ORLANDO, Fla. — There were Broncos themes around the various tables during the NFC head coaches breakfast Tuesday.
Kevin O’Connell, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, knows the Broncos have become his chief adversary this offseason. Both teams were in on veteran quarterback Sam Darnold in free agency, with the Vikings getting him for $10 million. And both teams will be jockeying for position in the NFL draft.
Both teams are expected to take a quarterback with their first-round draft choice. The Vikings have the advantage, as they have the No. 11 position while the Broncos sit at No. 12.
Moreover, the Vikings recently acquired the No. 23 overall pick from the Texans and seem to have ample ammunition to move up from No. 11 to possibly the No. 3 or 4 spot in the draft. But hold on. Broncos’ head coach Sean Payton said Monday his team moving up in the draft is “realistic.”
In play, perhaps, are the right to draft quarterbacks like Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix and/or Michael Penix Jr.
O’Connell said as Day 1 of the NFL Draft on April 25 approaches, he’ll be conscious of the Broncos.
“Absolutely. You have to be,’’ O’Connell said. “Part of the draft is understanding … other teams have to be complicit in your plans. You’re talking about the Denver Broncos with Sean Payton as the head coach, (general manager) George Paton – I know the type of staff they have there, there’s some great evaluators of talent.
“We feel strongly about the type of players we’re looking at, we’re evaluating. They are probably feeling similar. So we’ve got to understand that is part of it. We’re going to have to compete to add players at all positions for our team. It starts with the evaluation process, and as we come through that, start heading towards the end of April, we’re going to have to be aware of what’s going on around us, in front of us, behind us.
“And that’s not just in the first round with the draft," O'Connell said. "That’s throughout the entire thing and how the landscape and depth at different positions is impacted. For example, by what we can see is a high volume of offensive players at the top of the draft. What does that mean not only for the middle of round one, end of round one, but where you can find some value on that second day in rounds two and three?”
A few tables in front of O’Connell was New Orleans Saints’ head coach Dennis Allen, who replaced the then-retired Sean Payton in 2022.
Allen was the Broncos’ defensive coordinator during the Tebow! season of 2011, and now he’s incorporating the old Mike Shanahan/Gary Kubiak offense in New Orleans by hiring Klint Kubiak as his offensive coordinator, bringing Rick Dennison back into the NFL coaching ranks as the Saints’ senior offensive assistant, and retaining tight ends coach Clancy Barone.
Kubiak, Dennison and Barone were all Broncos’ assistant coaches, and not that long ago. And they are keys to coaching the vaunted zone-blocking scheme that makes the one-cut rushing system work.
“I think that system of offense – there’s certainly a lot of variations of it. They’re not all the same. But I think that system is something that’s done well in our league and done well in our league for a long period of time,’’ Allen said. “It’s something I think we can incorporate, and I think we have the type of players who fit well in that system.
“Look, I’ve known the Kubiak family since at least the early ‘90s when I was playing at A&M and Gary coached there (in 1992-93). And I remember watching Gary play when I was growing up as an A&M fan. I feel like I’ve kind of known that family a little bit. A bunch of guys followed his career a little bit and felt like it was a good fit for what we wanted to do.”
Allen’s previous offensive coordinator was Pete Carmichael, who was a holdover from Payton’s 15-season reign in New Orleans. Carmichael recently joined Payton’s staff in Denver as a senior offensive assistant. As he left, did Carmichael ask Allen if he could take Swiss Army knife quarterback/receiver/runner Taysom Hill with him to Denver?
“No, that conversation has not been broached,’’ Allen said before delivering a playful tease. “I feel like Sean is trying to get everybody else with the Saints to go to Denver with him. So, we’ll see.”
And between O’Connell and Allen was a table for Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers’ head coach and Cherry Creek High School graduate. Even as the Broncos are an AFC team, Bronco ties have leaked into the NFC.
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