Denver entered the 2010 NFL Draft having missed the playoffs at 8-8 despite a 2-6 start. This is largely due to a schedule front-loaded with easier games, a win vs. Cincy that should not have occurred and some teams that always start slow. They closed the seasoning play good teams and also by losing to bad ones.
Denver entered the NFL draft needing help at defensive line and inside linebacker.
Rather than draft that, Denver traded malcontent Marshall to MIA and then drafted a WR with their first pick – and not the WR everyone else would have taken first. Did Denver address their needs next? No, they took Tim Tebow, who may not even be a quarterback. Did they take a linebacker then? NO, while guys like Kindle and Dan Williams and Price slipped off the boards the Broncos took…offensive linemen. Plural. I can only assume Denver is using a 7 man front on offense next year.
Denver needed DTs and ILBs and took a total of none, despite making multiple draft day moves to go both up and down in the order. Did the Broncos learn nothing from Mike Shanahan’s “I know nothing of defense and we’ll have 4 different coordinators in 4 years” strategy to realize that you cannot win this way?
Denver will not make the playoffs next year. They finished 8-8, didn’t deserve it and are now worse on both offense and defense in the off-season. This is the kind of team that can make the Chiefs look decent, the kind of team that gives the Raiders hope for a 2-win season – the two against Denver.
Give Denver’s 2010 NFL Draft a ‘D’ grade- and make it an ‘F’ if Tebow never reaches the Pro Bowl or starts as an NFL QB.