Notes with a huge upside. …
How much of a big-play element will Javon Walker bring to the Broncos’ offense? He started 12 games and caught 12 touchdown passes in 2004, the same total Ashley Lelie has in his entire four-year career. …
Just as sure as Walker is here, Lelie is gone. It’s one thing to frustrate Mike Shanahan and another to make him angry. But when you defy him by boycotting the Broncos’ offseason training program, you’re outta here. …
Then again, the Broncos, having whiffed on their attempts to unload him, may keep Lelie around for one season before he bolts via free agency. The bottom line: “Ashley is still on our football team” is as close as Shanahan could come to a ringing endorsement. …
Did the Broncos capture the buzz by trading up for a quarterback in the first round? Let’s put it this way. If they hadn’t, you’d be reading about the wonders of a pancake block right now. ..
You never know about quarterbacks, but the Broncos have a good feel for Jay Cutler. For one thing, Shanahan talked about him with Titans coach Jeff Fisher, one of Shanahan’s best friends in the coaching fraternity. Fisher coaches in Nashville, Tenn., where Cutler played college ball. Then there’s Shanahan’s right-hand man, Mike Heimerdinger, Fisher’s former offensive coordinator. He saw Cutler play three times at Vanderbilt. …
To a man, the draftniks say Cutler is a high-character guy. As opposed to, say, Ricky Williams, a high-guy character. …
Cutler, like any young quarterback, is a work in progress. He’ll eventually be the starter, but for now the job belongs to Jake Plummer. Eventually. As in October. …
OK, so that’s a little optimistic. But you don’t trade up to get a quarterback unless you were convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, he’s your starter of the future. …
Cutler says he’s looking forward to learning the tricks of the trade from Plummer. First things first, kid. Never flip off the crowd. …
Saturday produced the strongest evidence yet that Shanahan doesn’t believe Jake the Snake can win a Super Bowl. Before that, all we had were the Broncos’ struggles in the red zone and on third down, where they ranked 26th in the league in conversions through the air. No, it wasn’t all Plummer’s fault. But the fact is, Shanahan just used his highest-ever draft choice on a quarterback. …
At any rate, the Broncos had better hope Cutler becomes more of an impact player than Auburn’s Jason Campbell and Cal’s Aaron Rodgers. They could have had either in last year’s draft. …
He hasn’t even hit town, and already Cutler has something in common with John Elway. Neither played in a bowl game in college. …
Cutler’s Wonderlic score at the combine? That would be 29, putting him between Vince Young (15 on his second go-round) and Matt Leinart (35). …
Did you notice? Both AFC championship game participants made bold moves to get players they targeted in the first round. Moral to the story: In this league, you’ve got to keep moving if you want to stay ahead of the competition. …
The Broncos as usual allowed a handful of photographers in their war room Saturday. For the record, they’ve taken down the dart board since last year’s pick of Maurice Clarett. …
Go figure. Rose Bowl combatants Texas and Southern Cal accounted for two of the first 26 picks. North Carolina State, which played in the Meineke Oil Change/Lube Job Bowl, had three among the top 26. …
The last QB selected with the 11th pick in the draft? Ben Roethlisberger, if that name rings a bell. …
A stat that lives on, barely: The Broncos during the Shanahan era are the only NFL team without a top-10 pick in the first round. …
Why did the Packers keep swinging deals to stockpile players? Have you seen their roster lately? The best defensive lineman in town is David Ortiz, who lives in Green Bay in the offseason. …
Strangest sight of draft day: Bill Belichick addressing the media in a tie. Not only that, it wasn’t gray. …
Day One of the draft passed without ex-CU wideout/kick returner Jeremy Bloom being selected. The Broncos, of course, have three fourth-rounders, meaning they could afford to select a kick returner. Now for the fine print: Bloom isn’t high on the Broncos’ board, so don’t look for him to land in Our Town.
Catch Jim Armstrong from 6-9 a.m. during “The Press Box” on ESPN radio 560. He can be reached at (303) 820-5452 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
