Perhaps another reason Clarett was drafted: Griffin Undergoes Knee Cartilage Surgery

[BigPlayShay]

Sunday, April 24, 2005
Notebook: Needs Addressed in Draft
Also: Griffin Undergoes Knee Cartilage Surgery
*** UPDATED 6:42 P.M. MDT ***

By Andrew Mason
DenverBroncos.com

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The first day is about fixed targets in the Broncos' draft sights. The second is about following the flow of the draft and the eventual adjustment and reaction.

"On the second day, you really don't know," Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. "A lot of players went off the board early in that fourth and fifth round, so there weren't a lot of players on the board when we did pick, but the ones we picked, we were happy to get."

The hard targets of the weekend were acquired -- a trio of cornerbacks to bolster a position hit by the loss of Kelly Herndon and a rookie to compete for the job at punter and kickoff specialist.

"We addressed some needs," Shanahan said. "We were hoping to get some defensive backs and we were able to get some defensive backs," Shanahan said. "We were hoping to get a punt returner/kickoff returner (Darrent Williams) very seldom do you that with a guy that we also feel can play nickel back and cornerback."

Adding running back Maurice Clarett could have been perceived as superfluous, considering the depth the Broncos possess at tailback with Tatum Bell, Mike Anderson and Quentin Griffin. But selecting running backs is a Broncos tradition; the team has used a draft pick at the position in seven of the last eight drafts.


"We always feel you never have enough depth at the running back position," Shanahan said.

That's especially true considering that Griffin, Anderson and Bell all have injury concerns of varying degrees. Griffin and Anderson saw their seasons end early last year with knee and groin injuries, respectively, while Bell battled through a quartet of injuries throughout the 2004 season.

Shanahan noted that Anderson is at "full speed, as far as I know," and that Bell is "fine." But Griffin recently underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair knee cartilage, Shanahan said.

"He got scoped a couple of days ago," Shanahan said. "He was in and out in the same day, but he should be ready to go in a couple of weeks."

TRADE AFTERMATH: Had the Broncos retained the first-round pick they traded to the Washington Redskins, they had a quartet of players in mind. Shanahan didn't reveal who they were, but noted that all were picked before the Broncos' turn would have arrived.

"We had two targeted on offense and two on defense, and they were gone," Shanahan said. "So we felt pretty good about the trade.

"From our standpoint, we were hoping that those players weren't going to be there. Sometimes you're right, sometimes you're wrong. That's why a lot of people wait (until) draft day to make those trades. A lot of times you wait until draft day, you can't make a trade. We guessed a little bit and luckily we were right."

THE OFFSEASON SCHEDULE: Denver's rookie class returns to the facility in three weeks.

We have 14 (organized) workout days, and that will start for us May 16," Shanahan said. "That's the same time where college players can come into your facility and actually have workouts with your team. So from May 16 to June 10, we'll have those 14 workouts."

The dates for the three-day mini-camp will change from previous years. The team has held its mini-camp around the second weekend in May, from the Friday through the Sunday. Inclement weather has been known to disrupt mini-camp -- particularly in 2003, when several inches of snow fell on the camp's second day -- so it will now be held somewhere around July 6-8.

It will be easier to coordinate the new mini-camp schedule with that of the rookie class, Shanahan noted.

"When we started thinking about bringing kids in, you'd have to work with their school schedules, and then all of a sudden we'd bring them in on a Thursday, you'd have three workdays and they'd have to go back on Mother's Day," Shanahan said. "It was just very hectic. We started thinking that these players are coming in May 16 to work out. Why not bring them in all at one time, so they don't have to go back and forth to school? We can start our offseason conditioning program with them, our quarterback camps, and do it a little bit later instead of rushing them in."

It's a seismic change for an offseason regimen that has been consistent for years of the Shanahan regime.

"It's the first time we've done it this way," Shanahan said. "Some other teams have tweaked their schedules and I've looked at the way other teams have done it and I thought it would fit better into our schedule."

ROOKIE FREE AGENTS: Shanahan said the team would "probably" add two to four undrafted free agents in the coming days.

"We can't go deeper than that, because if we do, we have to cut too many people, and right now there's not a lot of depth out there for our needs," Shanahan said.

[SoCalBronco]

In addition, Jeff Shoate is out till training camp and as Med pointed out on another thread there may be some suspension issues with regard to Middlebrooks. So that helps to explain all the corners.

[RhymesayersDU]

Can't we just cut Griffin finally?

[Spider]

bad news , I liked the Kid , too bad about his Knee

[Rulon Velvet Jones]

Scopes are pretty common, actually. Shouldn't really be a big deal.

[Bob's your Information Minister]

Well, Griffin will always life in infamy. The Chiefs would have had no trouble shutting him down. Pfft.

[Crushaholic]

If this was July or August, that would something of concern. However, he'll be OK when the time comes to strap on the pads. I'm just wondering where Griffin fits into the Broncos thinking, now. I'm pretty sure that we'll try other people as returners and Q has already lost his starting job as RB. The depth of Bell, Dayne and Clarett should ensure that he never sees the field.

[crazyhorse]

Q will still be faster than Clarett.

I mean hell, Trent Green is.

MCs average 40 time 4.77
TGs average 40 time 4.75

[Rulon Velvet Jones]

40 times are crap. If the 40 times of the top players were transferred to the track, they'd be beating Olympic gold medalists.

Green scrambling or Clarett taking a handoff - which one goes down first? Green.

[Rulon Velvet Jones]

Originally Posted by crazyhorse

Q will still be faster than Clarett.

I mean hell, Trent Green is.

MCs average 40 time 4.77
TGs average 40 time 4.75

That's a good eye to be able to discern 2 hundreths of a second.

[bronco militia]

the Broncos needed to draft another RB...Taco Bell might need a name change to Tinker Bell...Mike Anderson is getting up there in age for a RB, Q sucks unless he's playing against the Chiefs (hell, who doesn't?)Droughns is gone , and Dayne is a huge question mark...good thing the Broncos drafted a can't miss kid like Clarrett....




F#$K ME!!!!!!!!!!

[watermock]

Didn't T.D. have his knee cleaned as "routine?". You just never know, but when they keep clipping cartilage, I get kinda nervous. We don't need Q running a 4.7 40 with a swollen knee. At least TD could still get his 4.5 with shot knees.

This is a real sign that the team is still nervous about Q and Mike Anderson, and Sapp.

[Bronco LB 59]

Originally Posted by Rulon Velvet Jones

40 times are crap. If the 40 times of the top players were transferred to the track, they'd be beating Olympic gold medalists.

Green scrambling or Clarett taking a handoff - which one goes down first? Green.

Scientists that have studied Ben Johnson's world record 100 meter performance on steroids discovered that he was flying so fast he would have broken both the 50 and the 60 meter world record.

They discovered he ran the first 40 meters in 4.37. 40 meters is roughly the same as 40 yards.

You're right! 40 times are the biggest crock of **** in professional sports.

[Mile High Shack]

You think that maybe there is a bias against Maurice, so they purposely had slow hands when timing him?

[Bronco LB 59]

Originally Posted by Mile High Shack

You think that maybe there is a bias against Maurice, so they purposely had slow hands when timing him?

I wouldn't rule it out, but I am not much of a conspiracy theorist.

I don't think Clarett is a burner. I know regardless of those times, speed will never be one of his strengths.

However, watch his game clips here and you tell me if you think his "speed" is handicapping his running performance?

Go the bottom of the page of this link and click on the Maurice Clarett VIDEO ICON and tell me what you think!

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/draft?round=3&dl=nfl