Broncos - Ranking Drafts of the Eighties

So the NFL draft is over for another year. I always find it amusing when people try to "grade" a draft immediately after it takes place - sure, it's fun, but no one knows how things are actually going to turn out. Most people hate what Josh McDaniels and the Broncos did in the draft. Some of their moves were perplexing, but who really knows how things will turn out?

You need to wait at least five years before you have a real idea of how a team did. Some time ago I did an analysis of past Broncos drafts - and I'm just now getting around to sharing the results with the rest of the free world. In this post, I am ranking the 10 drafts of the 1980's.

1. 1983 - The Broncos gave up Chris Hinton, who they had selected #4 overall, to obtain John Elway, the #1 overall choice that year. Acquiring a future Hall of Famer who would go on to lead the team to five Super Bowls and two championships is plenty to make this the best Broncos draft of the 1980s. But the Broncos also selected Gary Kubiak in the 8th round, who was a reliable backup QB for 9 years and went on to become the Broncos offensive coordinator. In the 12th round, the Broncos picked Karl Mecklenburg, who is a member of the Broncos' Ring of Fame. Mark Cooper, Clint Sampson, and Walt Bowyer were other draft choices who played a few years in Denver.

2. 1984 - The Broncos also gave up their #1 pick in 1984 in the Elway trade. Anytime you get a future Hall of Famer, your draft grade is automatically an A. But the Broncos also selected numerous players this year who contributed for several years - Clarence Kay (7th rd) and Randy Robbins (4th rd) played 9 seasons in Denver and Andre Townsend (2nd rd) played 7 years with the Broncos. Gene Lang (11th rd) and Tony Lilly (4th rd) each played 4 years. Not a bad draft haul.

3. 1980 - The Broncos traded their 1st and 2nd round selections to the New York Jets for QB Matt Robinson, who threw for 2 touchdowns and 12 interceptions during his one season in Denver. So the draft was a bust, right? Actually, the Broncos did quite well. They selected Rulon Jones (2nd rd) and Keith Bishop (6th rd), who each went on to become two-time Pro Bowlers with the Broncos. They also picked up Mike Harden (5th rd), who intercepted 33 passes in 9 years with the Broncos.

4. 1981 - The Broncos selected Dennis Smith with their first round selection. He played 14 years and is a member of the team's Ring of Fame. In the 5th round, they selected Ken Lanier, who played 13 seasons in Denver.

5. 1985 - The Broncos selected Steve Sewell in the first round. He was nothing special, but did play for 7 years. In the second round, the Broncos picked up Vance Johnson, who was Elway's favorite target before the days of Shannon Sharpe. Also in the second round, they picked Simon Fletcher, who became the team's all-time sack leader.

6. 1989 - After a bad 1988 season, the Broncos had the 13th overall pick. They actually traded down in the first round and wound up with Steve Atwater - who played on both Super Bowl teams and is in the Ring of Fame. They didn't get much else out of this draft, however. Doug Widell and Warren Powers, both second-round picks, played a few seasons.

7. 1987 - The Broncos picked up Ricky Nattiel in the first round. He had one good year and scored Denver's only touchdown in SB 22. Other than that, he didn't do much. The Broncos did get Tyrone Braxton in the 12th round. He played several years in Denver and started on both Super Bowl teams. They also picked Michael Brooks, a LB who made a Pro Bowl and had a few good seasons with the Broncos.

8. 1982 - The Broncos used their #1 pick on Gerald Willhite, who stuck around for several years but was never very remarkable. They picked up a better running back in the 5th round - Sammy Winder, who had a 1,000 yard season, made a Pro Bowl, and played 9 years in Denver.

9. 1986 - The Broncos traded their first, second, and third round picks to acquire Ricky Hunley and Mark Haynes. Each only played four seasons in Denver. Hunley started on the 1986 & 1987 Super Bowl teams but was hardly worth the package of picks the Broncos gave up to get him. Haynes was an All-Pro before coming to Denver, but he wasn't good enough to start on the 1986 or 1989 Super Bowl teams. The picks the Broncos gave up became Tim McGee, David Fulcher, and Pepper Johnson, each of whom enjoyed good careers with other teams. The Broncos did get Mark Jackson (5th rd), who did catch the touchdown pass to finish "The Drive", but not much else.

