Denver vs. Kansas City: Post Game Quotes

HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

On today’s game: “We talked about the keys to the game. Obviously the first one is you can’t turn the football over. Kansas City has an unbelievable home record when they win the turnover battle, and they won it by three today. Credit that to them. They ran the football exceptionally well. You’ve got to be able to stop the run and you’ve got to be able to run the football. Kansas City made a couple plays on special teams right there in the clutch; a big kickoff return to give them field position. Now we go back, obviously a tough loss. We had our opportunities during the game, credit to Kansas City for fighting like they did and finding a way to win. We’re obviously disappointed, but now we go back and get ready for the next game.”

On the status of WR Clifford Russell: “I really don’t know. I don’t know how he is. I know he was numb on his right side. Had feeling in his toes, and that was it. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.”

QB JAY CUTLER

On if he was pressing today: “I don’t know. You know, you can’t have four turnovers offensively and score a lot of points. You know, one for four in the Red Zone, It’s hard to win ball games that way.”

On if Denver needed to run the football better today: “You know, we don’t know. We had the turnovers, we got in the hole a little bit, you know, we had to start throwing the ball around a little bit. So we should have played better in the first half.”

On what this loss means: “We’re 3-1. There’s a lot of football left. We’re still a good football team. We can’t go into a panic here. We’re going to go back and look at it and get ready for Tampa.

CB CHAMP BAILEY

On being prepared for the game: “You always think you are doing enough. I’ve been around this game long enough to know if we have a good week of practice or we don’t. Coach (Shanahan) came into the game saying stop the run, run the ball, no turnovers, and we’ll win the game. And, we didn’t do the things necessary to win the game.”

CB DRE’ BLY

On today’s game: “They were able to force more turnovers and we still had chance to win. RB Larry Johnson was able to make some runs. For the most part, we were able to keeps things in front of us in terms of our pass defense. But, we didn’t do a good job against the run this week. Larry Johnson is one the better backs in this league. I know he hasn’t gotten off to the good start he has in the past. He’s a big physical guy and he was able to make some plays. Like we say in this league, ‘On any given Sunday, a team can win.’ Just because they were winless doesn’t mean that they couldn’t win the football game. We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board and evaluate this film. Hopefully we can get ready for Tampa next week.

On giving up 30 points or more for three consecutive weeks: “We don’t want to give up as many points as we’ve given up the last three weeks. But, Kansas City was getting good field position. We did good job of holding them to field goals a couple of times. To be good in this league, you have to try to hold teams to under 20 points. Offensively, we couldn’t score the amount of points we have the last three weeks.

C CASEY WIEGMANN

On the Chiefs: “They were 0-3 with their backs against the wall. They had to come out swinging and that’s what they did. The coaches did a good job of preparing them and they were ready to go.”

On playing against his old teammates: “It doesn’t matter. It was fun seeing them after the game. It is what it is. I am a Bronco now.”  

HEAD COACH HERM EDWARDS

On today’s game: “That’s a good football team we played today. I think what we finally realized was we had to play with passion – just play, not worry about doing everything right or the score. I thought for the most part we did that.

“We went in with the mindset that they have a very good offense and were going to move the ball some, but hold them to field goals. If you just hold them to field goals you’re going to have a chance. They’ve been a team that has possessed the ball 10 times per game and they’ve scored five times out of those possessions – touchdowns and field goals. We just tried to reverse it and wanted to make them score two touchdowns and kick three field goals and you’ve got a shot.  We held them to less than that.

“I thought our offense did a great job of running the ball and keeping their offense off the field. That’s another way you combat a high powered offense like that. Our guys played with a lot of emotion and we took the ball away. Turnovers always help you. That was a big key too. Those kids deserve a win; our fans deserve a win, too. We haven’t won a football game in quite some time. I’ve never been in a drought like this before. Now we’ve got to try and build on this win.”

On the difference in the running game today: “I thought we finished our blocks and we’re starting to learn how to run the ball. I thought we ran the ball last week and while we didn’t win the game, we did some things running in the second half and we built on that. That was our mindset. The only way you can run effectively is if you don’t get behind. We weren’t behind and we kept running it. That was our whole emphasis. It was a close game and we wanted to stick to it. We didn’t get down by two scores or anything like that. That was our plan.”

On the play of your linebackers: “They took the ball away; they ran to the ball. We were a little shorthanded at times and not having (DE Tamba) Hali at full speed hurt. Gun (Cunningham) did a good job. They ran to the ball. The fumble the receiver had, that was a lineman (DE Turk McBride) chasing and hitting the ball out.

“I thought our corners did a pretty good job on the receivers. Denver passed the ball some but (CB Brandon) Carr and (CB Brandon) Flowers – two rookie corners – did a good job. The one touchdown pass (by Denver) in the end zone was a big time catch and the young (corner) came back and intercepted one later.”

On Red Zone defense holding Denver to field goals: “That was the key. I’ve always felt that anytime you get in the end zone that it favors you because the field is cut down and there is not room in the back of the end zone. The throws have to be very accurate. Last year we were in the top three in the Red Zone. If you can hold people from scoring and make them kick field goals, that’s the key. For a team like this that was averaging almost 38 points a game, it was pretty good.”

CHIEFS RB LARRY JOHNSON

On today’s game: “Well, we had great balance. We didn’t make a whole lot of plays in the passing game, but we were able to run the football. We fed off our defense’s energy and their ability to create turnovers. We kept fighting, we had the running game going and the passing game picked up there in the second half. It was a great, complete win. Our kicker had a great day today, just all around. All three phases contributed to a much-need win around here.”

On getting the running game going: “I think so. Anytime you get (RB) Larry (Johnson) the ball like we did and the yards he had, we’re going to have a good chance to win. And then our defense’s ability to create turnovers, like I said. We didn’t have a whole lot of turnovers on offense, when you do that you give yourself a chance to win, even against a really good football team.”

On if missing two TD opportunities early might have hurt: “Maybe, we had a lot of energy today. Everybody played with a lot of energy. All the young guys on our defense flying around, our crowd was into it. It was just nice to get a lead early. Even though we only got field goals, we were still ahead early, so that’s the first time that’s happened in a while it seems like. We got that early lead, we got the momentum, we built on it and just put together a great win today.”

On playing with a lead: “I think it relaxes us a little bit. We hone in on our jobs and individually, you know, make a pass, make a run, make a block, do your job. You know, know your role and do your job and we did that today. We executed and we won the game.”

On what this win means in the big picture of things: “It’s one win. We’re 1-3. But it gives us some confidence. We can beat a team that’s 3-0 and playing the way the Broncos were coming in to this game. I think it’s something we’ve got to build on and certainly next week in Carolina.”

On if the offense was feeding off of the defense’s play: “Oh yeah, no question. That’s when you’re at your best when you’re both feeding off of each other; you know offense, defense, special teams. Making plays making hits. (WR Dwayne) Bowe making great catches, (TE) Tony (Gonzalez) (RB) Larry (Johnson) on and on. When playmakers make plays like that you get the momentum and football as we all know is such a game of momentum. We got that early and built on it wouldn’t let down and had a great team win.”

