Broncos face lose-win situation

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Back in April, at the NFL draft, Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan gave up a third-round choice and a sixth-round choice to move up four spots in the first round, from 21st to 17th, so he could take defensive end Jarvis Moss.The year before, he gave up another third-round choice to move up four spots, from 15th to 11th, so he could take quarterback Jay Cutler.In other words, Shanahan values the ability to move up in the first round a great deal. You don't just throw away third-round picks. At least, you shouldn't.Over the final two weeks of this season, the Broncos can move up in next year's first round -- and, as a special bonus, all the other rounds, too -- simply by losing games that don't matter. Having been eliminated from the playoffs, winning these games offers no tangible reward and precious little intangible consolation for a season gone wrong.Of course, even if the Broncos want to lose these games, they cannot admit it. Their opponents, the Chargers and Vikings, are still pursuing rewards both immediate and tangible, as are other teams with which they are competing.But there is an acceptable way to handle it. The Broncos have a right to allocate playing time in their own best interest, which may very well include taking a look at backups to see what they can do.Taylor Jacobs and Glenn Martinez at wide receiver, for example. P.J. Alexander, Isaac Snell and Ryan Harris on the offensive line. Jordan Beck and Louis Green at linebacker. You see where I'm going with this.When I asked Shanahan earlier this week what he was looking to get out of these final games, he took it as an opportunity to talk about how good the Chargers are, which was so far from the question that I thought for a moment I'd stumbled into a presidential debate by mistake. But he finished with this:"So it's a good challenge for us to at least finish the season on a positive note with some players that haven't played a lot, see what they can do."This is just what I had in mind. So I asked if that meant he was planning to give backups more playing time in the last two weeks."No, we're not, but we've got a number of guys that are young that are playing that get a chance to have some good experience before it's over," he said. "But we'll play our starters just like we have been."This is not what I had in mind. Everybody talks about finishing strong and ending on a good note, but these are just cliches. A lot of these players won't even be here next year. The only significant difference between finishing 8-8 and finishing 6-10 lies in the draft position that goes with it.Let's take Ohio State middle linebacker James Laurinaitis as an example. Not to try to recapture the glory of Randy Gradishar, another pretty good Buckeyes 'backer, but hey, you could do worse.As a junior, Laurinaitis could return to school if he doesn't like what he hears from the NFL College Advisory Committee. But because the committee will undoubtedly tell him he's a first-round pick, I'm assuming Laurinaitis will be available on draft day.A year ago, the 49ers finished 7-9. They got the 11th pick in the draft. They used it to take the best inside linebacker on the board, Mississippi's Patrick Willis. As a rookie, Willis leads the NFL in tackles and is a Pro Bowl reserve.Minnesota, Miami and Houston, which finished 6-10 a year ago, ended up with the seventh, ninth and 10th picks. If finishing 6-10 produces a similar result this year, the Broncos should be right in Laurinaitis' neighborhood.By contrast, teams that finished 8-8 a year ago picked anywhere from 13th to 21st, which is all probably too late for Laurinaitis this year.I use Laurinaitis as an example because it's my opinion that a stud middle linebacker would be the single biggest upgrade the Broncos could make, not merely because of his play but because he would free up D.J. Williams to play the weak side, potentially giving the Broncos two playmakers for the price of one.But it doesn't really matter what you think the Broncos need. Clearly, the higher their draft position, the better their chance to grab a difference maker.Having been eliminated from the playoffs, winning their final two games gets them nothing but a little satisfaction. Losing them accomplishes something they traded valuable draft picks to accomplish each of the past two years.Let's be honest: Even playing all their starters, the Broncos have a pretty good chance of losing to the Chargers Monday night and Vikings next Sunday, both of whom have better records.The Broncos are playing for pride. I get that. But if moving up four places in the draft is worth a third-round pick, how much pride is moving up 10 places worth?(Contact Dave Krieger at kriegerd@RockyMountainNews.com.)(Dave Krieger writes for the Rocky Mountain News at www.rockymountainnews.com.)