There are two ways for Jake Plummer to look at how his Broncos attacked the first day of the NFL draft.
He can cuss or worry his team gave up two draft picks to acquire ballyhooed Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler.
Or Plummer can be thrilled that while Cutler likely will spend the 2006 season holding a clipboard on the sideline, he gets to huddle up on the field with an offense that will feature Javon Walker, Rod Smith and Ashley Lelie ready to catch passes from a three-receiver set.
“If you’re afraid of competition, you usually don’t last too long,” Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. “Jake’s been playing extremely well. He shouldn’t be afraid of any competition.”
Indeed, Plummer is coming off his career-best season. Under his leadership, the Broncos went 13-3 in the regular season, won their first playoff game in seven years and earned home-field advantage in the AFC championship game.
Then again, Plummer played his worst game of the season in the AFC championship game, throwing two interceptions and losing two fumbles. And he has been in the game long enough to know that the Broncos probably didn’t select Cutler with the 11th pick with the idea of having him sit the next three years.
Back on the Cobbs
Three rounds of the draft went by Saturday without the Broncos selecting a running back. That means even if the Broncos select a back with one of their three fourth-round picks this morning, the leading candidates for the starting tailback position at training camp will be Ron Dayne, Tatum Bell and Cedric Cobbs.
Broncos fans are familiar with Dayne and Bell, who played behind Mike Anderson last season. But one reason Anderson was released was because the Broncos believe Cobbs has a chance to become a premier NFL back.
The Broncos had Cobbs graded as a second-round back in 2004 but took Bell instead. New England wound up taking Cobbs in the fourth round, but injury trouble eventually led Cobbs to the waiver wire, where the Broncos picked him up last season and put him on their practice squad.
“I tell the scouts this every year, the work you do today is going to spill over and help when we look at the waiver wire,” Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist said.
The new tight end
Most draft experts had Western Michigan tight end Tony Scheffler waiting until the second day – in the fourth or fifth round – before being drafted. So the Broncos’ decision to select him in the second round, ahead of Georgia’s Leonard Pope and USC’s Dominique Byrd, was a mild surprise.
“Unbelievable hands,” Shanahan said of Scheffler, who will fill the pass-catching role vacated by Jeb Putzier. “He’s just got a great feel for making big-time catches. His development will be more (about) blocking.”
Van Pelt deals with Cutler pick
Bradlee Van Pelt was in the mountains Saturday morning when his cellphone began ringing nonstop. He soon realized why. The former Colorado State quarterback may have just lost his job as Denver’s backup.
Van Pelt said he is prepared to deal with the addition of Cutler.
“The team treats this as a business, therefore I have to treat it as a business,” Van Pelt said. “It is what it is. I have to accept it.”
Van Pelt said he hasn’t talked to Plummer, who is in Idaho this weekend, but he knows what the veteran would tell him.
“Jake would say ‘Kid, deal with it and keep fighting,”‘ Van Pelt said.
Shanahan said Van Pelt is still in the team’s plans.
Staff writer Bill Williamson contributed to this report. Mike Klis can be reached at 303-820-5440 or mklis@denverpost.com.
