Yesterday, some of us briefly discussed the Broncos’ role in the 2010 NFL Draft. As it turns out, yesterday Football Outsiders also released their annual review of the draft of six years past. This has been a read I’ve awaited for quite some time, so let’s analyze what they determined.
- As I mentioned yesterday, while Josh McDaniels is an easy punching bag for Broncos fans with most of those punches being deserved, the 2010 NFL Draft is something he should be praised for instead. Yes, yes, Tim Tebow, but also Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Zane Beadles, and JD Walton, who set a solid foundation for Peyton Manning to take over two years later. There’s also Perrish Cox, but I struggle saying positive things about one of the most despicable Broncos of recent memory.
- While I may get some pushback on this here, I will stand my ground and strongly disagree with their choice of biggest quarterback bust: it should be Jimmy Clausen, and not Tebow. We all know of Tebow’s flaws well, but at least he gave his drafted team a deliriously entertaining season that not only culminated in a playoff berth, but also a playoff win, and it was a game where Tebow played quite well as opposed to the wins in spite of Tebow. Clausen, on the other hand, promptly led the Panthers in 2010 to the first overall pick in 2011, and then never played another snap for them. I don’t believe that bouncing around the league longer as a career backup in a low profile manner should get Clausen off the hook.
- I’m surprised that there was no mention of Colt McCoy. At one time he was considered a borderline first round pick, and who knows: if Texas hadn’t lost out to Oklahoma on the highly controversial circular three way tie in the 2008 Big 12 South standings, maybe it’s McCoy that the Rams give the largest rookie contract in NFL history that he’s able to free ride into more overpaid deals, while it’s Sam Bradford that’s slumming as a backup in DC.
- Another player that failed to get a mention was Emmanuel Sanders, but at least he had fair competition in that it was an excellent draft for wide receivers. In addition to Thomas and Decker, there was also Dez Bryant, Golden Tate, and the biggest steal of the draft, Antonio Brown.
- And here is where I disagree again on who should be the biggest bust at wide receiver. Yes, Arrelious Benn was selected higher than Armanti Edwards (who played quarterback at Appalachian State, by the way). Or was he? In order for Marty Hurney to get the rights to select Edwards in the third round, he had to surrender a second round pick the next year to the Patriots. And as mentioned above, the Panthers had the worst record in the NFL that year. As Bill Barnwell succinctly put it, “The Panthers ended up dealing the 33rd pick in the draft for the 89th. Bill Belichick is smart, but sometimes he succeeds just by aiding other teams’ efforts to be stupid.” Suffice to say, Panthers fans are much happier with Dave Gettleman as the GM.
- FO also has a “Fun With Trader McDaniels” section to peruse. Not all of this is fun (ugh, Alphonso Smith), but the end conclusion was that the Broncos “gave up Anthony Davis, Sergio Kindle, and Dennis Pitta for Demaryius Thomas, Tim Tebow, and Eric Decker”. The Broncos slightly got the better end of that equation. A more entertaining way of visualizing all of this wheeling and dealing is to reference the famous “Kyle Orton Flow Chart“.