On his performance today: “I think I managed the game well, I didn’t force anything, I was pretty smart with the football for the most part. It was a pretty good game.”

On if this is the most satisfying win he’s had with the Chiefs: “I don’t know. I guess when you lose 12 in a row, this is definitely significant. It’s a nice win. It’s up there.”

LB DERRICK JOHNSON

On the game: “This was a must win game for this football team. We were getting kind of frazzled. We knew our backs were against the wall to win this game. This team came in 3-0 and played good football. The Denver Broncos played good football. They didn’t let us just have it. We just fought. We had fight.”

On his forced fumble play: “We’ve been working on it all week, the toss from the shotgun. He kind of seized up before the play and just anticipated and I shot the gap. It looked like I was back in college at Texas. I was just making a play. I was making a play for this football team stripping it out.”

On the interception? “I was really surprised I caught it. I was just reading my keys. Knowing that it was third-and-long, don’t jump the little routes and stay back with the Defense.”

On playing in the heat: “We were sweating and we were getting really tired out there. A couple of times I had to get to the sidelines a couple of times to gets some oxygen. We’re a well-disciplined football team and we worked our butts off to get this win. We’re just happy right now.”

On what this win means: “It’s something to build on. This is a division opponent too, so this is a big win for this football team. We cannot be satisfied with this football game, we need to build on it. We beat a really good football team.”

G BRIAN WATERS

On the game: “We are just excited that we played a decent game for four quarters on all sides of the ball and made some plays. Special teams really helped us out and settled some scores for us. We got some turnovers, the defense did a great job of getting some turnovers and getting us in the scoring areas. We did a good job finishing off some (drives) we still had some yards, had some points out there. We wish we would have got some of those and maybe we could have made this thing a little easier. A win is a win and we really needed it.”

On having a short field for the offense today: “The great thing about it is that we were able to gain some points and reward our defense by putting some points on the board. We would love to get touchdowns in those areas, but just being able to put points on the board for a team that hasn’t been scoring very many points. Anytime we can put some points on the board after a turnover is a great thing to really salute our defense for the great job well done.

On the offensive line and Larry Johnson’s performance: “I think everyone is starting to get on the same page. We’re getting better knowing exactly where we’re going to and the running backs are getting better at knowing where we’re going to so they can set up things for us a little bit. And really just finishing blocks and running hard. That’s really what we’ve got to do as a team.”

On today’s pass protection: “We felt like coming into this game that this was an area that we could get better. Our biggest area of improvement is going to be pass protection. We’re really upset because the sack we gave up was really a miscommunication between the quarterback and the receiver and we ended up cutting a guy thinking the ball was going to be out and he ended up getting sacked. So even with that we were able to overcome it. The great thing about is that we didn’t let it bother us and we just got back and went back to work. That’s where we got to be in this game, we have to have our head on strong and just focus on the next play.”

WR DWAYNE BOWE

On the game: “It was great. They (Denver) were behind all four quarters. The offense, we scored almost every time we got the ball and they gained confidence to do their job well and fill the gap and they know that the other guy was going to make the tackle.

On getting a victory: “I knew it was going to happen. It was just a matter of time. It was  a big game like this where we needed to show that we can go out and play for four quarters and we did. … It’s nice getting the pressure off of the coaches and staff. We are the one’s that have to go out and do our jobs and make the plays and we showed it.”

On Damon Huard’s performance: “He played like a veteran is supposed to play. He made the throws. He made the checkdowns. Now he has confidence going into next week.”

On wanting to go for it on fourth down during the second drive of the day: “Once you do one thing and it works, and another thing and it works, that builds confidence. That’s what wins games when the whole offensive line and the quarterback is confident. When the quarterback is confident, the receivers are confident. I was just hoping (to go for it), but the coaches made a great decision and kicked the field goal and that kept us in the game.”

On Larry Johnson’s 65-yard run: “It opened up things tremendously, the corners stopped playing back and that just left him with tremendous holes to read. He made some great runs and I made some blocks for him and he finished it off.”

After Further Review...

Isn't DVR a wonderful thing? A second/third viewing of the September 14 game between the Broncos and the Chargers has produced the following observations:

• The overall defense wasn't as bad as it seemed in realtime. Run D is much improved.


• Pressure was applied to Philip Rivers, but he just stands in the shrinking pocket and throws the ball. Elvis is banged up and the Broncos need another pass rushing defensive lineman. We are all wondering about Jarvis Moss. Ekuban and Peterson made some big-time defensive plays. Engelberger had a sack. Josh Shaw played some. Robertson and Thomas are doing a good job in the middle and really collapse the pocket on pass plays while remaining solid against the run. The Broncos are playing a three-man odd-front D-Line in passing situations. My jury is still out on that.


• Sproles was mostly contained when he was rushing except for his TD run which must have been a blown play for the D. The Bronco LBs ran themselves out of position in a way that Slowik couldn't have possibly wanted. Aside from the kick return for a TD (oops), he was contained by Denver's ST.


• Denver's LBs may as well be considered as new with Williams and Webster in new spots and Bailey new to the team. Boss was playing in his first game since the first preseason game. It seems that he was manned up on Tolbert when San Diego made a big pass play to him in the third quarter. My take is that the defense will improve as it advances through the season with the backers becoming more comfortable with the system, the calls and each other. One wonders, however, if Webster runs himself out of position to make tackles. DJ was great and got a flag for a hit on Rivers which was duplicated by the Chargers later on, but with no flag on them.


• In spite of big plays by the Chargers in the third quarter, Denver's D held them to two FGs instead of TDs which is huge.


• Karl Paymah doesn't seem to be able to cover as a nickel DB. That's odd because nickel coverage is often cover 1. Paymah was clearly in man several times, especially against Chris Chambers. Eventually Jack Williams may get his chance.


• Safety play appears to be just adequate at the moment. Three of them (McCree, Manuel and Lowry) are new, so maybe we'll see steady improvement. I hope so. Two Safeties (Barrett and Rogers) are on the Practice Squad, so if there is regression at that position ...


• Punting and place-kicking are vastly improved this year. Prater made a 50+ FGA and Kern punted for about 60yds a couple of times. He seems to be a pretty good holder, too. This situation seems fixed. O'Brian seems to be a good coach for kickers/punters.


• Kick coverage is mostly good except for the occasional breakdown (e.g., Sproles' TD). There are many new players on ST (Koutouvides, Woodyard, Larsen, etc.), so maybe more consistency can be anticipated. Punt coverage was pretty good.


• Raving about the "skill" positions aside, the big development for Denver's O is the line. Hey ... , they ARE BIG. The tackles are very young and inexperienced, but the Ryans are playing great right now. Clady is a better pass than run blocker at the moment, but he has much upside. Harris has really stepped up and pleasantly surprised us all after we expected to see Kuper at RT. San Diego's odd-front DL w/a different backer coming each play was a good test for the O-Line. That front is more difficult for the C and Gs than for the tackles. Kuper struggled with it at times, but came out OK. Hamilton's return is doing wonders for the OL. His experience, leadership and consistency are invaluable. Wiegmann is doing a great job, but gets his butt kicked from time to time. An odd front with a big NT and ILBs blitzing the A gap is harder for him than a split-front. Let us hope Nalen can return before much longer and give Casey a break. Lichtensteiger is getting some game time in the backfield on short yardage/in + 20 situations which is interesting.


