The Denver Broncos have picked ILB/OLB Nate Irving out of North Carolina State with the 67th overall pick (3rd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Irving is 6’1″, 242 pounds and he runs a 4.85 40, so he’s a pretty good athlete.  Irving played inside linebacker last season for the Wolfpack but he projects better as a outside linebacker in the pros because of his pass rush ability.  Irving played in 13 games (all starts) for North Carolina State last year and he had 92 tackles, 21.5 tackles for a loss, 7 sacks and he broke up 6 passes.  He played in 34 games (26 starts) in his three years with the Wolfpack and he had 228 tackles, 40.5 tackles for a loss, 9 sacks, he broke up 12 passes and he had 4 interceptions.  Irving will likely be starting soon for the Broncos as he has a nice upside.

The Denver Broncos picked 23-year old OT Orlando Franklin out of Miami (FL) with the 46th overall pick (2nd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Franklin is 6’6″, 315 pounds and he’s mean.  He tries to drive defensive players into the dirt in the running game.  Franklin also has pass rushers usually done if he gets his powerful mitts on them.  Franklin played in 13 games (12 starts) for the Hurricanes last year and he played in 51 games (39 starts) in his four years with them.  Franklin wasn’t drafted to fill a need, he was picked because he was way too good to pass up.  I look for Franklin to force his way into the starting lineup in 2011 and beyond.  I love this pick for the Broncos.

The Denver Broncos picked 21-year old free safety Rahim Moore out of UCLA with the 45th overall pick (2nd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Moore was the highest ranked safety according coming out this year according to most draft “experts”.  Moore is 6’1″, 195 and he runs a 4.45 40.  He is a ballhawk on defense as he believes that when the ball is in the air that it belongs to him.  He’s a little soft though and doesn’t especially likely tackling bigger RBs and WRs too much.  Moore played in 12 games (all starts) for UCLA last year and he had 77 tackles, he broke up 4 passes, had 1 interception and he recovered 1 fumble.  He played in 37 games (all starts) in his three years at UCLA and he had 186 tackles, he broke up 15 passes, had 14 interceptions and he has recovered 3 fumbles.  This pick fills a huge need for the Broncos as Moore will likely start at the back end of the D from Day #1.

The Denver Broncos selected 22-year old outside linebacker Von Miller out of Texas A&M with the 2nd overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Miller is very fast around the corner as he runs a 4.6 40 despite being 6’2″, 237 pounds.  Miller played in 13 games (all starts) for Texas A&M last season and he had 68 tackles, 17.5 tackles for a loss, 10.5 sacks, he broke up 6 passes and he had 1 interception.  Von Miller will be expected to boost the pass rush from Day #1 for the Broncos.  Miller played in 47 games (30 starts) in his four years at Texas A&M and he finished up with 182 tackles, 50.5 tackles for a loss, 33 sacks, 11 passes broken up and 1 interception.  This looks like a great pick for the Broncos.

With John Fox on board as the new head coach of the Broncos, I look for them to reload on defensive players in next weekend’s NFL Draft and it’s a smart move.  Here is who I see the Broncos winding up next weekend based on my own mock draft:

1st round (#2 overall) – Nick Fairley, DT, Auburn

2nd round (#36 overall) – Christian Ballard, DE, Iowa

2nd round (#46 overall) – Rahim Moore, FS, UCLA

3rd round (#67 overall) – Tyler Sash, SS, Iowa

6th round (#186 overall) – Darren Evans, RB, Virginia Tech

6th round (#189 overall) – Ricky Henry, G, Nebraska

7th round (#247 overall) – Daniel Hardy, TE, Idaho

If the Broncos could come up with these players it would be a good start to rebuilding this once proud franchise.

The Denver Broncos found a lot of contributors last April in the NFL Draft and they hope to do the same at the end of this month.  Here is a look back at last year’s rookie crop:

Demaryius Thomas – In the first round last April the Broncos used the 22nd overall pick on WR Demaryius Thomas out of Georgia Tech.  Thomas played in 10 games (2 starts) for the Broncos last year and he caught 22 passes for 283 yards (12.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 1 yard (0.5 ypc) last year.  Thomas also helped out on special teams as he returned 16 kickoffs for 398 yards (24.9 avg) and he also had 5 tackles.  An off-season injury already clouds Thomas’ 2011 season but he still has a nice upside.

Tim Tebow – The Broncos traded back into the first round last April and they used the 25th overall pick on QB Tim Tebow out of Florida.  He played in 9 games (3  starts) for the Broncos last year and he completed 41 of 82 passes (50%) for 654 yards with 5 TD passes and 3 INTs (82.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 43 times for 227 yards (5.3 ypc) with 6 TD runs last year.  Tebow proved that he could be an NFL starter but he’s going to have to beat out Kyle Orton for the starting gig in 2011 unless Orton is traded.

Zane Beadles – In the 2nd round, the Broncos took OG Zane Beadles out of Utah with the 45th overall pick.  Beadles played in 16 games (14 starts) for the Broncos last year and he finished the season as the starting guard on the left side.  He will enter the 2011 season as the Broncos’ starter at LG.

J.D. Walton – The Broncos used the 80th overall pick (3rd round) on center J.D. Walton out of Baylor.  He started from Day #1 and he was very consistent.  He will head into 2011 as the starting center  for the Broncos.

Eric Decker – The Broncos used the 87th overall pick (3rd round) on WR Eric Decker out of Minnesota.  Decker played inn 14 games (0 starts) for the Broncos last year and he caught 6 passes for 106 yards (17.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He also returned 22 kickoffs for 556 yards (25.3 avg) and he also had 9 tackles last year.  Decker is a good special teams player and I think he will be improving as a WR the more experience he gets.

Perrish Cox – The Broncos picked CB Perrish Cox out of Oklahoma State with the 137th overall pick (5th round) last April.  Off the field issues is the reason that Cox slipped so far in the draft as many projected him to get picked in the late first round.  Cox played in 15 games (9 starts) for the Broncos last year and he had 59 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, he defensed 14 passes, had 1 interception and he forced 2 fumbles.  Cox didn’t stop there as he also returned 16 kickoffs for 398 yards (24.9 avg) and 3 punts for 7 yards (2.3 avg).

Eric Olsen – The Broncos picked C Eric Olsen with the 183rd overall pick (6th round) out of Notre Dame.  Olsen only played in 1 game (0 starts) for the Broncos last year.  Olsen needs to pick up the pace this year if he wants to stick with the Broncos.

Syd’Quan Thompson – The Broncos might have a gem in  CB Syd’Quan Thompson.  He was picked in the 7th round (#225 overall) out of California.  He played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Broncos and he had 18 tackles, 4 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  Thompson also returned 3 punts for 18 yards (6.0 avg) last year.

Jammie Kirlew – The Broncos used the 232nd overall pick (7th round) on OLB Jammie Kirlew out of Indiana.  He got cut on September 3rd before getting picked up by the Bills who stashed him on the practice squad.

GRADE FOR THE 2010 SEASON:  B+

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A