Denver Broncos at Houston Texans: 1st Quarter Notes

Here's the annoying part about the National Football League... Okay, DirectTV has the monopoly on the NFL games, if I'm out of market. So I abide and get Direct TV, guess what? It's cloudy outside, no reception for my satellite.

- SLB Boss Bailey down with a right ankle injury on the first Houston possession. Then was carted off after making it to the sideline. He has a sprained ankle and is questionable to return.

- SLB Louis Green collided with another Bronco and was injured two plays later, while subbing in for the injured Boss Bailey. He was moving around, but he was taken off the field on a stretcher and gave two thumbs up as he left the field.

- FS Marquand Manuel is everywhere early.

- CB Domonique Foxworth was boxed out completely by Houston WR Andre Davis, for a nine-yard catch.

- SS Marlon McCree nearly picked off a Matt Schaub pass, in his own end zone that would have gone yard had he made McCree secured the catch.

- Denver's defense wins out the battle at the goal line to hold Houston to a field goal.

- Backup SLB Louis Green was diagnosed with a concussion and an injury to his head and neck, taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

- WR Eddie Royal makes his first catch as a Bronco, going five yards in the slot.

- LT Ryan Clady, thus far is losing the battle to Houston's DE Mario Williams.

- WR Brandon Marshall made a nice catch for Denver's first first-down.

- QB Jay Cutler and Eddie Royal has some miscommunication around 5:20 in the 1st Quarter. Royal went post and Cutler tossed it ouside.

- Where Selvin Young is looking shaky (mainly due to the poor offensive line) as a runner, he's making it up as a capable receiver.

- On back-to-back plays, Cutler drops it off to Selvin Young for a total of 23 yards on two plays.

- TE Nate Jackson lined up in the slot catches a quick first-down.

- Next play, Eddie Royal makes his second catch for a gain of eight yards.

- The offensive line is protecting very well in pass situations and Jay Cutler's looking poised.

- RB Selvin Young makes his first positive yardage on a seven yard run.

- Cutler narrowly missed TE Daniel Graham for a touchdown. The ball bounced off his finger tips at 01:47.

- 3rd and 8 Jay Cutler in the shotgun, takes off, running 15 yards and leaping for a Denver touchdown. 00:56 left in the 1st Quarter.

- Domonique Foxworth knocked back Houston RB Chris Taylor for a loss of five yards to wrap up the 1st Quarter.

1st Quarter wrap up:

Positives: Denver's passing offense.
Negatives: Denver's rushing defense/rushing offense.

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Denver Broncos Training Camp: Day 4 (Morning Practice)

Thought that we took the day off didn't you?

We didn't, sucker...

Here's some notes from Day 4-

• Selvin Young was out for the first part of camp, no word on why just yet, but he did take the field later on. Peyton Hillis was out this morning, Michael Pittman was playing mostly as a fullback. Montrae Holland was still absent from first-team workouts. DeWayne Robertson returned, as expected to practice. DJ Williams and Boss Bailey were absent from most of the morning practice. Williams later explained that he Bailey and Young were being drug tested as per NFL policy.
  
  
• Jay Cutler hasn't looked bad, but until today, he hadn't really ever looked anybody off. Meaning in coverage, the receiver he's throwing it to is the one that he's staring at. After watching the first three days of camp, he's working specifically on that- looking off his receivers.
  
  
• There's two other quarterbacks on the Broncos and it's Darrell Hackney who is looking like he's aiming for that number two spot. Backup Patrick Ramsey has not looked impressive at all at camp, today the Broncos secondary teed off on Ramsey picking him off several times.
  
  
• Anthony Aldridge is looking very competitive as is Ryan Torain, not to say that Torain is bad, but Aldridge just looks better at this point. Torain did have a great day, but not enough to push either Selvin Young or Andre Hall from their spot on the depth chart. It is not too early to declare that Denver is in very good hands this season in the backfield. Guaranteed fresh legs, whenever called upon. Pittman did take a few snaps at running back, he also looked better at fullback than Cecil Sapp.
  