• Even after trading away Colbert and Jackson injured at the moment, Denver's receivers are a scary bunch especially when you include Scheffler. One of his TDs came on a route he ran as a split-end vs. double coverage. Marshall the Monster, Royal the Rookie (who plays like a vet) and Stokley the Slot Machine are as difficult a group to cover as any in the league because they are all so different from each other. Imagine covering Scheffler on one play and Royal on the next followed by Marshall and, later on, Stokley. Wait 'til Darrell is back at full speed. Graham is stll mostly a blocker (he's SO good at it), but he will get some balls thrown his way in each game. Nate Jackson draws coverage and is an excellent ST player.
• The RB committee is working well, better than most suspected. Hall, Young and Pittman are following their blocks, making the cuts and getting good yards. How did you like that 3rd and 24 situation where the Broncos gave the ball to Selvin who cut back and got blocks from Cutler, Marshall and Royal to run for a 1st down? Sweet! By rotating the backs, Shanahan is keeping them all healthy and using them on ST as well. Just wait until Torain returns ... just wait. Peyton Hillis deservedly earned his roster spot as the "true FB". He is learning as he goes. Sometimes he blocks the wrong guy on a blitz, but he will figure it all out sooner rather than later. His blocking is better than I thought it would be. Also thought he would have a bigger impact as a receiver than a ballcarrier, but so far it's been the other way around. It is inevitable that will change when defenses think they have found a way to cover Marshall, Royal and Scheffler AND stop the run when Hillis is in. That's when Shanahan and Co. will get him the ball through the air. Watch out when Pittman is in the backfield with Hillis.
• If Jay Cutler isn't the real deal as a premier NFL QB, then I haven't seen one lately. He has a ball security issue that I'm sure he will fix (dropped the ball twice vs. Chargers). Averaging over 300 yards per game, he seems to be on a mission to compensate for the defense (which shows signs of improvement). The OL is protecting him well giving ample time to connect with a dangerous group of receivers. The pass is setting up a run game which must be respected at all times. Finally, the playcalling is imaginative and aggressive. Cutler gives Shanahan and Co. the ability to run anything from their playbook from anyplace on the field.

Echoes of Futures Past

Last year, Mike Shanahan was asked for his position on the team, prior to the first game of the season, "We're undefeated..." he said as he kept walking briskly. He was right, two weeks later, still undefeated. The Walker injury, the Indianapolis game, then Travis Henry, we were a team that had overdosed and in desperate need of an intervention. Or at least a breath. There was none to be had, a team that couldn't breath, back against the wall and stumbling punch drunk.

I've referenced the dark cloud before, I'm not going there again, but I will say there's nothing like the days before the season starts. Knowing only that you really don't know is always the most exciting part of any game for me, it just gets magnified prior to the season. The optimist in me usually strangles the pessimist in me and this is usually around the time that I cut off my nose to spite having a knife.

Seems a far cry from, "We're undefeated," doesn't it? I don't have anything bad to say about the Raiders, hell, I feel bad for them. I am working for someone whom I is very similar to the Raiders owner/general manager Al Davis. Similar in that they're both far past their time, stuck with old ideas and burdened by the fact that they'll never quite be great again. Sad in that life has dwindled down to just one measly possession and like a good captain of a ship, they will hold the mast as their old age blinds them into every oncoming iceberg until there is nothing left of the ship to hold onto and nothing but the cold dead sea will be there to embrace them in the end.

Did you see the look in Mike Shanahan's eyes when he said, "No, it doesn't dissipate at all." (01:05). How he held his gaze and his eyes grew cold, could you feel his thoughts? As the reporter continued the question and Shanahan's eyes literally went bloodshot on camera, "When I said it doesn't dissipate, that's what that means..." (01:18). He's laughing, but that's so he doesn't axe that guy right there. I know exactly how he feels and this is how I know that this season is different than any other. It also happens to be the reason why earlier I said that I feel bad for the Oakland Raiders.

TMQ article opens up some old wounds

I might be part to blame, calling that the 2008 Denver Broncos would finish somewhere between 14-2 and 12-4 this season. I predicted nearly every preseason position battles winner (including Marquand Manuel over Hamza Abdullah), I predicted the rise of Jay Cutler and Eddie Royal and I've also predicted that Andre Hall would be the number one back in Denver (okay that one hasn't happened yet, but I've finally got the bandwagon behind me).

An unconscious memory was ripped to the forefront of my brain after reading this afternoon's TMQ Broncos Preview. Dripping in glossy sarcasm ESPN.com Page 2's Greg Easterbrook, points out that amongst other things:

"Bob Slowik is the new guy, and twice already Slowik has been fired after a one-year stint as an NFL defensive coordinator. This makes him an ideal fit for the Denver program."

Ouch, I don't want to point out that once Slowik took over the Broncos defense last season, the running defense specifically bumped up three pegs, from worst in the league to 29th in the league. Granted the Broncos shut down the San Diego Charger's LaDanian Tomlinson in a meaningless game, the same defense shut down Minnesota Viking's Adrian Peterson in a game that would have sent the Vikings into the playoffs.

I'm not here to be a homer or to rebut every point made by TMQ, there are very valid points made in the article. They were valid seven months ago too, but take into account those two games I mentioned in the last paragraph and package them with how Dallas' new one-two-punch did last weekend.

"The Broncos were 7-4 with the inside track to a wild-card berth, quarterbacked by Jake Plummer, a career 41-22 with Denver, and boasting one of the league's top defenses. Then The Ultimate Leader, Mike Shanahan, benched Plummer and sent in rookie signal-caller Jay Cutler. Since that moment, the Broncos are 9-12, their defense has gone Fizzie and even their vaunted rushing game has become mortal, slipping to ninth in 2007."

Need I say more? Jake Plummer was quite a quarterback, but had Denver stuck with Steve DeBerg (another guy who was quite a quarterback) in 1983 John Elway would never have emerged. Plummer had his shot, multiple times in the playoffs and he blew it, multiple times in the playoffs.

It's getting old, fans of Denver are ready to look forward to the upcoming season, why can't the media just let them? Take into account now, not last week, month, year... Right now, that's what matters.

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Know Your Opponent: Houston Texans

Denver Broncos record vs. Houston Texans: Home 1-0 Away 0-1, overall 1-1.

Connections: Houston head coach Gary Kubiak played for Denver from the 1983 to 1991 seasons, serving predominantly as a backup quarterback to the legendary John Elway. As a quarterback for the Denver Broncos Gary Kubiak had a record of three wins and two loses as a starter in his eight seasons in the NFL. A little known fact about Gary Kubiak as a player is that he actually filled in as a punter for Denver in 1989, starting once and punting twice that year (averaging 21.5 yards per punt).

After retiring he began coaching for his former college team, Texas A&M serving as a running backs coach for two seasons (1992-1994). He soon joined Mike Shanahan in San Francisco as a quarterback coach, assisting quarterback Steve Young to his second NFL MVP award and first Super Bowl MVP award.

