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Drafting ugly Broncos go for players not afraid to get hands dirty
Updated: Saturday April 21, 2001 11:48 PM
DENVER (AP) -- Scoffing at "pretty boys" who avoid contact in the secondary, Denver head coach Mike Shanahan said cornerback Willie Middlebrooks of Minnesota fits the mold of the Broncos' revamped defense. The Broncos on Saturday selected the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Middlebrooks in the first round of the NFL Draft, the 24th player overall. With their next two choices, the Broncos targeted the defensive end position. Denver, which entered the draft with 10 selections in the seven rounds, dealt two of them to Buffalo to move up in the second round and select Paul Toviessi of Marshall. Then, in the third round, they took Reggie Hayward of Iowa State. Rounds four through seven will be held on Sunday. Ray Rhodes, the Broncos' new defensive coordinator, has emphasized toughness in rebuilding a unit that finished 24th in the NFL last season, including 31st against the pass. Middlebrooks left Minnesota after his junior season, when he started the first eight games before breaking his left ankle. He recorded 33 tackles, including 30 solo, and deflected seven passes, intercepting another.
"Very seldom do you see a cornerback who hits like a safety," Shanahan said, "and that was a big plus. We like Willie's physical aggressiveness in run support. "A lot of times you get a guy who can cover one-on-one but he doesn't like to hit. They're kind of like pretty boys back there. We've got a guy who's not afraid to hit." The Broncos signed free-agent cornerbacks Denard Walker and Darryll Lewis, but the departure of last year's starters, Ray Crockett and Terrell Buckley, left the position somewhat thin. The Broncos feel Middlebrooks is almost completely recovered from his broken ankle. "He had a couple of pins put in it," Shanahan said. "He ran a few weeks ago, and even with the problems coming off of an ankle injury and having those screws put in there, he still ran in the 4.4 range. I'm not saying he's 100 percent, but he's not far from it. Looking at his long jump, his speed, what he was able to do in his workout, I was really impressed." Middlebrooks typically lined up against the opponent's best wide receiver and, according to Shanahan, "shut most of the guys out the whole year. Very few guys can do that. And very few guys have that speed at that size." Shanahan said the Broncos had Middlebrooks rated as the top cornerback in the draft even before they got a favorable report about Middlebrooks' character and work ethic from David Gibbs, a Minnesota assistant coach who recently joined the Broncos' staff. Since Gibbs' hiring by the Broncos in February, Middlebrooks said he has been joking with his former coach. "I was like, Coach, now that I've entered the draft and you're with the Broncos, I know you all are going to pick me. But I never thought it would come down to that." He said his ankle was "probably at 95 percent right now." Asked about the strength of his game, Middlebrooks said, "A lot of corners can't match up with the big receivers. Now teams have two or three big receivers, which make it hard for a lot of secondaries. I can match up with the big receivers and I can run with the small receivers that are quick. In the run game, I'm going to come up and hit you." His mentality on the field, he said, is "kill or be killed." Gibbs called Middlebrooks a "can't-miss kind of guy. He's going to play in this league for a long time. He has all the physical attributes -- 6-1, 200 pounds, runs a 4.4 in the 40. You don't pass up a cornerback with those numbers. He's big and physical, and he can intimidate receivers. He's also a good person off the field." Gibbs said he knew Middlebrooks "was going to be something special" after watching him play against Michigan receiver David Terrell when both were freshmen. "Terrell couldn't get off the line of scrimmage against him," Gibbs said. Terrell, rated the top receiver in the draft, was the eighth player selected on Saturday, by the Chicago Bears. The Broncos moved up seven spots in the second round to take Toviessi at No. 51 overall. The 6-foot-6, 260-pound Toviessi had reconstructive knee surgery his sophomore season but rebounded to record 75 and 89 tackles his last two seasons. He had seven sacks last season along with an interception and a fumble recovery. "There are going to be some growing pains with him that usually go with defensive linemen, but we think he has a big upside," Shanahan said. "He's a guy we had targeted to get in the second round. We didn't know if he'd be gone [at No. 58], and we didn't want to take the chance. That's the reason we made the move." The 6-5, 255-pound Hayward had a career-high 90 tackles last season along with seven sacks and was outstanding in the Hula Bowl all-star game. "He's an athlete with some great measurables," Shanahan said.
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