10. 1988 - Without question, this was the worst Broncos draft of the 1980s. They used their #1 pick on Ted Gregory, who was traded to New Orleans before the season even started. They traded three picks to move up and select Gerald Perry in the second round - he lasted three seasons before being traded to the Rams for Gaston Green, who had a 1,000 yard season as a Bronco. But that was pretty much all they got out of this draft. And it's not like this was a weak draft - future Pro Bowlers who were picked among the 18 selections between Gregory and Perry - Chris Spielman, Ken Norton Jr., Eric Allen, Jumbo Elliott, Thurman Thomas, Dermontti Dawson, and Pierce Holt. What a waste.

Learn Something New

They say you should read the scriptures over and over because you can learn something new each time.

I believe the same applies to watching the same movies repeatedly. Just when you thought there was nothing new to be gleaned from the nth viewing of the 1983 classic film Mr. Mom:

In the opening scene, Carolyn comes in to wake up Jack. I don't know if I ever before caught that she tells him that his shower is ready. So the water is just running and running while he pulls himself out of bed and gets to the bathroom. And then there is another scene at the end where Jack is standing in the bathroom while the shower just runs and runs while the mirror fogs up. The Butlers were not very green. This type of wastefulness would not fly in 2009.

On Carolyn's first day of work, she comes out sporting a nice professional outfit. One of her accessories is a HUGE digital watch.

I never picked up on this before, but the movie actually reveals the timeline of the story - it takes place over the course of three months. How do I know this? At the beginning, Jack is telling the lineworkers not to worry about the Lions because it's still the preseason - which would put the beginning of the film in August. And then the climactic scenes take place as Carolyn flies off to California on Halloween night.

Not Applying Myself - Continued

So I did hear back from NASBA - but it wasn't good news. They said that North Carolina had transferred only one of my scores. I had not known this because I had to leave the envelope sealed to send it to them. So I was all worried that I was going to end up having to retake that section of the exam. (Goodbye, post-tax season bliss!)

Fortunately, though, the helpful NASBA girl contacted me to let me know that she had contacted North Carolina and they had hosed up the transfer. So I should be in the clear - until something else turns out to be wrong or missing.

Opening Day

Today is opening day in baseball. I haven't cared about opening day for many, many years - and haven't cared that much about any of the other days, either.

(I've got Rockies-Dbacks on the office radio right now - the Rockies just gave up a home run to the first batter of the season. Another great season of baseball in the Mile High City on the way!)

The reason I haven't cared? Overemphasis on the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Mets. I hate all those teams - yet they always do well because the economic cards are stacked in their favor. I miss the days when you had the KC Royals winning a World Series, and then the Minnesota Twins winning two World Series in five years, and the Oakland A's and Cincinnati Reds also claiming late 80's/early 90's championships. Maybe we are headed back in the right direction with last year's Philadelphia/Tampa Bay World Series.

But my pledge for this summer is to try and care a little bit.

Not about the Rockies, though. I'll probably follow them some because it is unavoidable living in Denver. But I've never been passionate about the Rockies.

I am also going to try and follow my favorite team when I was a youth - the Cincinnati Reds. That is something I haven't been doing, I guess because like the Rockies, for the most part the Reds have not been competitive in years.

More on this train of thought the next time I get a chance to write.

Not Applying Myself

I'm not good at applying for things. I'm really not. I don't know why - I'm usually pretty conscientious and thorough. But I've had some terrible luck over the years.

Almost eight years ago, I applied for the accounting program at BYU. It took them about three days to reject my application - not because I had poor grades - but because I had taken too many of the wrong kind of class. Totally blindsided me. I had no idea. So I didn't get my accounting degree from BYU.

A little over four years ago, I applied for a Masters of Accounting program at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. They lost my GMAT scores and didn't really seem to care one way or the other if they ever found them. They may have just "lost" them in the trash can for all I know. That worked out okay because I wound up at North Carolina State which is a much better school anyways.

My current problem is getting a CPA license. I passed my last CPA exam over a year ago. I was a bit slack and didn't actually get my application in until last November. There's this place in Nashville - NASBA (National Association of State Boards of Accountancy) - and they handle processing the applications for Colorado.

Two months after I send my application in, I get a call from this lady there who says there is something wrong with my application and I needed to call her back. I had not been in the office, so it was a couple of days, but I did get back to her - but by then she had totally forgotten what was wrong with my application and said she would call me back and let me know. (Which she never did.)