The next season Mike Shanahan took Pat Bowlen's offer to become the head coach in Denver and Gary Kubiak followed. Kubiak was named the offensive coordinator in Denver and worked together with Mike Shanahan and John Elway to lead Denver to winning two Super Bowl. Kubiak stayed beyond John Elway's retirement, following the 1999 season, despite numerous head coaching offers from elsewhere in the NFL.

In 2006 Kubiak replaced Dom Capers as the head coach in Houston, becoming the second head coach in Houston Texans history. Kubiak has been a part of five Super Bowls (as a coach and player) with the Denver Broncos and one with the San Francisco 49ers. He was also been a part of two of his players winning the NFL MVP award (Steve Young in 1994 and Terrell Davis in 1999). Want a real random fact about Gary Kubiak? He is rumored, on the internet, to appear as a reserve quarterback in Madden NFL 2004 for the Indianapolis Colts however that is in correct, it was actually Jim Kubiak.

Kyle Shanahan, as fans will remember is the son of Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan. The younger Shanahan has never coached for Denver, beginning his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under coach Jon Gruden, serving as the assistant coach for offensive quality control, from 2004-2005. In 2006 Kyle Shanahan joined Gary Kubiak in Houston, coaching first the wide receivers, then in 2007 he was named the quarterback coach and this season Shanahan became the youngest offensive coordinator in NFL history (at 28) in Houston. He is a full three years younger than New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
Alex Gibbs, the assistant head coach/offense for Houston served as an offensive line coach in Denver from 1984-1987 and again from 1995-2003. Gibbs is perhaps most famous in Denver for installing the "Zone blocking scheme," and for insuring that his offensive linemen unite by not speaking to the media.

On Denver's side: Denver Broncos wide receiver's coach Jedd Fisch served as the Houston Texans defensive quality control assistant from 2003-2005. Denver college scout Eugene Armstrong served in Houston for the previous seven seasons. Quarterback Jay Cutler posted his personal best game, as far as pass attempts (39) and completions (27), against Houston last season. Denver strong safety Marlon McCree spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons with the Houston Texans. Denver wide receiver Edell Shepherd was the primary kick returner for Houston in 2006. The Denver Broncos are undefeated (4-0) against the Houston Texans in preseason play.

History: Houston is a relatively new franchise, entering the league in 2001, but Denver has played them four times in the preseason and two times in the regular season. Former Denver offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak has modeled the Houston Texans on the Denver Broncos (earning the Houston Texans the name 'Denver Jr.' around these parts). However, last season, Mike Shanahan's former protege, Gary Kubiak and son, Kyle Shanahan spanked Denver knocking them completely out of the playoff race and lending to Denver's final 7-9 record.

Key contributors: QB- Matt Schaub, WR- Andre Johnson, RB- Ahman Green, DE- Mario Williams, LB- DeMeco Ryans.

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Breaking News: Torain out minimum twelve weeks

Following surgery this morning, the Denver Broncos announced that rookie running back Ryan Torain will be out at least twelve weeks. This bring back the rumor that circled the Bronco message boards yesterday, will Denver be forced to add Torain to the injured reserve?

If the Denver Broncos do choose to add Ryan Torain to the injured reserve, both his contract and roster spot will be freed up and Denver will have room to either keep someone like rookie Anthony Aldridge on the actual roster, keep veteran running back Michael Pittman (who looked likely to be cut following training camp), sign a veteran free agent (Shawn Alexander, Cedric Benson, just kidding) or trade for someone who may not be seeing as much playing time as they should.

Ultimately what the injury affects most, is coach Mike Shanahan's proposed, "Run by committee." It's one thing to split 35-40 carries between three or four backs, it's a completely other thing to do it between two backs. Denver has had success with that though, only three years ago Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell split carries and the year after it was Tatum Bell and Mike Bell.

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Brandon Marshall Update (8/4/09)

Here's what Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan said,

"It's the same thing I told you a week ago Wednesday: I'm not sure," Shanahan said after today's morning practice. "When I know, I'll let you guys know. If I made comments every time I heard I rumor, I'd be talking to you every day. I'd have to answer every question that you ask me. Let's deal with reality. When we know something we'll let you guys know."

So there you have it, I'm not saying that Shanahan is being optimistic, I'm just saying that until the NFL says something... Brandon Marshall's suspension is not official. This situation is very familiar to last season when former Broncos running back Travis Henry had the suspension cloud hanging over his head nearly all season.

Someone should let those excited San Diego Chargers fans know that they're not that lucky yet. They're still smiling from the fact that Carolina Panther's receiver Steve Smith will be suspended for the first two games of the season.

Shanahan Hits the Sauce Early...

Just kidding, today training camp is closed to the public for the morning session. We've got you covered though, have no fear.

News this morning looks like this:

Denver head coach Mike Shanahan was on the Denver's 104.3 The Fan and said, amongst other things that, "Denver would make the playoffs," and that once they were there they would do something special. No word yet on when The Fan will retract the statement, should be any minute now.

As I wrote over at Bronco Madness, center Tom Nalen's knee may be a little worse than we thought.

Mike Klis at The Denver Post wrote a great story on Gary Zimmerman's induction into the Hall of Fame.

Tragically rookie linebacker Spencer Larsen missed the first three days of practice to support his family following the death of his two year-old niece. Mile High Salute Spencer, we're all pulling for you.

Training Camp: Day 3 (Afternoon Practice)

Notes:

• Several of the veterans got the afternoon "off": Champ Bailey, John Lynch, Tom Nalen and DeWayne Robertson, are amongst the most notable. Though the players participated without shoulder pads and only with helmets.

• Nate Webster remained the middle linebacker with the first-team defense.

• Selvin Young:

"I’m not the type of person that stays on one side of the fence my whole life and sees what everybody else sees and tries to accomplish what everyone else tries to accomplish," he explained."I’m the guy who wants to get on the other side of the fence and accomplish what other people never reach for."

• Publicly scorned guard Montrae Holland was allowed to practice and saw time with the first team offense at right guard.

• Eddie Royal, Glenn Martinez, Andre Hall, Clifford Russell and Anthony Aldridge all fielded kickoffs during the PM practice. My money's on Hall and Royal...

• Safety Marquand Manuel:

“You can tell, the pads are on, the gym shorts practices are over with,” Manuel said. “Now we are having real man practices, and you can see who the real men are,” he said. “You can just tell by watching practice that our focus to detail is at an all-time high, the best that I have been around,” he said.

• Mike Shanahan on why Brandon Marshall looks like he's dragging ass:

"Anytime you miss all of those OTA days and the majority of the offseason program, it takes some time to get back in football shape," Shanahan said. "He hasn’t skipped a beat, he’s making plays left and right and he is just going to keep getting better and better as his body gets back into football shape."

Training Camp: Day 3 (before morning practice)

Defensive tackle DeWayne Robertson will not participate in practice today. Don't know whether to read anything into that or not... Speculating based on OTA's the decision has probably more to do with insuring that Robertson will still be healthy come the regular season.

