{"id":415709,"date":"2011-05-02T20:41:14","date_gmt":"2011-05-02T20:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-05-02T20:41:14","modified_gmt":"2011-05-02T20:41:14","slug":"elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"Elway enjoyed draft as Broncos executive (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP)\u2014John Elway\u2019s competitive juices are flowing again.<\/p>\n

The Hall of Fame quarterback, who took over as the Denver Broncos<\/a>\u2019 chief of football operations this year, said that during his first foray into the draft room, \u201cI felt like I was playing a football game. I think that\u2019s why I was exhausted every night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elway said he constantly paced the meeting room just like he used to do in the locker room before games or on the sideline between possessions.<\/p>\n

When Elway was brought on board to help steer a franchise that has foundered since his retirement more than a decade ago, he said he wanted that adrenaline rush again.<\/p>\n

And it came roaring back during the draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was excited,\u201d Elway said. \u201cEspecially when you look at that board and you start getting closer to your pick and you\u2019ve talked to the pick you want and then they\u2019re falling to where you want \u2026 I was up pacing, walking around, getting nervous, hoping that the guy would fall to us.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when I was playing football, I never sat. I didn\u2019t sit down much. I was always pacing when I was playing football on the bench, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elway teamed up with general manager Brian Xanders and new coach John Fox in deciding who to pick, and the trio settled on six defenders among the team\u2019s nine selections as they sought ways to fix a dismal defense that was the primary culprit in their 4-12 season last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was expecting there to be more confusion, having the short time per pick, than it really was,\u201d Elway said.<\/p>\n

The Broncos chose three linebackers, two safeties and a defensive end to go with two tight ends and a right tackle. Elway said it wasn\u2019t at all difficult for him to dote on the defense even given his offensive background.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, the bottom line as a quarterback, you know if you don\u2019t have any defense and you can\u2019t stop anybody, it makes your job that much tougher,\u201d Elway said. \u201cBelieve me, I am all for being great on defense, too. So we were all on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he didn\u2019t lament the lack of an offensive skill player such as a running back or quarterback, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I like those tight ends,\u201d Elway said of Julius Thomas<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> a former basketball player, and Virgil Green<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> who can probably out-jump Thomas with his 42 1\/2 -inch vertical leap.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel pretty good at wide receiver. I feel pretty good at running back,\u201d Elway said. \u201cAnd obviously you always want to bring in that competition and I think as John (Fox) said, we\u2019ll deal with that in the other pool.\u201d<\/p>\n

That would be free agency, which will happen once the players and owners solve their labor differences.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s also where the Broncos are going to have to look if they want to bring in a defensive tackle after bypassing the deep pool of run-stuffers in the draft. But nobody knows if free agents will be four-year players or if they\u2019ll have to wait for six seasons to earn the freedom to shop their services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some guys,\u201d Elway said. \u201cIf it\u2019s six-plus, we should get Marcus (Thomas) back. So, we feel pretty good about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elway said both Thomas and Kevin Vickerson<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> are better fits in Fox\u2019s 4-3 scheme than McDaniels\u2019 3-4.<\/p>\n

Heading into the draft, the Broncos had a multitude of needs on defense, and chief among them was finding a run-stuffer after they ranked 31st in the league against the run, allowing a whopping 155 yards a game on the ground.<\/p>\n

They considered Alabama\u2019s Marcell Dareus<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> with the No. 2 pick overall but they decided Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> the top pass-rusher in the draft, was too good to pass up.<\/p>\n

Elway called Dareus a great player with a great future, but \u201cthe difference to me was that (Miller) is one of those guys that comes along once in 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller reminds many of the late Derrick Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>, including Elway.<\/p>\n

When he visited Dove Valley on Friday, Miller told Elway he wanted to wear No. 58, just like Thomas did.<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked it. I thought it was great,\u201d Elway said. \u201cI thought it was the perfect number for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although, Elway admitted, the very thought gave him some unpleasant flashbacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt did. I said, \u2018Don\u2019t walk behind me,\u201d\u2019 Elway cracked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

View article:
\nElway enjoyed draft as Broncos executive (AP)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP)\u2014John Elway\u2019s competitive juices are flowing again. The Hall of Fame quarterback, who took over as the Denver Broncos \u2019 chief of football operations this year, said that during his first foray into the draft room, \u201cI felt like I was playing a football game<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-415709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nElway enjoyed draft as Broncos executive (AP) - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Elway enjoyed draft as Broncos executive (AP) - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP)\u2014John Elway\u2019s competitive juices are flowing again. The Hall of Fame quarterback, who took over as the Denver Broncos \u2019 chief of football operations this year, said that during his first foray into the draft room, \u201cI felt like I was playing a football game\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Elway enjoyed draft as Broncos executive (AP)\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-02T20:41:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/\"},\"wordCount\":770,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/\",\"name\":\"Elway enjoyed draft as Broncos executive (AP) - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-02T20:41:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Elway enjoyed draft as Broncos executive (AP) - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Elway enjoyed draft as Broncos executive (AP) - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP)\u2014John Elway\u2019s competitive juices are flowing again. The Hall of Fame quarterback, who took over as the Denver Broncos \u2019 chief of football operations this year, said that during his first foray into the draft room, \u201cI felt like I was playing a football game","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Elway enjoyed draft as Broncos executive (AP)","datePublished":"2011-05-02T20:41:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/"},"wordCount":770,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/","name":"Elway enjoyed draft as Broncos executive (AP) - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-05-02T20:41:14+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/02\/elway-enjoyed-draft-as-broncos-executive-ap\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415709\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}