Longtime NFL personnel executive Ken Herock hired Brian Xanders in Atlanta in 1994.

So Herock speaks from experience when he says the Broncos' new general manager has some significant challenges awaiting him in his new role.

"He had a good football background, played at Florida State, knew the game," Herock said Thursday. "I always thought he was a guy who was very impressive doing what he was doing. But I would say he needs to surround himself with some good personnel people because it's not something he has done before.

"He has never been in the situation where he listened to all of the information and then had to make the decision. And you don't know how somebody is going to be able to do that until they do it."

Herock, who worked with the Raiders, Packers and Falcons in his long career and now operates a consulting business for players headed to the scouting combine, said he hired Xanders to help the Falcons monitor the salary cap.

Xanders, 37, was appointed the Broncos' general manager a week ago after the team fired former executive vice president of football operations Jim Goodman and assistant general manager Jeff Goodman.

"Originally, we brought him in to work on the cap, No. 1, to keep track of some things, just a beginning for him to get involved," Herock said. "And I thought enough of him when I left Green Bay, I was interviewing for a job with the Washington Redskins, and I contacted him, but I didn't get the job, but I would have had him in scouting in some fashion.

"But Brian's never scouted on the road, he doesn't have those experiences of going on the road, being at the practices, getting in there and getting to know guys. That's his challenge. He knows the cap, he understands the cap and he knows the technology that's used now to get the job done. His big thing will be to make the call on whether a guy can play or not and that now he has to know it all.

"He has to be on target, and he's got to know everything, free agency, the draft, the top player in Canada, what you're going to do with the developmental squad, all of it. You have to know what the hell is going on and just being astute, just knowing technology can't save you. You have to find players, it's that simple.

"But I like Brian, he's a bright young man. If he makes the calls, gets the players, he'll be a success; if he doesn't, he won't be a general manager."