A note that I missed from yesterday was Mike Shanahan getting on tight end Tony Scheffler, after Scheffler had dropped a deep pass. “I told him don’t throw your helmet down, we don’t do that,” Shanahan said. “You lose your poise, people see it, your teammates see it. He’s going to be an excellent player, we know what type of receiver he is, but if you can’t handle yourself out here, you’re not going to handle yourself in games.”

And some quotes from corner back Dre Bly, "I don't have nothing to prove," he said. "Just be consistent, just keep doing what I've done, make plays and help this team win. Every year, I've been one of the top in making plays and that's what I plan on doing this year."

"I'm glad to be here again this year," he said. "Last year, I was blessed to be here and excited to be here. I told coach Shanahan the other day, even though we struggled last year, it was uplifting for me to be here and be a part of an organization like this.

Training Camp: Day 2 (Afternoon Report)

The afternoon practice focused on special teams, last year there tended to not be a lot of focus on special teams. Did we even have special teams last year?

Out are Jason Elam, Todd Sauerbrun and kick returner (now Super Bowl ring owner) Dominik Hixon. Returning is Special Teams Coordinator Scott O'Brien, for his second season with Denver. O'Brien is regarded as one of the best special teams coordinators in the NFL and was honored in 1994 as Special Teams Coach of the Year (voted on by other NFL coaches). Under O'Brien six players have earned a total of ten trips to the Pro Bowl.

So what the hell went wrong last season? I'm not sure...

Denver seems to have imploded, if you ask an average fan and it was right around the game against Chicago when the stadium caved in on itself. Are we being realistic though? How many games did special teams win for Denver last season? I'm just counting off the top of my head, but I've got at least four and five if you want to say that a field goal got us into overtime with Green Bay. "Toro!" anyone remember that call? That was the special teams hauling ass at the last minute to pound out the NFL's version of a buzzer beater.

Yes, losing Sauerbrun and Elam stings, but Sauerbrun was a scorn NFL punter and Elam was willing to leave despite Denver offering him three-million dollars this season to stay. So Denver's getting younger. Ditching Garrett Hartley, to sign some draft picks and going full-steam into the season with one unproven kicker in Matt Prater (who was five of six today).

So take a look at the depth the Broncos are most likely carrying into the season this year, there are extra linebackers, corner backs, safeties, running backs and linemen. Take a look at some of Denver's draft picks: KR/PR (second round), lineman (fourth round), corner back (fourth round), linebacker (sixth round), safety (seventh round) and fullback (seventh round). Not to mention the undrafted free agent pickups. All of those picks figure to get a lot of their playing time this season on special teams.

Now get this, we're not through with O'Brien's past accolades, three of the eleven players that have scored multiple touchdowns in an NFL game have been coached by O'Brien (Eric Metcalf, Jermaine Lewis and Steve Smith). There's more to that little tidbit, in Baltimore in 1998, under O'Brien, two different returners (Corey Harris and Patrick Johnson) scored on back-to-back returns. Let's go back to a former student of O'Brien's though, Steve Smith, anyone draw any comparisons between Smith and a new Bronco rookie kick returner? Me either, I was just asking...

Onto Day 2 afternoon notes:

• Eddie Royal continues to impress just about everyone at all. Mike Shanahan says that, "It doesn't take long to realize that he'll become a top notch receiver as well as an excellent returner." Then Royal himself spoke, "It is great to hear that, but you always know that you have to get better," he said. "I want to be one of the best receivers in the league, one of the best to ever play the game, so I always have to work harder and harder."
  
  
• Andre Hall scored a touchdown on one of the scoop-and-score exercises.
  
  
• The Rocky Mountain News is reporting that veteran corner back Tyrone Poole was in this morning for a workout. Poole has not played since 2006 and played for Denver in 2002, Shanahan likes to bring on older players in camp to guide younger players along. For example, Jerry Rice retired as a Bronco.

That's it everyone, be back tomorrow with Day 3 updates. However, not done for tonight, make sure to check out Sam's finale to the 2009 Draft, which will be revisited often throughout the upcoming season.

Welcome Back (self)!

Okay, a little sunburned, but relaxed four-hundred plus pages later I'm back home and sorry that I have been away so long loyal readers. A lot to catch up on, let me get that out of the way:

• Rookie defensive tackle Carlton Powell is out for the season with a torn achilles, this happened several weeks ago, but Mike Shanahan just announced it.
• Starting right tackle hopeful Chris Kuper has broken his hand (unofficial, but official). This is from his father's mouth, who posts on the Orange Mane message board.
• Right guard Montrae Holland was held out of morning practice for being eight pounds overweight. He did return for afternoon practice, when coaches realized that it was hot as hell and he would most likely lose those pounds shortly after the second practice of the day.
• Glenn Martinez looked impressive to Predominantly Orange.
• Brandon Marshall didn't look so good, but Jay Cutler did.

Here's the function of reporters at training camp, not very much. Aside from the quotes, they're only there to see whether someone gets hurt or who's playing with which team (first team, second team, et cetera).

That being said here's a great picture care of Barry Gutierrez © The Rocky:
My money's still on #23 Andre Hall, don't think that Selvin Young has it in the bag, as Kevin Jones said, he was looking forward to his trip to Denver... Just before he was signed.

Denver Broncos will still go 13-3.

2007 was a dark place for Denver. I hope that I never write about it again in this context, at this point it's been brought up again and again, fans now bat it around lacking the tact it deserves. The night after the Denver Broncos lost the opportunity to go to the playoffs against San Francisco, Darrent Williams was murdered, gangland style and died in Javon Walker's arms.

Barely a moment to recuperate from the fact that they wouldn't be making the playoffs and the 23-26 overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers- and now this... A man amongst the 60 plus of them that had survived the OTA's, the month long hell-hole known as Training Camp; The five to six practices a week, a man who had rose above his age, above his perceived talent level and who had played so well as a rookie in Champ Bailey's shadow that Denver had almost made it to the Super Bowl- was gone. Forever.

Echoes of his smile, Texas accent and young raw talent were everywhere. The death of a friend is haunting enough, the death of a team mate, a fellow soldier is down right devastating- shaken to the core. Every single one of them reminded of their own mortality. Then, after not even a moment to catch their breath- Damien Nash, collapses during a basketball game. Two of their sixty, gone.

How must Denver go on? A month from the time they must reconvene and face the questions when they yet to even come to grips to find the answers. Jay Cutler, who will start, who almost got them to the playoffs- a rookie by any standards, untested and unproven. The new Defensive Coordinator, the new system, the new back with a history of trouble making...

Finally July, training camp, then they all started dropping like flies, no Rod Smith, no Ebenezer Ekuban, no Ben Hamilton, Al Wilson's gone and DJ Williams is going to play middle and we've got Dre Bly, but even the best corner in the league can't fill the gap that the loss of Williams left.

More season, more injuries, seriously how the hell were they supposed to do well? Walker's gone, Travis Henry's not clean, we've got Cutler running for his life and now Tom Nalen's gone... Oh and Bailey, our corner's leading the team in tackles...

