ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos and new general manager George Paton took a different path to select Patrick Surtain II with the No. 9 overall pick in the NFL draft .
Without the benefit of the scouting combine or in-person visits to team complexes, most NFL teams made concerted efforts to gather as much information as possible on prospects they were considering.
But Paton purposely went into stealth mode, with a total communications blackout leading up to Denver's selection of Surtain on Thursday night.
"I knew the family, I knew (his) dad, I knew where he came from," Paton said Friday.