  
• Brandon Marshall, read my column and ate his Wheaties this morning- burning his defender in the eleven-on-eleven drills, resulting in an eighty-yard touchdown. Rookie Eddie Royal, Keary Colbert and Samie Parker could use some time after practice to work on their timing with Cutler. Royal's close though on the verge of pushing Colbert into the fifth spot on the Broncos receiving depth chart. In the possible event that Marshall is suspended or someone in the top three is injured, it almost makes sense to have Royal as the number two at wide-out and keep Brandon Stokley in the slot. Speaking of number two, Darrel Jackson has definitely solidified his position as the Broncos number two receiver.
  
  
• As for the tight ends, it's Nate Jackson, not Tony Scheffler taking the first team reps as the "receiving" tight end. Scheffler has been incredible at camp, so Fantasy Fans don't be too worried. Daniel Graham may have another season as a blocking tight end, however. The offensive line at this point, just doesn't seem to be strong enough to allow Graham to become the type of tight end that he came to Denver to be.
  
  
• Ryan Harris is getting better, working in tandem with Chris Kuper the pair was able to open up several decent holes in the defensive line. Though, it is still unclear who will be the right tackle as Harris has yet to out right earn it. Rookie Ryan Clady is dominating just about everyone, except Jarvis Moss, who has only got the best of him once or twice over the last couple of days. Where the offensive line is struggling most is in pass protection, expect to see a move on the depth chart, possibly Erik Pears, PJ Alexander or Tyler Polumbus moving in with the first-team offense.
  
  
• On the defensive side, Ebenezer Ekuban and DeWayne Robertson may be the starting defensive tackles this season. Ekuban is playing very well at tackle and with Robertson forcing opposite teams to double him, he could be in for a great year. Depth at tackle also looks very decent, Denver employs a seven-man rotation on the defensive line. With Josh Mallard playing the way he's been playing, you'll remember Mallard came in at the very end of the season (playing in only four games) and managed three and a half sacks and fifteen tackles. In camp he has carried on that domination, packaged with Marcus Thomas, Alvin McKinley, Kenny Peterson and the previously mentioned defensive tackles Denver appears to be much better off than last season. Speaking of Marcus Thomas, he shined during eleven-on-eleven scrimmage, bursting through and wrecking havoc on Denver's offensive line.
  
  
• Jamie Winborn and Louis Green filled in on the first-team during the absence of DJ Williams and Boss Bailey. Niko Koutouvides played once again with the second-team defense, with Nate Webster playing middle linebacker with the first-team once again. Koutouvides had a strong day, playing heady to Webster's all out kamikaze style. The Koutouvides vs. Webster battle is the most interesting battle in training camp.
  
  
• In the background on defense, John Lynch put on a hitting clinic during one-on-ones then continued the clinic during team camp, thumping on two different Denver running backs. Domonique Foxworth went yard on a Patrick Ramsey interception, Karl Paymah was the man who got beat on the Brandon Marshall eighty-yard touchdown reception. Dre Bly and Champ Bailey stayed true to form and looked like two of the best cover corners in the NFL.
  
  
  
• Could this be the year that Bly returns to the Pro Bowl? Rookie safety Josh Barrett lined up a couple times at corner, Marlon McCree continued to sub in on running plays and was beat by both rookies Ryan Torain and Anthony Aldridge during eleven-on-eleven drills. Rookie corner Jack Williams exhibited his speed after being beat by Brandon Stokley, only to catch him and break up a pass from Jay Cutler.

Other notes:

• The Broncos began a new drill, six-on-four: Three linemen, a quarter back and two running backs on two defensive linemen and two linebackers. They also implemented the three-on-three a quarterback and two receivers vs. two defensive backs and a safety. Rookie Josh Barrett played safety during every snap of the three-on-threes.
  
  
• The kick returners depth seems to have been shortened with only Eddie Royal, Andre Hall, Michael Pittman and Anthony Aldridge returning kicks.
  
  
• Kicker Matt Prater continued to shine connecting on seven of eight of his field goals from 40-45 yards out.
  

