All Ryan Clady has to change is his address.
Same colors. Same nickname. Same job.
The Denver Broncos on Saturday selected Clady with the 12th pick of the NFL Draft, and coach Mike Shanahan immediately anointed him the team's starting left tackle.
And Clady, a three-year starter for the Boise State Broncos, didn't flinch.
"Everyone wants to be a Pro Bowler and to win a couple Super Bowls," Clady said. " First-rounders are expected to start and make an impact right away. That's what I'm expecting to do."
Clady became the first Boise State player drafted in the first round and the highest draft pick in school history. Defensive lineman Markus Koch was selected 30th, the third pick of the second round, in 1986 by the Redskins.
The Broncos expect Clady to replace 11-year standout Matt Lepsis, who retired after last season. Second-year player Ryan Harris, a third-round pick out of Notre Dame, will provide competition.
Clady, 21, visited Denver a week ago and will return Sunday for an official introduction to his new city.
"He will start at left offensive tackle the day he comes in," said Shanahan, who is counting on Clady to protect quarterback Jay Cutler's blindside.
The Broncos ranked Clady second among the eight offensive tackles who were selected in the first round, behind only No. 1 pick Jake Long of Michigan.
Many people - including the Broncos and Boise State coach Chris Petersen - figured Clady would come off the board sooner, but a couple trades changed the landscape. Kansas City (No. 5) needed help on defense after trading star end Jared Allen and Baltimore (No. 8) moved down.
Still, Clady was the second tackle picked.
"He was predicted to go as high as 5 and the average was 8," Shanahan said. "We really didn't think he was going to be there."
Clady's agent, Pat Dye Jr., told Clady on Saturday morning that he would be taken with the 12th, 13th or 14th pick. The need for tackles was too great for him to wait any longer than that.
"To be the second tackle drafted in arguably the strongest draft in history at his position is quite a compliment," Dye Jr. said.
Clady spent the day surrounded by family and friends at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport, about 70 miles from his hometown of Rialto, Calif. His draft party drew about 100 people - and each guest received a brochure-like handout with information on Clady's football career and photos of him with family, including the last photo taken of him with his mother and siblings. His mother, Sharon Clady, died in 2000.
Predictably, the group responded to the Broncos' announcement with an emotional outburst.
"It was pandemonium," said Chandra Clady, Clady's cousin. " We were screaming, hollering, yelling."
The selection was welcome news in Boise, too, where Clady was groomed from an overlooked high school defensive lineman into a dominant offensive tackle.
Clady (6-foot-6, 316 pounds) was lightly recruited out of Eisenhower High. He redshirted with the Broncos in 2004 and emerged as the starting right tackle in 2005.
He moved to left tackle in 2006 and was named the school's first consensus Division I-A All-American in 2007. The junior declared himself eligible for the NFL Draft on Jan. 1.
NFL.com reports that Clady led the nation with 21 "touchdown-resulting blocks" and received a grade of 85.77 percent for blocking consistency.
"I think everybody's very convinced that he's only going to get better," Petersen said. "He's gotten better every year he's been with us."
Petersen will make sure future recruiting targets know about the Broncos' success with Clady, but he figures most will hear about that on their own.
Besides, he doesn't expect the next Clady to step onto the blue turf anytime soon. Usually, players with Clady's size and athletic ability look elsewhere.
"Ryan is an example of us getting too good of a player," Petersen said.
Clady was so good, Petersen said, that he doesn't think he was truly appreciated during his time with the Broncos. It didn't help that he played a position without any publicized stats, he didn't say much and he and the rest of the offensive linemen were off-limits to the media most of last season.
"He has flown under the radar in high school and with us," Petersen said. " Today is really giving him his just due in terms of how special he really is."
Sports columnist Brian Murphy contributed to this report.
