2010 NFL Combine Report — Josh McDaniels, Brandon Marshall and the future Broncos

Most of the coaches at the 2010 NFL Combine have taken the podium, cracked a joke, then exhaled a little monologue before opening themselves up for questioning.

Not Josh McDaniels.

No, he took the podium, looked around, and waited. Then, he simply said, “Go ahead.”

Dangerous words for a guy that many around Denver loved to hate, then loved, then loved to hate again.

But, even if you’re among the masses that would trade your firstborn to see McDaniels back in a Patriots hoodie and out of Denver, you can’t deny that the guy just has a way with press conferences.

And when no one responded to his invitation to talk, I decided I would go ahead. And with the recent buzz about Kyle Orton’s dissatisfaction with his contract, what better way to start than to ask him about this year’s quarterback class and whether or not Denver needs to find a new developmental guy in case, you know, we somehow end up without a passer.

But McDaniels didn’t seem worried.

“We have high hopes for Tom. I’m sure he’s in our building today working to get better. He’s working really hard. I think that’s the goal anytime you take a player and give him the opportunity to learn like we did with Tom last year. Hopefully he has the opportunity to really progress this Spring and really be competitive when we head to training camp because the goal is never to take a player and put him as the third string quarterback then leave him there. We want him to ascend. That’s the hope for Tom. If there’s another player that we feel can come in and push and make that group better then we wouldn’t turn our shoulder away from him. But we have a lot of high hopes for Tom, and hope that he meet our expectations and do well this Spring.”

There’s a gap between where Brandstater stands now and the “hope” that McDaniels is referring to. Otherwise, Denver wouldn’t have had to go with Chris Simms in a loss to the Redskins. And it’s not like quarterback is the the Broncos’ biggest need.

At least not yet. The free agency market is swirling with new additions each day. Rumors are swirling about Orton wanting a new deal. And more than a few times, trash was swirling toward the field at Invesco Stadium after being hurled by fans towards a guy that many don’t think can lead Denver into the playoffs from the sport’s most important position. A lot of swirling. But when asked about the situation headlined by Orton and Elvis Dumervil, McDaniels again seemed calm. Positive. Certain that it’s just one of those things that a head coach has to deal with.

“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of players in the same situation. Brian Xanders has been in contact with their agents. I understand that this is a situation that you do deal with as a head coach. We’ve got a lot of different players on our team, and they all feel differently about certain things, and that’s okay. That’s part of trying to be a leader. You have to allow them to vent sometimes and try to harness some of that and come together and be a better team than we were last year.”

These are obviously players that Denver needs right now. Dumervil just finished leading the NFL in sacks, and unless the Broncos do find that guy in this draft that can compete for the starting job, then there’s really no quarterback behind Orton worthy of taking the first team snaps.

But it just wouldn’t be a Broncos’ offseason without some lagniappe from everyone’s favorite walking reality show. Brandon Marshall was a hot topic for the media, and McDaniels’ seemed sure that, while he hasn’t talked to Marshall extensively, this is something that can be worked out.

“Brian Xanders has been in communication with the agents for all of our players that are in the same situation. He’s really handling that. I’ve reached out and spoken to all of the players that were down [in Miami] for the Pro Bowl. Brandon [Marshall] was one of those guys. But I don’t have anything to report about the status of those talks.

“Brandon is a great football player, there’s no question about it. And he had a great season this year in terms of his production. A Pro Bowl year. Anytime you’re dealing with a players and contracts, you weigh a lot of things. Certainly the fact that we did [meet and workout a solution] already once, makes you believe that you can do it again and again. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I’m really fond of him. He’s a good person and certainly played a big role on our team. There are a lot of things that go into, but we’re not at a point where we’ve made a decision on it.”

Of course, this is the NFL Combine. This is about the future of a franchise through youth and talent. And it wouldn’t have been a Combine discussion if it didn’t contain talk of how to grow as a team. McDaniel’s seemed adamant that this team could be a championship team. He was happy with the expectations when the Broncos were 6-0 and 8-4. But the late season collapse has to be addressed.

That’s perfect for the NFL Draft. This is where you study fresh players that don’t wear down after 16 games. This is where you learn who can solidify your depth and replace big names. And it’s damn hard. But when I caught up with coach McDaniels after his press conference, and asked him what he thought it took to build a successful team, his answer wasn’t what you might expect.

On the night before Team USA will take on Canada in a hockey match that could provide our first gold medal in the event since the Miracle in 1980, it only seemed right to bring up the philosophy of Herb Brooks, the coach of that team: I’m not looking for the best players, I’m looking for the right ones.

“I want both. You know what I mean? I want the best ones to be the right ones. And I think that there are a lot of talented players that are perfect for us. And Brian [Xanders] does a great job. Our whole personnel department knows exactly what we’re looking for. The type of people and players. We try like hell to get the same combination: really good talent. Really good ability. A really good person. A good teammate. Tough, smart, physical, those kind of things. And if you assemble a locker room full of 53 of them, then you have a great chance to win. That’s exactly what our philosophy is.”

As for his take on last year’s draft haul:

“We value [character and production]. We’d like to have a locker room that’s free of distractions, and I think that the best way to do that is if you know that bringing a player in is going to cause distractions for you then you have to think twice about what whether or not you want to do it. I think that every team values those things, but we had to bring in so much of it last year that I think it got noticed a lot. And hopefully those people made a good impression on the people that cover our team because I think that they’re good people.”