12. Denver Broncos

04/15/09- Tyson Jackson DE. Tough call here between Jackson and Rey Maualuga. I would have given it to Maualuga if he was more of a fiery leader in the Ray Lewis mold. Humor me for a moment. I believe that the Broncos must be absolutely sick of their defense being a sieve. Of being the weak link in the chain. Of being the reason why opposing running backs put up season high rushing numbers against them. Of being…okay, you get the point. In short, I think Denver would jump on a player like Maualuga, who has all the physical talent needed for an ILB, if he could also be the relentless, driving force that brings toughness to the whole unit. But that just doesn’t seem to be Maualuga’s style. So I’m going with Jackson. Hey, I’m not saying that Jackson is that kind of leader, either; he apparently vanishes from time to time, which is pretty tough to do when you’re 6’4 and just under 300 lbs. But the difference here is position. I’m a believer that the DE is more important to an effective 3-4 defense (which Denver is apparently converting to) than the ILB spots. That DE doesn’t need to be so much of a sack artist (Jackson isn’t) as much as he needs to be big, strong, and tough at the point of attack to help stifle the run game (Jackson is). Candidly, I’m further inclined to predict an early exit for Jackson because I’m actually hoping that he falls down to the Steelers at the end of the round (I’m trying to be mean to myself).