FanHouse MarcusThomas

While Travis Henry was fighting the NFL's attempt to suspend him this season, one of his only supporters was Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. It was surprising for a coach to speak out against the league's drug policy and he got fined for doing it. He was vindicated when the suspension was overturned. History appears to be repeating itself in the wake of Marcus Thomas's arrest.

After getting arrested this weekend, Thomas spoke to his coach and now the Broncos are standing up for their defensive tackle.

"The Denver Broncos are aware that Marcus Thomas is under investigation for possession of cocaine and was a passenger where cocaine was found. The owner-operator of the vehicle has since admitted the cocaine was his, and no cocaine was ever found on Marcus Thomas. Within hours of his release, Marcus had a test which confirmed that there was no cocaine in his system."

The police report makes no mention of the driver's admission but it's clear that, once again, the Broncos are doing their own investigating into the matter. Henry passed team-administered hair and lie-detector tests that the NFL doesn't recognize to back up their support of the running back and now they've run their own tests on Thomas to show that he wasn't using cocaine.

In recent years, the Chargers had the distinction of leading the division in arrests, but the Broncos are doing their best to wrest that title away. Earlier today, FanHouse's Michael David Smith wrote that rookie defensive lineman Marcus Thomas was arrested and charged with possessing a controlled substance. (Thomas' lawyer says, and I'm paraphrasing here, "that [very nice lady] set him up.")

As Adam Rank wrote after Denver drafted Thomas and college teammate Jarvis Moss last April: "Marijuana dealers are excited by the news of Moss and Thomas coming to town, seeing that both players have been suspended for marijuana offenses. It is as if the Broncos put together their draft board on 4/20."

To Moss' credit, he's avoided trouble, but why did the Broncos think Thomas wouldn't do something stupid given his history of, you know, doing stupid stuff?

Last year, after taking Thomas, Denver's general managers Ted Sundquist calmly explained why drafting Thomas wasn't a gamble. Obviously, that blew up in his face, but it sure did sound convincing. Here's what I wrote at the time: "Making the deal even easier was that the Broncos had a first-round grade on Thomas. In that sense, yeah, Thomas was worth a third-, fourth- and sixth-rounder. Assuming, of course, Thomas doesn't pull a Mo Clarett."

Good news for Thomas: he wasn't pulled over wearing body armor, swigging vodka and packing a machete. So there's that.

Mike Shanahan's decision to gut his defense and bring in Jim Bates as a new coordinator hasn't resulted in much success for the Broncos. Fixing that unit has been a priority during the bye week and will continue to be a focus as the team steels itself for a visit from Pittsburgh on the 21st. I wonder if they will make a radical change along their defensive line.

As mentioned earlier this week, Simeon Rice hasn't worked out at defensive end and the team thought so much of starting tackles Sam Adams and Amon Gordon that they benched them for the game against the Colts. John Engleberger is a textbook place holder at the end opposite Rice but the only guy playing really well has been Elvis Dumervil. They drafted three defensive linemen this April so why not scale back the veterans and give the trio of Tim Crowder, Jarvis Moss and Marcus Thomas a chance to improve what's been a lackluster unit?

The ex-Gators Thomas and Moss were big talents whose character questions on draft day dropped them into Denver's lap. It's hard to think they would do a worse job than Gordon and Engleberger against the run and Moss could really add some pressure on the quarterback opposite Dumervil. Crowder, a second rounder, was active for the first time last week and should see increased time as part of the rotation. There will be growing pains but it will be to their long-term benefit to get the rookies on the field more.

In the wake of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's Bill Bratton approach to law enforcement, the Denver Broncos raised some eyebrows when they drafted Jarvis Moss and Marcus Thomas. The team gave up a third- and sixth-round pick to move up four spots in the first round to get Moss, but it may have cost them more to acquire Thomas.

Denver sent its 2007 sixth- and seventh-rounders, and it's 2008 third-rounder to Minnesota for the right to draft Thomas with the 121st pick (fourth round). That certainly seems like a lot, and if you're a draft-value-chart disciple, it's a lopsided deal favoring the Vikings. The Broncos' acquired a fourth-round pick worth 52 points; the Vikings picks totaled 140 points. But a lot of general managers don't care about the draft value chart, and Denver general manager explains why:

"To me, when you identify a player that you feel like can come in and contribute to your football team now, I'm not going to sit and wait and say, 'It's too steep a price,' because there's this fictional ghost player in the third round next year that we could take -- and no one knows who that player would be."

"Is that guy (a 2008 third-rounder) going to have as big an impact on your football team as Marcus Thomas would have in '07? You have to ask yourself that. You don't know who that player is."

Making the deal even easier was that the Broncos had a first-round grade on Thomas. In that sense, yeah, Thomas was worth a third-, fourth- and sixth-rounder. Assuming, of course, Thomas doesn't pull a Mo Clarett.