Tight end Virgil Green was the 204th player drafted this past weekend, falling into the laps of the Denver Broncos with the first selection of round seven.
Entering the draft, Green was expected to be a middle-round pick whose freakish Combine workout could’ve even catapulted him into day two. So it was a surprise he went so late.
On Monday, a league source explained to PFT that Green fell for medical reasons related to four-year-old microfracture surgery on his knee.
But he never missed a single practice or game in the ensuing four seasons.
Microfracture operations often cost players explosiveness. But Green averaged 13 yards a catch in college and made first-team All-WAC as a senior. At the Combine, Green erupted for a 42 1/2-inch vertical leap, 10-foot, 10-inch broad jump, and a 4.64 forty at 6-foot-3, 249.
During the three-day draft, teams were particularly cautious about players with medical issues of any kind. Robert Quinn, a surefire top-five talent, fell to No. 14 because he has a benign brain tumor that hasn’t caused him a lick of trouble since high school. Da’Quan Bowers plummeted due to knee concerns. Mark Herzlich, who came back from Ewing’s Sarcoma in 2009 to start all 13 games as a senior at Boston College, went undrafted.
We suspect that the uncertainty stemming from the lack of a CBA was at work here.
Ultimately, the Broncos may have gotten a steal in Virgil Green, and they’ll put him to use immediately.
Coach John Fox plans to use Green as a “move” tight end who floats around the formation and stretches defenses vertically. It’s a role similar to the one played by Tony Scheffler before Josh McDaniels ran him out of town.