By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
As so many people projected, the Broncos used both their first-round draft picks to fix their defense.
Their first pick was used to keep the ball away from the defense. So long as Knowshon Moreno, who the Broncos selected with their No. 12 pick in the NFL draft, is carrying the ball, the other team can’t score on Denver’s defense.
“A slight chance, knowing the draft is like a lottery and you never know what’s going to happen,” Moreno said about whether he thought he might get selected by the Broncos. “You saw a little bit of that today. I didn’t really know what was going to happen, but I’m really excited about it and happy they did.”
The Broncos’ second pick was used to stop the run and rush the passer. If Robert Ayers of the University of Tennessee is as versatile as the Broncos think he is, the defensive end/outside linebacker will become one of the most important new additions to the team’s new 3-4 defensive alignment.
The Broncos then added two defensive backs in the second round, acquiring Wake Forest cornerback/returner Alphonso Smith with the No. 37 pick and Texas Tech safety Darcel McBath at pick No. 48.
To acquire Smith, the Broncos surrendered their first-round pick in the 2010 draft, a move that was at least financially motivated.
It can be argued no team created more drama in Day 1 of the draft. In a matter of hours, the Broncos spooked two teams into trading ahead of them for quarterbacks, stunned most everyone by taking the best-rated running back with their first selection, then sent another shock wave through the early part of the second round by trading one of their first-round picks in 2010 for the right to select cornerback/returner Alphonso Smith with the No. 37 selection.
During free agency, the two positions the Broncos addressed most were running back and defensive back, signing three each. They signed veteran tailbacks Correll Buckhalter, LaMont Jordan and J.J. Arrington to a combined $22.5 million worth of contracts. They signed veteran defensive backs Andrè Goodman, Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill to a combined $47.4 million.
Naturally, the Broncos used three of their top four draft picks on a running back and defensive back. In each case, Moreno and Smith were about players who had the highest grades on the Broncos’ draft board.
“We went through a lot of backs last year,” McDaniels said. “We only had three healthy backs at the minicamp last weekend. Again, we still got the defensive football player at 18 that we were hoping to get at 18, and we got them.”
Here’s how it all played out: The Broncos entered the day hoping to take either nosetackle B.J. Raji or defensive end Tyson Jackson with their No. 12 pick. They were hoping to get Ayers with their No. 18 pick.
When Jackson went to Kansas City at No. 3 and Raji to Green Bay at No. 9, the war room at Dove Valley huddled.
“When the draft started to kind of unfold the way it did in the first 10, the two players that we ended up drafting were the two players we really wanted from the 10th or 11th pick on,” McDaniels said.
With the No. 12 pick expected to command a $16.25 million contract with a $12.5 million guarantee, the Broncos went with who they thought was the best player.
“Every time we played against him, we always said he’s the best back in the country by far,” said Ayers, whose Tennessee Vols played in the same Southeastern Conference as Moreno’s Georgia Bulldogs. “And he’s the first back selected. He’s a hard runner. He’s one of the hardest running backs I ever played against.”
The Broncos could have taken Ayers or another coveted defensive end/outside linebacker, Brian Orakpo, at No. 12 and hoped Moreno would have been around at No. 18. But McDaniels said he was hearing too much inside information about teams picking between them — perhaps New Orleans at No. 14 or San Diego at No. 16 — who were considering Moreno.
“The way that it fell it just made all the sense in the world for us to go ahead and take him at 12 and not deal with: ‘Well we’ll hold our breath or try to move up from 18 into the middle, between 12 and 18 to get him,’ ” McDaniels said. “The two players we really valued right there at that spot were Ayers and Knowshon.”
At least two other teams thought the Broncos had other ideas. The New York Jets were worried enough about the Broncos’ interest in quarterback Mark Sanchez that they jumped from No. 17 to Cleveland’s spot at No. 5.
Later, No. 19 Tampa Bay leapfrogged to swap with Cleveland at No. 17 to take quarterback Josh Freeman.
Truth is, the Broncos were never going to draft Freeman and they decided in the hours leading up to the draft that Sanchez was too expensive.
“If that’s what they were concerned about, then that’s for them to decide,” McDaniels said. “We’re not sure about that. I’m certain that may have played a part in it.”
The Broncos will have seven more picks in Day 2 of the draft today, including two in the third and seventh rounds.
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
