FSH: ON THE TICKER

April 18th, 2009 11:17pm PST

14 DAYS TO THE NFL DRAFT

NFL Draft Preview:
On The Ticker

On the Board: Denver Broncos....
Even with the draft yet to arrive, new head coach Josh McDaniels has been creating plenty of turbulence and waves in the Mile High country since his arrival.

After trading away arguably the team’s best player, McDaniels is not making many friends in Denver fast. While some have might mixed emotions about the new coach after some of his recent hirings; Brian Dawkins (Eagles), Andra Davis (Browns) and Correll Buckhalter (Eagles), McDaniels will have a chance on April 25 to win more favor with two draft picks in the top 20.

Sitting at number 12, the Broncos will likely be targeting a top defensive prospect to help continue the overhaul of the leagues 29th defense. Initially following the infamous Cutler-Orton deal, it would have made sense for the Broncos to package a few picks and move up the tree to target one of the young arms in the draft. After consideration and evaluation, the team may be better off holding serve with their current hand under center and continue to make the defense the priority.

The popular talk for the Broncos first pick has been defensive tackle B.J. Raji (Boston College). There’s no question the team will need to look for help in the middle up front on defense and the draft will be a major source in their search, but talent can’t be overlooked either. With defense the priority, inside linebacker Ray Maualuga (University of Southern California) is going to be hard to pass over.

(Photo by Getty Images)

The team has added quite a number of players via free agency to the defense, but Maualuga looks like a solid selection for the McDaniels and company at number 12. At SC Maualuga was a two-time First Team All-Pac 10, finished his career as a Trojan with 194 total tackles, and a winner of the Chuck Bednarik Award.

With the number 18 selection remaining in the first round, it is expected that the team could also use their second first round pick for defense as well. If the team passes on Raji, it could come back later in the round with a pick to fill the need.

Saturday (April 25) will be a big day in the Mile High City for Broncos fans, but it will be even bigger for McDaniels as a new era begins in Denver. His first three months have been anything but quiet, so I wouldn’t expect anything less than lots of excitement come draft day.


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