Really? 2007??? Really? That's how you want to judge us? That's what you want to give Mike Shanahan credit for? So called experts would like to point out that we can't stop the run, nor the pass rush, guess we can't take Brett Favre into overtime or knock Minnesota out of the playoffs, beat Pittsburgh and Jay Cutler can't go head to head with Vince Young and show him who deserved to stay in Tennessee. Let Philip Rivers talk, because seriously, look at his numbers, compared to the second year Cutler, that's all he is good at, talking. The San Diego Chargers may very well be favorites to go to the Super Bowl this season, but that's never stopped Denver from knocking them on their ass...

13-3 folks, follow me.

2008 Game by Game Preview: Week 7 New England, Week 8 Bye Week

With the NFL Preseason weeks away we here at Broncos Denver Broncos will be previewing the entire season ahead, two games at a time. This is all in fun, but in reality it will be our best effort at predicting how the 2008 season will actually shape up for the Broncos. It should be fun to look back in January or February and laugh...

So here goes any credibility that we have, hope that you enjoy and feel free to add, subtract or crack my orange tinted glasses in half. Just do it in the comment section:

Week 7 (Mon. October 20th, 2008)
at New England.

some facts: Denver and New England are tied for 2nd in the NFL for Super Bowl berths, with 6. Denver was the 6th team in the NFL to go to back to back Super Bowls, New England was the 7th. Denver was the only AFC team to do it in two decades, until New England joined them. Patriot's coach Bill Belichick and Mike Shanahan are the only active coaches to have won two Super Bowls and are members of an elite fraternity (12 coaches) to have ever won two Super Bowls. Since 1995 (under Shanahan) Denver is third (130-78-0) for most wins in the NFL, New England is first (135-73-0). In that same time span Denver is third in the NFL for points scored (5,079), while New England is fourth (4,883). Shanahan is 8-3 against the Patriots as a head coach, 4-2 at home and 4-1 at Foxborough. In the 2003-2004 seasons New England surpassed Denver's record of most wins in a two-year span (33), setting it at 34. Champ Bailey had one of the most dramatic interceptions in NFL Playoff history picking off New England's Tom Brady in the end-zone on January 14th, 2006, setting an NFL record for longest interception return not for a touchdown. Bailey's career was foreshadowed when he picked off former New England quarterback Drew Bledsoe in his first preseason game, returning it 46 yards for a touchdown. In 2005's regular season corner back Domonique Foxworth had 10 total tackles against New England (the second highest in his career). Denver tight end Daniel Graham was drafted by New England in the first round in 2002. Both safeties John Lynch and Marlon McCree's last interceptions took place against New England. McCree's best game in 2007 was played against New England (10 total tackles, 6 solo).

They're going to 'murdah' me for this one, but it is undeniable that Shanahan has owned the Patriots, whether it be in Denver or Foxborough. Actually the Patriots would probably be better off if this game were in Denver. Last year, as stupid as it sounded, the Patriots were lucky that they didn't have to play against Denver, with the way that teams were playing every game against them as if it were the Super Bowl (see the game vs. the Ravens or any game following week 7).

New England has the least difficult strength of schedule of anybody in the NFL (go figure) and partly because they're playing the AFC West. This is also likely the most difficult game that Denver will have all season, given the respect for the opponent coupled with the fact that the game is on Monday Night Football, the team should shine. That as well as the fact that the team has nothing to look forward to the next week except a well deserved break, following the most difficult stretch of their season.

Expect many players to step up in this game that haven't been necessarily heard from before. As always when Denver plays New England, fans will see formations on both sides of the ball that they haven't seen all season. Look at how great some of these match-ups will be, Champ Bailey vs. Randy Moss, Ryan Clady vs. Richard Seymour/Mike Vrabel, Tom Brady vs. Denver's Secondary, Boss Bailey vs. Ben Watson, Daniel Graham/Tony Schefler vs. Tedy Bruschi/Victor Hobson, Dre Bly vs. Wes Welker, et cetera...

New England for whatever reason, seems to never be able to defend against the safety blitz, when it comes to Denver (or even certain other AFC West teams). Denver had extreme trouble competing with teams that played the 3-4/5-2, the good news is this season, by this game, they will have already faced two of the best 3-4/5-2 defenses the NFL has to offer in Jacksonville and San Diego. So the Broncos offensive line will hopefully be ready for whatever it is that New England has to throw at them.

The scary part is on defense for the Broncos. Do they have what it takes to defend a full-on Brady attack? I think that they do, even with the likely emergence of Chad Jackson and Jabar Gaffney the talent in the secondary in Denver is going to be too much for anyone this season. Couple that with the fact that Brady will be avoiding joint rushes from Marlon McCree and John Lynch the whole game.

In the end, this will be the definitive game that makes the rest of the NFL take a look back and say, "Huh? These guys are really that good," and I'm looking forward to it. Got my tickets to Gillette Stadium already.

Denver emerges from Week 7, victorious 6-1, as they head into a perfectly timed Bye Week.

Week 8 (Sun. October 26th, 2008)
Bye Week.

Denver comes off the most difficult part of their entire schedule with a much deserved one-week vacation. Back to Denver to prepare for Miami and lick their wounds, in the upcoming weeks they face Miami, Cleveland (in Cleveland) and Atlanta (in Atlanta).

Denver is 6-1 with their sights set on Miami.

Preparing for the 2009 NFL Draft; pars octava:

Before continuing with this purely subjunctive, speculative and mostly imaginary (only the football players aren't) exercise, let's take a moment for some relevant considerations. The rounds in which the players discussed here may be drafted are mostly guesswork. For sure, it's based on measurables, production, level of competition and other stuff (e.g., character considerations), so maybe you could call it educated guesswork. Estimating how many and which Juniors come out in '09 and where they may plug into an anticipated draft order is like voodoo divination.

The League has been cool to allow fans to peek into the process, but the teams themselves jealously guard their evaluations and draft boards, especially the criteria by which they arrive at those conclusions. Plus, no team is monolithic in their thought processes. Within each club are factions which argue and struggle between and during their times on the clock. Between now and the end of April '09, much can happen. An entire college football season is yet to be played. Players will emerge to have impressive performances not only in big games, but over the course of the year. Injuries will occur and, unfortunately, so will arrests and dismissals. When the selection process begins, thirty-two different points-of-view will be presented in each round requiring quite a bit of reassessment on the fly. The draft itself is a game inside a game inside a game.

In '08, for example, who would have thought no WRs would be taken in the first round and that the first would be Donnie Avery from Houston? More CBs were drafted than most draftniks had predicted: five in the first round; six in the second; four in the third; NINE in the fourth; four in the fifth; one in the sixth; and, three in the seventh for a total of THIRTY-TWO! That's close to one-seventh (c.14%) of all players drafted at that one position. Chevis Jackson, CB, LSU was taken by Atlanta at #68 in the third while Steve Johnson, WR, Kentucky, who tore Chevis (and the SEC) up in '07, wasn't drafted until the seventh round (#224) by Buffalo. Denver surprised it's own fans (something I always enjoy) by drafting Eddie Royal, WR, VaTech in the second round and Jack Williams, CB, Kent State in the fourth.

