The Broncos traded up to select Richard Quinn with the last pick of Day #1 of the NFL Draft.  Quinn is 6’3″, 260 pounds and he runs a 4.75 40.  But, the reason the Broncos selected Quinn is because he’s a great run blocker operating like a extra tackle on the end of the O-Line.  Quinn played 3 seasons for North Carolina covering 34 games (19 starts) in which he caught 12 passes for 124 yards (10.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Look for Quinn to contribute in the running game for the Broncos in 2009.

The Broncos wanted to draft a safety to develop for the future and McBath looks like a darn good prospect.  He’s a converted cornerback who has outstanding speed (4.45 40) and he is 6’0″, 199 pounds.  McBath played in 45 games (39 starts) at Texas Tech and he made 224 tackles, broke up 20 passes, had 12 interceptions (173 yards), forced 2 fumbles and he recovered 1 fumble.  McBath is a future starter in the secondary for the Broncos.

The Broncos traded up to select Alphonso Smith who should immediately be the nickel back and maybe more as a rookie in 2009.  Smith is on the short side at 5’8″, 193 but he’s fast (4.45 40).  Make no mistake though, Smith is a playmaker.  Smith played in 51 games (40 starts) in his 4 seasons with Wake Forest and he made 188 tackles, broke up 40 passes, had 21 interceptions (254 yards), forced 8 fumbles and he recovered 1 fumble.  Smith is likely a future impact player for the Broncos’ defense.

The Denver Broncos decided to help fix the defensive line with their 2nd pick of the first round.  Ayers is 6’3″, 273 pounds and he runs a 4.85 40 so he’s athletic enough to get into the backfield of the opposing team as long as he stays motivated.  Ayers played in 48 games (14 starts) at Tennessee and he made 119 tackles, 32.5 tackles for a loss, had 9.5 sacks and he batted down 4 passes.  Ayers is a good run defender but he needs a little work on pass rushing, still, he does have a good upside and the Broncos definately need help along the front line on defense.

Head coach Josh McDaniels just couldn’t pass up adding a big piece for his offense when he selected running back Knowshon Moreno with the 12th pick of the first round.  Moreno plays with power as he always seems to be moving forward.  The 5’10″, 215 pound Moreno should fit right in with the Broncos this season as he should be the leading rusher in 2009 and beyond.  He played 2 seasons for the Georgia Bulldogs carrying the ball 498 times for 2,797 yards (5.6 ypc) with 30 TD runs.  He also caught 53 passes for 645 yards (12.2 avg) with 2 TD grabs in his career at Georgia.  This was a great pick for the Broncos.

The Denver Broncos have traded QB Jay Cutler and a 5th round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft to the Chicago Bears for QB Kyle Orton, a first and third round pick in 2009 and a first round pick in 2010.  Orton will replace Cutler as the Broncos’ starting QB in 2009.  He played in 15 games for the Bears last season completing 272 of 465 passes (58.5%) for 2,972 yards with 18 TD passes and 12 interceptions (79.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 24 times for 49 yards (2.0 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  Orton is more of a game manager type of QB so look for the Broncos to run more in 2009 than they did last season.  Orton has now played in 33 games in his NFL career and he has completed 505 of 913 passes (55.3%) for 5,319 yards with 30 TD passes and 27 interceptions (71.1 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 53 times for 92 yards (1.7 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  The Broncos did get three nice picks for Cutler but they might be sorry they made this trade down the road if he improves with the Bears.

25-year old Jay Cutler played in all 16 games for the Broncos last season and he completed 384 for 616 passes (62.3%) for 4,526 yards with 25 TD passes and 18 interceptions (86.0 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 57 times for 200 yards (3.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs last season.  The Broncos really handled the situation with Jay Cutler poorly.  He played in 37 games in his three year career with the Broncos completing 762 of 1,220 passes (62.5%) for 5,437 yards with 54 TD passes and 37 interceptions (87.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 113 times for 423 yards (3.7 ypc0 with 3 TD runs for the Broncos.