Fact: Of the 53 players on San Diego's roster, a whopping 31 of them were drafted by the Chargers.
Fact: Of the 53 players on New England's roster, the team personally selected 25 of them.
Fact: The Chargers and the Patriots will meet for the AFC title this Sunday.
Not a fact, though an educated guess with some emperical evidence to boot: These days, success in the NFL depends on solid drafting, not off-season spending sprees.
Teams that value the draft and realize its long and short-term benefits tend to reap the rewards.
Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan announced in his end of the season press conference, that better coaching could have elevated the Broncos from seven wins to 10.
He later conceded that better draft evaluation could have put the win total at 13.
Wait a minute. Better coaching and draft picks would have equaled SIX extra victories?
I don't agree with that--though I do concur with his assessment that his poor player personnel moves have driven this team from the NFL's elite to the outskirts of mediocrity.
Fact: Of all of the picks Mike Shanahan made from 2001-2004, only one player remains: middle linebacker D.J. Williams. That's it.
Here are some of the memorable (all right, memorable for a week) names that Shanahan drafted and thought would be the core of this team: Willie Middlebrooks, George Foster, Tatum Bell, Darius Watts, Triandos Luke, Josh Sewell, Bradlee Van Pelt, Matt Mauck--and everybody's favorite and all around high-character guy: Maurice Clarett.
All of them are gone.
Though, as any good infomercial would say about its product--wait, there's more--Quinten Griffen, Terry Pierce, Ben Claxton, Adrian Madise, and Aaron Hunt--seriously, somebody stop me if any of these names have ever done ANYTHING with ANY team.
You want more, you got more: Ashley Lelie, Dorsett Davis, Nick Harris, and Kevin Kaspar. You get the idea.
A quick analysis shows that in that timespan from 2001-2004, the Broncos had 34 draft choices. As mentioned, only Williams still has a locker at Dove Valley. However, a deeper look inside shows only five players that have even had an impact in the NFL. The best of the bunch are clearly Clinton Portis (2002-2nd Round) and Williams (2004-1st Round). Ben Hamilton has been a stalwart on Denver's offensive line and Deltha O'Neal had a few electric moments in both Denver and Cincinnati. Ashley Lelie was decent for a season here. Other than that? Nothing.
The draft day misses would be equivalent to a baseball player, striking out on 30 of every 35 plate appearances. That would equate to a very willowy .147 average.
In that same timespan, the Chargers have caught--and passed--the Broncos on the field, mostly due to their prowess off the field. San Diego General Manager A.J. Smith has lapped the entire AFC West in his pursuit of talent.
The Broncos and their troubles are noted. The Raiders have many problems that are inhibiting a return to their glory years and poor drafting is among them. The Chiefs have similar problems.
San Diego has no such problems. Players they have drafted and cultivated into core team talent include: linebacker Shawne Merriman, defensive end Luis Castillo, safety Eric Weddle, cornerback Antonio Cromartie (Pro Bowl as a rookie), running back Michael Turner, kicker Nate Kaeding, and of course, running back LaDanian Tomlinson.
To show even more of Smith's keen evaluating eye at work, consider that two of the Chargers biggest playmakers aren't even on that list. Quarterback Philip Rivers was brought to San Diego in a draft-day trade involving Eli Manning and tight end Antonio Gates, a formidable weapon in San Diego's dynamic offense, wasn't even drafted by any team.
The Broncos have chosen the free agent and trade route to improve talent. A trade brought Champ Bailey, which by all accounts, has been a brilliant move. However, it cost them Portis, their last running back that truly consumed the opposing team's defensive gameplan.
The trade for Dre' Bly is too early to evaluate but when you see the Patriots were able to acquire Randy Moss for much less than it took Denver to trade for and then sign Bly, relatively speaking, that looks like a poor move.
The free agent acquisition of Travis Henry started well; he led the NFL in rushing after four weeks. However, his drug test issue was a distraction and he didn't even carry the football a single time in the final regular season game against Minnesota. The Broncos have more-or- less admitted Henry was not worth the headache, and it is said he will have to restructure his 2008 salary--by almost two-thirds--from about $6 million to around $2 million, if he wants to come back.
Javon Walker was signed to an extension worth $40 million after the 2006 season. He wants out now. Or does he? Who knows? Apparently, after his comments and subsequent radio apology, not even he knows.
The future of the Broncos are in the collective hands of quarterback Jay Cutler, wide receiver Brandon Marshall, tight end Tony Scheffler, and defensive end Elvis Dumervil.
Where did the Broncos get those players?
The 2006 NFL Draft.
-"Z"