The '08 draft pool was very deep before a bunch of great Juniors joined it. It was a good year for the Broncos to have nine draft picks. The quality of the CFAs is also testimony to the great depth of '08. Studying the probable '09 draft pool has led me to believe that it won't be as deep as '08 even when adding the anticipated group of Juniors. CFAs in '08 would probably be drafted in '09 (e.g., Wesley Woodyard and Anthony Alridge). I'm not exactly sure how many draft choices the Broncos have in '09. I'm assuming seven, but are they due any from other teams or by compensation? Don't know. It also isn't completely clear what Denver will need to give the NY Jets for DeWayne Robertson. Seems as if it might be conditional on how much he plays involving anywhere from a 4th or 5th to a 6th or 7th round pick. I sure hope it isn't a fourth because if you'll reread "pars septima", the fourth round of '09 is expected to still have a bunch of good football players.

Another unpredictable is whether or not Mike Shanahan will trade up. He'd tell you he isn't even worried about that right now because TC and the season are here. He'll study it after the season. He has a whole staff of college scouts on it. FS, G and TE should still need help in '09. Question is, how well the RBs, MLBs and DL do in '08? What will the CB situation be as regards resignings, FA and salary cap? The fourth round in '09 could be used to address any of those. I really think that every other year the Broncos should try to keep all of their picks and even acquire some more. They have been accumulating many young players, but there is a limit to how many rookies a team can absorb. It takes two or three years to properly evaluate rookies and most of them seem to be signing three or four year contracts. Drafting ought to be an exercise in choosing guys who have a good chance of making the team as '08 seems to be. Alternate years could be used to target players for whom to trade up (usually requiring the loss of draft choices) as in '07.

Here are some possible fifth rounders for the Broncos to consider in 2009:

• Jaison Williams, WR, Oregon, 6-4, 240, 56 rec, 844 yds, 8 TD in '07. [*Ducks' leading receiver] Seems big enough to be an H-Back or TE, doesn't he? So are Brandon Marshall and rookie Lorne Sam. If the Broncos feel the need for a big receiver, here's Jaison. If he gains over a thousand yards in '08, he might be worth it. Dropped passes seem to have been an issue. Guys his size shouldn't worry about the coverage. On the contrary, he should be terrorizing the secondaries. We'll be watching.
  
  
• George Hypolite, DT, CU, 6-1, 288, 49 tkl, 6 sk, 5.5 tfl, 1 pbu and 1 int in '07. After the "jumbo" experiment with DT in '07, he seems small, but have you seen him play? This dude has a motor. I'm thinking he would fit with Denver's new DL concept. He could become one of those three-hundred pound bowling balls I think the Denver DL needs. Besides, when a DT comes in on rotation, he needs to bring some game and not just hold the fort.
  
  
• DeAndre Wright, CB, UNM, 5-11, 193, 36 tkl, 1.5 tfl, 9 pbu and 3 int in '07. If the Broncos decide to add another CB in '09, I would prefer Londen Fryar, Western Michigan, listed as a fourth round prospect. If however, another need is addressed in the fourth, this Lobo could be worth it depending on the CB position situation Denver finds itself in next Spring. As much as the Mountain West throws the ball, their DBs are usually pretty good.
  
  
• Will Johnson, DT, Michigan, 6-5, 290, 40 tkl, .5 sk, 2 tfl in '07. Plays for a big school with the biggest stadium in a big conference. Need to keep tabs on him in '08. Michigan will probably play the 3-3-5 D that Rich Rodriguez used at WVA. DL in that D are usually sent to a designated gap on each call (e.g., slant, angle, pinch). That could be considered a good preparation for the style the Broncos may use this season. By the way, Will's one of those academic awards guys, too.
  
  
• Jorvorskie Lane, FB, Texas A&M, 6-0, 278, 169 att, 780 yds, 16 TD, 12 rec, 115 yds, 1 TD [*as a RB] Mike Sherman is moving him to FB in '08 which will put Lane and TB Mike Goodson in the backfield together for obvious reasons. It remains to be seen how Jorvorskie will adapt to a different position where he will have plenty to do (blocking and receiving) without being handed the ball. Sherman is probably looking at his roster and saying to himself that a 280 pound back: a) better be a blocker; and b) needs to lose some weight. Lane has a reputation for slacking in the offseason, but maybe a new coach and a new attitude will change that. FB was a need for the Broncos last year. Peyton Hillis will have the opportunity to become a pro fullback which consists of blocking, special teams, blocking, receiving, blocking and carrying the ball occasionally followed by more blocking. Sometimes big RBs who have been accustomed to running the ball have difficulty becoming the multi-dimensional player a FB must be. Maybe a real pro coach can turn Lane into a real pro FB.
  
  
• Andy Levitre, G, Oregon State, 6-2, 324. A college tackle who projects to G in the NFL and can play C as well. Interchangeability is a necessity for NFL OL and this guy could play T or C in a pinch. Sometimes fans try to pigeonhole OL in one starting or backup spot. Truth is you start your best five and if one of those goes down, bring in #6 and shuffle if necessary. I hope the Broncos will have drafted a G before the fifth round in '09, but if not, Andy might be there. He probably compares to Montrae Holland. Oh, and he's one of those academic awards guys, too.

If the Denver Broncos end up having to give a draft choice to the Jets for DeWayne Robertson, I hope it's just a sixth or seventh because it looks like the '09 pool of players holds up fairly well through five rounds. A reasonable 2009 draft through five rounds for Denver might look something like:

• 1st: Courtney Greene, FS, Rutgers;
• 2nd: Mitch Petrus, G, Arkansas;
• 3rd: Bear Pascoe, TE, Fresno State;
• 4th: Scott McKillop, MLB, Pitt or Devin Moore, RB, WYO or Londen Fryar, CB, Western Michigan;
• 5th: George Hypolite, DT, CU or DeAndre Wright, CB, New Mexico.

Quantitatively the Broncos may need to draft more defensive than offensive players in '09 ... maybe.

Preparing for the '09 Draft; pars sexta:

Between the end of the '07 season and now, it's impressive what Shanahan and Co. have accomplished in terms of addressing the many personnel needs apparent at the end of last year. The Broncos now have a rebuilt OL, LB Corps, and more WRs and RBs than can make the roster. DL is thinner in experience than is optimal, but a cadre of young D-Linemen will tell us with their play this season whether and how much additional help is needed. Acquiring another DT via the '09 Draft may be advisable. MLB will be an adventure in '08 with the jury out on that position until the end of the season. At some point in the future, OLB will need to be addressed, but that, too, is unclear at this time. The obvious conundrum of the kickers (an ancient mystery cult) will prevail until consistency and stability is acheived which might not occur this season necessitating attention in the '09 Draft.

Fortunately '09 is a good year for PK/P and P/PK (I am obsessed with one player doing both) and most of those will be available in the final round or in CFA. A FS, a G and a TE seem, at the moment, to be the clearest positions of need in that order. The entire Safety group seems enigmatic due not only to the new D, but what roles the safeties will play in it. The current group seems dominated by Box/SS types which is why FS seems such a priority, presence of the unproven Josh Barrett notwithstanding. Given the age and injury history of three Denver OL, G needs to be addressed. At the moment I feel a promising third TE is needed and a good one may be available after the first two rounds.

