Today’s question about the Broncos comes from Jack White in Loveland.
Q: Will the Broncos draft for position need or take the best player available with their first-round pick this year?
A: Any team in the NFL that drafts the best player available trusts that its draft board is correct. The teams that draft for need tend to leave higher-ranked players on the board for somebody else to pick.
If general manager Ted Thompson drafts for need, the Packers don’t have Super Bowl-winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The Packers acquired Rodgers with a late first-round pick when Brett Favre was still competing for league MVP awards.
And if coach Bill Belichick drafts for need, the Patriots don’t take two tight ends — Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez — in the same draft who helped lead the team to an AFC title last season.
Teams that draft for need usually are trying to repair mistakes made in free agency or in previous drafts. The biggest reaches that teams make during the draft usually are “need” picks.
The Broncos took some heat last year for not drafting a defensive lineman with one of their high picks. But Von Miller, an outside linebacker from Texas A&M, was the best player on the board when the Broncos had to make their first pick, the No. 2 selection overall. So they went with Miller, who became the NFL defensive rookie of the year.
In the 2009 draft, the Broncos acquired North Carolina tight end Richard Quinn with a second-round pick. He turned out to be a bust in Denver, so the Broncos regret that “need” pick.
The Broncos had three second-round picks in the 2009 draft, and all of those players are gone from Denver. That happens to “need” picks more than it does with the best player available.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