So then this other, more helpful girl called me and filled me in. I hadn't properly transferred my scores from North Carolina. (Never mind that I had tried numerous times to find out exactly what I needed to do in order to transfer my scores - with no luck.) So I finally got the transfer thing from North Carolina and sent it to Nashville and so far I've heard nothing back from them.

Hopefully everything gets resolved and I don't have to reapply and pay another exorbitant fee for them to diddle around with my stuff for three months. Does it work like this for everyone else? Why do I have such a terrible time with applications?

He's Gone

Wow. . . so within 90 minutes of my last post, the Broncos announced that they traded Jay Cutler to the Bears. I wasn't expecting it to go down quite that fast.

I'm so glad the kid is gone from here. And not solely because of the childish kid-stuff garbage of the last month.

I never liked him in the first place. Seriously, I didn't. It was kind of a moral dilemma for me personally. I want to root for my favorite NFL team, but that also means rooting for their starting quarterback - who kinda bugged me for reasons that I could never quite put my finger on.

So now I am relieved of all that. I think I can manage rooting for Kyle Orton.

And what about Jay's agent, Bus Cook? He sounds like a real first-rate doofwad. He has presided over consecutive offseason quarterback soap operas - last year, of course, being the Brett Favre edition.

Someone, somewhere, is writing a screenplay based upon the events of the past thirty-five days. When this is released, it will be entitled, "He's Just Not That Into You." And it could be told from either perspective, is the great thing.

The Broncos got a pretty good haul - I think. In addition to Kyle Orton, they obtained two first round picks and a third-rounder. Of course, if the players they pick all turn out to be duds, it won't be a good haul. But hopefully they get a couple of guys who are 10-year starters.

So it's good that Mike Shanahan is not still around or he would be trying to bring in Michael Vick or putting together a package of high draft choices to move up in the fourth round and snag the latest talent with a troubled past on the cheap.

Bowlen for Quarterbacks: The 7-10 Split

So Pat Bowlen finally stepped in and said they WILL trade Jay Cutler. At least that ends the will-they-or-won't they debate that would have gone on for several more weeks.

My #1 scenario for Jay Cutler: Detroit. The Lions have been consistent losers for the past 50 years and show no signs of turning things around. Now that the Cardinals have started making Super Bowl runs, the Lions are without question the worst franchise in the NFL. So, good luck with that, Jay. And you get to play in Detroit, where the unemployment rate is 20%. So if your whiny act got old here, imagine how it will go over in Detroit. The Lions have 5 draft picks to offer in the top 100 of the upcoming NFL draft: #1, #20, #33, #65, #82. I know the Broncos don't want the #1 pick, but I'd trade Cutler for #20 and #33 if they also throw in a 2009 Ford Focus.

My #2 scenario for Jay Cutler: Cleveland. The Browns haven't been competitive for 50 years, either, except for that brief stretch in the 1980s when they lost three AFC championships to the Broncos. So this is another great place for Cutler. Losing franchise, bad weather, hardscrabble fans. There has been a lot of talk about the Broncos trading Cutler for Brady Quinn - which might be okay. The Broncos still get a young "franchise" quarterback. Quinn is still unproven as an NFL quarterback - but maybe he is a little more likeable.

I've heard the Cutler-for-Tony Romo trade, which sounds interesting but probably won't happen. I don't think the Broncos would want to throw in an extra draft pick to also acquire Jessica Simpson.

I hope they don't get too hung up on getting a quarterback in return. The only way to turn this lemon into lemonade is to get a load of young, talented players in return, regardless of what position. So just sign Jeff Garcia to play for a couple of years or maybe Josh McDaniels knows some other guys who didn't play in college but are basically the second coming of Tom Brady.

Josh McDaniels is also basically a fool for starting this whole mess. There probably won't be a mention made of him this year that does not include the phrase, "trading Jay Cutler." He'll have that hanging over him for his entire stay in Denver, unless, of course, he gets the Broncos to the Super Bowl. I think Pat Bowlen started him out on the Mike Shanahan plan, but now he has been downgraded to the Wade Phillips plan. If he isn't winning playoff games within two years, he is done.

On second thought, maybe they just should have kept Mike Shanahan. . .