying.

I'm not saying you don't improve if you can, but people areound here act like we have a pop warner 0-line, and we don't.

your'e right that we only gave up 27 sacks...but we haven't been able to move the ball inside the 20 for 4-5 years. I want a road grader that will allow us to move the sticks with a running game AND protect Cutler.

So i would choose OT, DT then a true FB.

[CHANGSTER]

This Cutler needs protection thing is getting out of hand. Don't get me wrong, a sacked QB isn't good for the team, but people are acting like Cutler is getting rocked more than the average bear. 27 sacks isn't exactly a record people and that number would have been less if Cutler wasn't so young and had a better feel for the rush, or when to throw it away. Big Ben was sacked almost 50 times and some people here wanted peices of that o-line. In 1997 Elway was sacked 34 times, and that was an all-pro line. This is the NFL, Cutler is gonna get sack at least 20 times a season, Brady was even sacked that many times. The line isn't as bad as people are saying.

I'm not saying you don't improve if you can, but people areound here act like we have a pop warner 0-line, and we don't.

You did watch last season right? It's not all about sack numbers, It's more about the hurry's and hits he took. The line just plain couldn't give him a barely reasonable amount of time.

[Rohirrim]

If Sedrick Ellis is still there at six, the Broncos should give the Jets whatever they want for the pick and take him.

[2KBack]

You did watch last season right? It's not all about sack numbers, It's more about the hurry's and hits he took. The line just plain couldn't give him a barely reasonable amount of time.

I watched, and yes he was hurried a lot. He also had a bad habit of running backwards when he had a pocket to step into. I really think after Cutler develops better pocket pressence all of a sudden the pass protection is going to seem worlds better. It will also be helpful when he learns to read the pre-snap defenses better and audible. Like I said, upgrading is always good, but the line was nowhere near as bad as some make it out to be.

Wanting big mean guys for the run game is understandable.

[TheChamp24]

Did you also see when Cutler got injured because he got sacked? Or how about the 49ers game the year before where he got a concussion? Protecting Cutler and keeping him healthy is so freakin important over anything else.

[chaz]

Niko is gonna have one hell of a first year at MLB if he has the Olson twins in front of him trying to keep blockers off him.

[DBBBSBS]

Looks like DT vs OT, but DT is getting to be no 1 clearly... At this point i want the mane gurus to reply to this....

What do you guys think of Kentwan Balmer , DT, North Carolina. If we come down from the present pick to around 25 - 28 we can get him. And also we can get a 3rd round pick which we can use for OT and we can add depth for OT and DT using 4th rounds. At 2nd round we can draft WR/KR/PR.

Thoughts ?

[GoHAM]

Both tackle spots, 1a and 1aa.

[2KBack]

Did you also see when Cutler got injured because he got sacked? Or how about the 49ers game the year before where he got a concussion? Protecting Cutler and keeping him healthy is so freakin important over anything else.

so you are suggesting that a new OT will keep Cutler from getting hit even twice? Guess what, it's football, he's going to get hit and hit hard no matterwho's out there.

also, I never said protection wasn't important. I said he got better protection than people think. Getting his bell rung twice is not a good indication of the overall protection.

[TheChamp24]

so you are suggesting that a new OT will keep Cutler from getting hit even twice? Guess what, it's football, he's going to get hit and hit hard no matterwho's out there.

also, I never said protection wasn't important. I said he got better protection than people think. Getting his bell rung twice is not a good indication of the overall protection.

The fact is, he got injured twice because of the PROTECTION.
Meaning, the protection needs to get BETTER.
I don't want to risk him getting hurt or thrown or out of sync because our protection is crappy and he keeps on getting hit.
And if you think its okay with how it was last year, lol

[chaz]

Looks like DT vs OT, but DT is getting to be no 1 clearly... At this point i want the mane gurus to reply to this....

What do you guys think of Kentwan Balmer , DT, North Carolina. If we come down from the present pick to around 25 - 28 we can get him. And also we can get a 3rd round pick which we can use for OT and we can add depth for OT and DT using 4th rounds. At 2nd round we can draft WR/KR/PR.

Thoughts ?

I don't know much about Balmer at all except that he was a one year wonder which scares me...but I think that trading down is a good idea of Clady/Ellis/Dorsey don't drop.

One concern I have is your plan of pegging positions by round...you can't do that. The draft doesn't line up to your needs, you need to match up to the draft. You can't say WR in round 2, DT in 4, OT in 3 because then you get burned by forcing a pick. Also I can't think of any WR set to be available/worthy in the second that can also return kicks.

[Broncojef]

so you are suggesting that a new OT will keep Cutler from getting hit even twice? Guess what, it's football, he's going to get hit and hit hard no matterwho's out there.

also, I never said protection wasn't important. I said he got better protection than people think. Getting his bell rung twice is not a good indication of the overall protection.

There were so many games where we didn't even have stability up front its amazing to me we were 7-9. The Charger and Lions games were just embarassing. How many times did he get knocked out of the game? I mean thats not just bad coverage it was horrid....every bit as horrid as the DT position that everyone keeps yelling about.

[Billy Clyde Puckett]

I'm not saying you don't improve if you can, but people areound here act like we have a pop warner 0-line, and we don't.

Not Pop Warner, but Jack Elway at Cherry Creek HS had better tackles.

[CHANGSTER]

Looks like DT vs OT, but DT is getting to be no 1 clearly... At this point i want the mane gurus to reply to this....

What do you guys think of Kentwan Balmer , DT, North Carolina. If we come down from the present pick to around 25 - 28 we can get him. And also we can get a 3rd round pick which we can use for OT and we can add depth for OT and DT using 4th rounds. At 2nd round we can draft WR/KR/PR.

Thoughts ?

If we did that we better get more than than just a 3rd. By the value if we traded back to say 26, equal value would be a 2nd, 3rd and 5th.