A long time ago, in a Battle Red Blog far, far away, Riott was actually a contributing writer here. He was plucked out of the FanPosts, early in the draft season, because of the excellence of his draft analysis. Then he basically fell off the face of the earth and proved to be about as active as Scott, but the guy knows the draft. It is with that preamble that I give you his pick and analysis as fake GM of the Denver Broncos.
The Denver Broncos are a team in transition, and they have some needs to address in this draft.
QB: They signed someone by the name of Dakota Fanning or something like that. They say they're set at the position this year. Whatevs.
RB: Knowshon Moreno has been largely ineffective and might now have the label "injury prone." Willis McGahee had a bit of a renaissance last season, but he's no spring chicken and is probably not far from his Ahman Green moment. Also not what I'd consider the kind of pass catching back Ms. Fanning loves. They have Jeremiah Johnson, former Texans Practice Squad member, who could easily compete for a spot in a two-back rotation on that team. That, my friends, is the sign of a problem.
FB: LOL, right, on a Dakota Fanning team.
WR: I kid you not, they currently have 11 WRs on the roster at this very moment ) This includes new additions Jason Hill (Jaguars), Andre Caldwell (Bengals), and Brandon Stokley (Seahawks; had his best year with Manning years ago in Indy). While only Demaryius Thomas could be considered #1 material (a generous assertion to be sure), I'd like to think they can field 4 of them that are decent enough for Ms. Fanning, given Ms. Fanning's talent for ball distribution and making WRs look better than they are (good luck with Pierre Garcon, Washington).
TE: I really like Jacob Tamme and Joel Dreessen on this team. I think they're great fits and I think they'll be gold (even if they're Pyrite, Ms. Fanning will make them look like gold). Do Elway and Fanning think they'll be gold though?
OL: Ms. Fanning gets rid of the ball REALLY QUICKLY (a fact I hate). That said, Denver's OL in it's current state will have to rely on that. C, G, and RT could probably all be improved. Of those, I think they'd get the most mileage out of a guard improvement. J.D. Walton, the Broncos' center, has been statistically the worst center in football for two years running, and regressed horribly in his second year.
Defense: Does it matter? You think they're going to spend their first round pick on defense after spending $19m a year on a QB fresh off a missed year of football from a neck injury? They've got promising young safeties, a CB that should be addressed (but not in the first round), a good but not great LB core (OLBs are solid, could/should upgrade MLB), good DEs, and DTs that are at least as serviceable as the Texans' DTs (which means of course that they should probably be improved). The loss of Brodrick Bunkley is very serious, and leaves them with a pretty big hole in the center of their defense.
In light of all of this, the selection is Peter Konz (C--Wisconsin).
While defense is a need, the reality of the situation is that everything has to be done to protect or support Peyton Manning. Kendall Wright was a very viable option, but the fact that the Broncos signed two TEs and have 11 WRs on the roster already leads us to believe that the pick will come down to OL. Of the offensive linemen available, Konz gives the most versatility, providing (hopefully) an immediate upgrade at the center position, and flexibility to play guard if something crazy happens (like the Broncos signing Jason Brown). Keeping Manning upright is integral, and Konz is the best upgrade we can find at this juncture.
See? Told you he was a draft nut.
With that, your fearful fearless BRB Staff goes on the clock on behalf of your Houston Texans. I will make sure to e-mail myself the pick.
How the die has been cast thus far:
1. Indianapolis Colts--Andrew Luck (QB--Stanford)
2. Washington Redskins (from St. Louis)--Robert Griffin III (QB--Baylor)
3. Minnesota Vikings--Matt Kalil (OT--USC)
4. Cleveland Browns--Trent Richardson (RB--Alabama)
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers--Dontari Poe (DT--Memphis)
6. St. Louis Rams (from Washington)--Justin Blackmon (WR--Oklahoma State)
7. Jacksonville Jaguars--Morris Claiborne (CB--LSU)
8. Miami Dolphins--Ryan Tannehill (QB--Texas A&M)
9. Carolina Panthers--Quinton Coples (DE--North Carolina)
10. Buffalo Bills--Luke Kuechly (LB--Boston College)
11. Kansas City Chiefs--David DeCastro (OG--Stanford)
12. Seattle Seahawks--Courtney Upshaw (LB--Alabama)
13. Arizona Cardinals--Michael Floyd (WR--Notre Dame)
14. Dallas Cowboys--Fletcher Cox (DE/DT--Mississippi State)
15. Philadelphia Eagles--Riley Reiff (OT--Iowa)
16. New York Jets--Melvin Ingram (LB-South Carolina)
17. Cincinnati Bengals (from Oakland)--Dre Kirkpatrick (CB-Alabama)
18. San Diego Chargers--Shea McClellin (LB-Boise State)
19. Chicago Bears--Cordy Glenn (OG/OT--Georgia)
20. Tennessee Titans--Stephen Hill (WR--Georgia Tech)
21. Cincinnati Bengals--Mark Barron (SS--Alabama)
22. Cleveland Browns (from Atlanta)--Mohamed Sanu (WR--Rutgers)
23. Detroit Lions--Stephon Gilmore (CB--South Carolina)
24. Pittsburgh Steelers--Jonathan Martin (OT--Stanford)
25. Denver Broncos--Peter Konz (C--Wisconsin)
26. Houston Texans--BRB Staff
27. New England Patriots (from New Orleans)--NoSafetiesNeeded
28. Green Bay Packers--HabitualHoustonFan
29. Baltimore Ravens--MD.Texan
30. San Francisco 49ers--TexansDC
31. New England Patriots--NoSafetiesNeeded
32. New York Giants--DaGoaT