All photos © DenverBroncos.com and credited to Kyle Sonneman

Linebackers & Special Teams

Since the demise of Al Wilson, this position has been in need of help. At the conclusion of '07, the only definite was DJ Williams, but exactly where he should be in the LB Corps was under debate (not to be confused with salmon eggs & nightcrawlers). At MLB, DJ had 170 TT in '07, almost double that of SLB, Nate Webster, with 100. Nate was surrounded by players with high tackle numbers: Champ Bailey (81); John Lynch (62); John Engelberger (59) and Nick Ferguson (56). Is it possible they (especially the DBs) were picking up a few he should have? I always thought it was a bad sign when the DBs were making a large number of tackles.

DJ is now at WLB where many feel he will dominate. Boss Bailey was brought in at SLB not only replacing Webster, but bumping him to MLB due to the excellence of Jamie Winborn. The void at MLB has Niko Koutouvides (FA/Seattle), Spencer Larsen (6th round/Arizona) and Nate Webster as candidates. In the recent mini camps, Webster worked with 1st team D, but none of it was w/hats & pads. Many expect Webster to compete with Koutouvides to be the starter. Some have predicted that Webster making the team will be trouble for Jordan Beck.

This reminds me of those predicting Travis Henry (who?) would start at RB in the season opener. I'm over 300 miles from Englewood (GO PIRATES! I student taught there) and have no access to practices. I'm not Jim Ryan, in whom I have great confidence. It's presumptuous to boldly predict who will and won't make the team. Having said all that, you expect something, don't you? Of course!

My take is that if Larsen plays ST well and looks promising in the middle, he makes the team. Ditto for DJ, Boss, Koutouvides and Winborn. Also listed as a LB is Wesley Woodyard (CFA Kentucky). Wearing #59 it seems that he is , for the moment, a LB. He could be a candidate for SS/Monster/Rover to follow in the cleat marks of John Lynch. Let's wait until we see if his number changes or if he is listed as a S. He's a strong, young defensive player who has a chance to impress on ST just as Larsen does.

Special Teams! Yeah, how did that go in '07? Not well from my perspective. I see a slew of young, fresh legs headed toward TC who have the chance to impress with ST play. Speaking of ST, who was leading ST tackler in '07? Jamie Winborn. Who was #2? Jordan Beck by only one stick. Are we counting on our fingers yet? That's right. Including Wesley Woodyard and Louis Green, whom we haven't mentioned (3rd in ST tackles, one behind Beck) the Broncos have nine LBs going into camp. Beck, who went to a pretty tough school academically (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo), is 25 years old and has a pretty impressive set of wheels for a LB. His ST play in '07 is still in the mind's eye for me. Wasn't he a 3rd round pick of the Falcons in '05?

I can't see into the future as Homer's immortal gods, but methinks a pattern is developing. The Broncos are on a serious youth movement. ST needs some headhunters, too. Young guys are good at ST. If Nate Webster doesn't start at MLB and if Larsen (MLB) makes the team ... I don't know if Nate will survive the last cut. From backup LB to starting MLB to starting SLB to fighting for MLB doesn't sound very settled (kinda like his helmet). How many LBs will Denver keep? My guess is six (two each of WLB, MLB and SLB) and the backups better be ST aces. Green at 28 years old seems to have a better chance of making the roster than Webster (30) although he seems pressed, too.

Let us not forget that Spencer Larsen was in the process of learning FB as well as MLB which must mean he knows how to block (as well as having brains). How many ST do you think he'll be on? All of them. It's a gut feeling on my part, but I think Woodyard will move to SS. Let's observe his ST performance closely during preseason.

Nate Webster is nothing if not an all-out totally enthusiastic football player. However, if he doesn't beat out Koutouvides, he'd better beg for the chance to shine on ST. Niko was ST captain in Seattle so you'd expect him to be on at least one. That reminds me of something I haven't seen much of lately, and that is talk of the truly fierce competition for position combined with ST implications. Morituri te salutamus. Let the games begin.