FanHouse Tom Brandstater

While it was thought there would be a transition for the Broncos offense this season, no one could have imagined the nightmare the Broncos may be facing in Week 1 of the 2009 season. In January, the Broncos had a Pro Bowler at the helm. In July, they had Kyle Orton, with Chris Simms backing him up. Now, it's entirely possible they head into Cincinnati on Sept. 13 with Tom Brandstater as their starting quarterback.

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

"You go into this thing understanding that you're not going to fix everything that you may want to fix."

That's Broncos coach Josh McDaniels speaking, likely about the team's failure to improve their awful run defense. He's speaking the truth. There were too many issues facing Denver for them to solve them all over the course of seven rounds.

McDaniels' wisdom does nothing to explain why the team chose to trade away its 2010 first-round pick so they could draft cornerback Alphonso Smith in the second round, however. That seems more like creating a problem where none existed, something that could easily come back to haunt the Broncos in a year's time.