The Broncos selected WR/KR Eddie Royal out of Virginia Tech with their 2nd round pick last Saturday.  Royal only projects as a #3 or #4 WR in the future because of his size.  He is only 5′9″, 182 pounds but he runs a 4.48 40 and can flat out fly.  Royal played in 52 games (44 starts) for Virginia Tech and he caught 119 passes for 1,778 yards (14.9 avg) with 12 TD grabs.  Royal does not have the body type to be a effective kickoff returner in the NFL.  He returned 59 kickoffs for 1,386 yards (23.5 avg) at Virginia Tech.  Royal is a fine punt returner however as he can take any one that he fields to the house. 

The Broncos continued to try and get younger on the offensive line with the pick of Ryan Clady in the first round.  Clady stands at 6′6″, 315 pounds but he runs a 5.1 40.  Clady played in 39 games (37 starts) in his career at Boise State.  Clady should fit well in the Broncos zone blocking scheme as he’s adept at hitting moving targets in the running game.  The increase in competition could be a problem for Clady so it will be interesting to see how he handles it. 

The Broncos decided to use all four of their draft picks last season on linemen.  1st round pick, DE Jarvis Moss injured himself as he only played in 6 games (1 start) last season and he made 12 tackles, had 1 sack and forced 1 fumble.  DE Tim Crowder was taken in the 2nd round by the Broncos.  Crowder played in 13 games (1 start) for the Broncos last season and he made 17 tackles and forced a fumble.  OT Ryan Harris was the 3rd round pick of the Broncos and they expect him to be a starter soon.  He played in 11 games for the Broncos last season but he didn’t get any starts.  DT Marcus Thomas has the highest upside of all of the players the Broncos drafted but he slipped to the 4th round because of off-field issues. Thomas played in all 16 games (5 starts) for the Broncos last season and he made 20 tackles, forced 1 fumble, defensed 1 pass and intercepted 1 pass.

GRADE FOR THE 2007 SEASON:  C

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  B

The Broncos signed center Chris Myers to a 4-year, $11 million dollar contract and then they traded him to the Houston Texans for a 6th round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.  Myers started all 16 games for the Broncos last season.  He played in 41 games and started 16 of them in his three seasons for the Broncos.  It doesn’t seem as if the Broncos got fair value for Myers.

Rookie offensive tackle Ryan Harris will miss at least the next 4-6 weeks after undergoing back surgery.