2020 College Prospects

[germ-x]

If James is healthy he will be an upgrade over what’s been at RT in the past.  So hopefully he is healthy.  He didn’t deserve the contract he received, but he’s still a solid player when he’s in the field.

[Broncofan]

22 hours ago, broncos67 said:

I think most of that was debunked, or at least challenged, to some extent.

https://www.si.com/nfl/broncos/news/broncos-rt-jawuan-james-speaks-publicly-on-what-really-happened-to-his-knee

There was this article, and there was also local reporting around the end of the year. I'm not saying James is being 100% truthful, but I also got the vibe a bit that Denver wanted James to play and his injury was worse than either what they let on, or what they knew.

Anyway, I personally am hesitant to throw too much blame around when it comes to medical stuff. Players need to protect their own self-interests, I get it. Anyone who says they would do any different is lying. If he truly tore ligaments in his knee, it's realistic that Fangio shouldn't have thrown him under the bus. If he's not being totally truthful, and Fangio knew that, then it's a different story. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, and James got hurt, saw the team was playing like trash, and realized it wasn't worth his financial while to come back (and, candidly, probably wasn't worth it for Denver either).

If he tore his meniscus when he came back, then the treatment he received in trying to get him to play was completely wrong.   I covered this at the time when the news broke - but it bears repeating.  James should have absolutely been re-scoped when he described the knee buckling again.   The meniscus tear isn’t a “soft player” issue.  That’s a legit re-injury that prevents a guy from playing because of that “buckling” that happens unpredictably, until they get it fixed.   That old school treatment of telling him to tough it out was way off-base, given the info that came out later.  
 

One can debate the injury history and James’ risk going forward - but the meniscus injury reveal, if true, completely explains the re-injury and setback.   Anyone who questions those events in light of the meniscus is blindly siding with the coaching staff who made a bad call.   It doesn’t make the coaching staff suspect - mistakes happen.  But better to just call it for what it is.  

Edited April 11, 2020 by Broncofan

[jolly red giant]

6 hours ago, Cutler06 said:

Just a little off-topic, seems quite interesting that the 2021 draft appears to be deep in the same areas as the 2020 draft.....both areas of need for the Broncos, WR and OT

And we should draft an OT and a WR in both drafts - particularly OT - you can never have too many capable OTs

[champ11]

I definitely appreciate that the Broncos invested in a guy in Glasgow that hasn't had injury issues. Definitely was the criticism of the James deal. Hopefully he is healthy this year. I thought the organization's veiled shots at him was pretty weak, but I've come to expect that type of stuff from us. 

[germ-x]

Watched AJ Terrell yesterday.  He’s a damn good corner.  I hope the LSU game (where he wasn’t nearly as bad as made out to be) leaves a bad taste in teams mouths and Terrell is available in the 2nd round.  Top 25 pick, IMO. 

[germ-x]

Like Ashtyn Davis as well.  High energy player that covers a lot of ground and is physical.  He’s going to be a really good pro. 

[broncosfan_101]

34 minutes ago, germ-x said:

Watched AJ Terrell yesterday.  He’s a damn good corner.  I hope the LSU game (where he wasn’t nearly as bad as made out to be) leaves a bad taste in teams mouths and Terrell is available in the 2nd round.  Top 25 pick, IMO. 

AJ Terrell has superstar potential. I think Fulton’s a better fit for us, and has a higher floor, but Terrell’s in Okudah territory in terms of upside. 

Speaking of Fulton, the more I watch, the more I love him. He’s in my top 25. 

[broncosfan_101]

21 minutes ago, germ-x said:

Like Ashtyn Davis as well.  High energy player that covers a lot of ground and is physical.  He’s going to be a really good pro. 

Would be thrilled if we used a 3rd on him. This safety class is a bit odd for me. Nobody I’d consider in the top 20, a whole bunch of guys with grades in the 25-65 range, and then nothing. I haven’t found any potential sleepers at the position, besides maybe K’Von Wallace. If we think we need a safety for 2021, we need to use a day two pick on one.

[germ-x]

1 hour ago, broncosfan_101 said:

AJ Terrell has superstar potential. I think Fulton’s a better fit for us, and has a higher floor, but Terrell’s in Okudah territory in terms of upside. 

Speaking of Fulton, the more I watch, the more I love him. He’s in my top 25. 

Same I have Fulton at 18 and Terrell at 20 right now.

Edited April 12, 2020 by germ-x

[thebestever6]

I love Ruggs I really do but I just see that as a huge waste of resources in round one .

