Nick Kosmider

6 days ago | nytimes.com | Nick Kosmider

Sean Payton has twice used a first-round pick in the NFL Draft on a running back. His first pick as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, in fact, was used on the position when the team drafted Reggie Bush second overall in 2006. Five years later, Payton traded back into the first round to select Mark Ingram. All those two players did was pile up 12,536 yards of offense, 86 touchdowns, three Pro Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl across 15 combined seasons.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Nick Kosmider

Sean Payton instituted a simple rule after constructing his first coaching staff with the New Orleans Saints in 2006: no using the word Katrina. Payton, during his early years in New Orleans, spearheaded work with local charities to help rebuild a city ravaged by the hurricane. His team, which reached the NFC Championship Game in his first season, became a source of inspiration for a community trying to pick itself back up.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Nick Kosmider

The Denver Broncos have the 20th pick in the NFL Draft when Round 1 begins April 24 in Green Bay. The Broncos own seven total picks in the seven-round draft. Broncos' draft picksFull draft orderEvery pick in the seven-round NFL Draft. * Round 1: April 24, 8 p.m. ET * Rounds 2-3: April 25, 7 p.m. ET * Rounds 4-7: April 26, noon ETAll rounds will be televised on ESPN/ABC and NFL Network and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Nick Kosmider

Denver Broncos general manager George Paton has a self-imposed rule as to when he will approach coach Sean Payton about a specific strategy in the NFL Draft. "I don't hit Sean for the trade-back (option) until like the day of (the draft)," Paton said with a laugh at the NFL league meeting late last month in Palm Beach, Fla. "It's just no use."No use, perhaps, because Paton is well aware of his colleague's history as a lead voice in the draft room.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Nick Kosmider

If Terry Fontenot needed a reminder about how much the mechanics of prospect evaluation have changed since he began his career as a football scout two decades ago, it arrived in a meeting room at Lucas Oil Stadium in late February. Fontenot, the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, was leading his team's flurry of 15-minute meetings with players during the first night of the NFL Scouting Combine when a prospect walked in with a resumé that would have seemed out of place not too long ago.