I mean Giants just made Daruis Slayton a 5th round pick a rookie of the year candidate in Shurmers offense. Heck Terry Mclaurin was a 5th round pick last year. And this Wr class is the most loaded in my lift time.

I mean there's 12 guys minimum with top 30wr NFL potential if 6 of those pan out to fruition it looks like wasting resources.

Does Ruggs have Steve Smith Jr upside? Because that's the only way I come around if he was Desean Jackson level talent it wouldn't be worth it imo.

[paul-mac]

The fact we were in on Aldon Smith leads me to believe EDGE is more of a concern than we think. It likely means one or more of the following three statements is true:

 

1) The Broncos are starting to prepare for life after Von Miller, in expectation that he may be a 2021 cap casualty

 

2) Bradley Chubb’s ACL recovery isn’t going as well as hoped

 

3) The Broncos aren’t high on their young depth at OLB (Malik Reed, Justin Hollins, Malik Carney)

[broncos67]

21 hours ago, germ-x said:

Watched AJ Terrell yesterday.  He’s a damn good corner.  I hope the LSU game (where he wasn’t nearly as bad as made out to be) leaves a bad taste in teams mouths and Terrell is available in the 2nd round.  Top 25 pick, IMO. 

I said this awhile back in this thread. I really like AJ Terrell. I think he would be a solid fit for this team and someone who could contribute Day 1. There's some recency bias with that last performance, but he had a decent 1st half.

[broncos67]

4 hours ago, paul-mac said:

The fact we were in on Aldon Smith leads me to believe EDGE is more of a concern than we think. It likely means one or more of the following three statements is true:

 

1) The Broncos are starting to prepare for life after Von Miller, in expectation that he may be a 2021 cap casualty

 

2) Bradley Chubb’s ACL recovery isn’t going as well as hoped

 

3) The Broncos aren’t high on their young depth at OLB (Malik Reed, Justin Hollins, Malik Carney)

I would imagine it's some combination of 1 and 3. Said it in the other thread, but haven't heard any indication Chubb is behind schedule. Doesn't mean it's not true, of course. But I think Smith would be a clear gamble-worthy upgrade over the back end of out OLB talent, especially with the amount of rotating we've done. But your first point makes some sense too- Miller is getting older, and candidly, if Denver flops this year, I could absolutely see us trying to off-load him somewhere for a return. It would make good financial/football sense to do so.

I think Denver is going to target an OLB at some point in Rounds 1-4. Elway values that position significantly.

[broncos67]

5 hours ago, thebestever6 said:

I love Ruggs I really do but I just see that as a huge waste of resources in round one .

I mean Giants just made Daruis Slayton a 5th round pick a rookie of the year candidate in Shurmers offense. Heck Terry Mclaurin was a 5th round pick last year. And this Wr class is the most loaded in my lift time.

I mean there's 12 guys minimum with top 30wr NFL potential if 6 of those pan out to fruition it looks like wasting resources.

Does Ruggs have Steve Smith Jr upside? Because that's the only way I come around if he was Desean Jackson level talent it wouldn't be worth it imo.

There's definitely an argument to be made about over-investing in WRs. I agree with you, but would point out for every Slayton/McLaurin there's a much higher rate of non-contributors in those later rounds. If Denver didn't draft Ruggs and waited until Round 2/3, I could live with it. I just don't want to wait too long because at some point you have to go out and get the best talent and not hope talent falls or that you find a diamond in the rough. 

My whole thing is really centered around Lock. You have him for 3 more years on a team friendly deal. Go find a WR that's a more immediate contributor to help his development. Drafting a guy that takes 2-3 years to really bloom doesn't really benefit the here and now. 

[thebestever6]

18 minutes ago, broncos67 said:

There's definitely an argument to be made about over-investing in WRs. I agree with you, but would point out for every Slayton/McLaurin there's a much higher rate of non-contributors in those later rounds. If Denver didn't draft Ruggs and waited until Round 2/3, I could live with it. I just don't want to wait too long because at some point you have to go out and get the best talent and not hope talent falls or that you find a diamond in the rough. 

My whole thing is really centered around Lock. You have him for 3 more years on a team friendly deal. Go find a WR that's a more immediate contributor to help his development. Drafting a guy that takes 2-3 years to really bloom doesn't really benefit the here and now. 

If we're worried about the here and now I like Shenault round 2 I mean he's gonna burn bright for a short amount of time imo.