We previously established these groupings of some players of interest:
Worth trading up:

• William Moore, FS, Missouri
• Duke Robinson, G, OU
• James Laurinaitis, MLB, the OSU
• Rey Maualuga, MLB, USC
• Brandon Spikes, MLB, Florida [*if he comes out]

First Rounders within anticipated reach:

• Courtney Greene, FS, Rutgers
• Arian Foster, RB, Tennessee
• Matt Shaughnessy, DE, Wisconsin
• Derek Pegues, FS, Mississippi State

Second Rounders within anticipated reach:

• Evander Hood, DT, Missouri
• Demetrius Byrd, WR, LSU
• Mitch Petrus, G, Arkansas
• Pannel Egboh, DE, Stanford
• CJ Spillman, FS, Marshall
• Josh Mauga, MLB, Nevada

Pushing our collective imaginations into the future (less than a year away, crybabies), let's develop some conceivable third-rounders:

Peria Jerry, DT, Ole Miss, 6-3, 298, 58 tkl, 3.5 sk, 10.5 tfl, 1 pbu, and 1 int in '07;
Curtis Taylor, FS, LSU, 6-3, 208, 54 tkl, 1 sk, 6 pbu and 3 int in '07;
Keegan Herring, RB, Arizona St., 5-10, 195, 154 att, 815 yds, 5 TD, 10 rec, 88 yds in '07 [*4.4 speed]
Alex Magee, DT, Purdue, 6-3, 295, 38 tkl, 4.5 tfl, 2 pbu in '07;
Bear Pascoe, TE, Fresno State, 6-5, 258, 45 rec, 553 yds, 4 TD in '07.

I hope that FS has been addressed by the time Denver gets to the third round (which I hope they have in '09). Peria Jerry is a good DT prospect, but I think a good one might be available later. The same could be said for Keegan Herring as well as Alex Magee. Let's watch out for "Bear" Pascoe this season. He was a QB in HS, has become a pretty good blocker (he plays full contact sports with cattle and horses when he isn't playing football) and is a terror on ST which is a definite prerequisite for a third TE. I like this guy a lot as a third TE for the Broncos in his rookie year with the future looking good for him in the NFL. I hope I can get to Fresno State's season opener at Rutgers. That way we could evaluate how well Courtney Greene covers Bear Pascoe, if he's called on to do so. That could be an interesting matchup.

For those who have been following "Sam's Mystery Tour" here, you may want to reference the first five "partes" for additional names and comparisons.

Here is what I would consider a reasonable first three rounds for the Broncos in the '09 NFL Draft:

• 1st Round- Courtney Greene, FS, Rutgers
• 2nd Round- Mitch Petrus, G, Arkansas
• 3rd Round- Bear Pascoe, TE, Fresno State

These conveniently satisfy my three targeted positions of need with players who seem to be able to help.

As previously stated, these projections are predicated on Denver selecting aproximately 25th [editor's note: Sam means 32nd], or so, and emphasis is currently being placed on '08 College Seniors. I don't know yet how many draft picks the Broncos will have in '09, or which, if any, will go to the Jets for DeWayne Robertson. Trading up is always a possibility with Mike Shanahan and will happen if: he feels he can afford whatever would be required to strike such a bargain; and, a "must have" player had been targeted and positioned for acquisition. Otherwise, the pool of players thus far presented has been intended to provide a range of possibilities in each round.

Preparing for the '09 Draft; pars quinta

Continuing with this very speculative exercise, let's briefly recap before moving on to rounds subsequent to the first. Definite anticipated needs in '09 will be FS, G and TE. The latest might be more of a depth issue which can be satisfied in a later round. Because of the fluid nature of the Draft itself, other positions like RB, MLB, OLB and DT should not be ignored in the event a highly regarded prospect is available.

Trading up is a possibility especially when an influx of Juniors pushes some highly regarded Seniors back in the first round and even into the second. It is a maneuver Mike Shanahan is not shy about using and when the roster becomes saturated with younger players, he won't hesitate to reduce his total number of picks in order to acquire certain players (as in '07).

Previously we listed some players of interest for the first round:

• William Moore, FS, Missouri - my favorite FS for whom Denver would need to trade up;
• Duke Robinson, G, OU - would fit in well next to Clady, but might require a move;
• Aaron Curry, OLB, Wake Forest - '08 developments could make him hard to pass up;
• Taylor Mays, FS, USC - a Junior for whom a big year will improve his draft position;
• Courtney Greene, FS, Rutgers - would be a solid pick at end of 1st/beginning 2nd.

Let's turn to the second round for some possibilities. Obviously, I think it's pretty likely the Broncos will choose a FS in the first round next year. Another definite need is G. I think a pretty good one might be there in the second round, Mitch Petrus from Arkansas. While not the devastatingly dominant prospect of Duke Robinson, I do like his verstility and athleticism and feel he would fit into Denver's OL perfectly.

Here are some others of interest who might be available to the Broncos in the second round of '09:

• Evander Hood, DT, Mizzou, 6-3, 295, 49 tkl, 5 sk, 3 tfl, 5 pbu in '07;
• Demetrius Byrd, WR, LSU, 6-1, 198, 35 rec, 621 yds, 7 TD in '07 [*4.4 speed];
• Anthony Parker, G, Tennessee, 6-2, 305;
• Ryan Purvis, TE, BC, 6-4, 258, 54 rec, 553 yds, 4 TD in '07;
• Darry Beckwith, ILB, LSU, 6-1, 235, 65 tkl, 1.5 sk, 5 tfl, 4 pbu, 1 int in '07;
• Pannel Egboh, DE, Stanford, 6-6, 274, 49 tkl, 6 sk, 7.5 tfl in '07;
• CJ Spillman, FS, Marshall, 6-0, 195, 131 tkl, 2.5 tfl, 6 pbu in '07 [*Marshall's leading tackler];
• Josh Mauga, MLB, Nevada, 6-2, 246, 82 tkl, 1 sk, 3 tfl, 3 pbu in '07 [*into game 7, out rest of season/WAC's leading tackler at that point]

Best case scenario for the first two rounds might be:

1st: William Moore, FS, Missouri; 2nd: Mitch Petrus G, Arkansas; OR
1st: Duke Robinson, G, OU; 2nd: Courtney Greene FS, Rutgers.

'08 developments on Denver's roster might alleviate the needs of FS and G, or other needs might supersede them. That's why other good prospects at different positions have been listed. Next time we'll see how far this prognostication can be pushed.

Links! 7/16/2008

I've just put up a new article over at Bronco Madness, though it's not posted yet, so I can't link to it. However, by the time you read this, it'll probably be up, so go on over there and check it out. It's about Jay Cutler and the ever persistent third-year in a Mike Shanahan system.

[EDIT: it's up: How Good is Jay Cutler? (A History of Mike Shanahan in one part)]

Seriously, these links aren't much at all, but I will do my best to help you laugh in between:

• Kevin Jones said two days ago that he was looking forward to his trip to Denver, but he signed with Chicago. (Guess Bronco fans can rest assured knowing that Selvin Young's status as the starter is anything but solid.)
  
  
• Brandon Marshall's not the only one in the NFL with a weak story, Luke (McCown) hits his brother Josh (McCown) with an ax, while, "Chopping wood," in 105 degree weather.
  
  
• Scouts Inc. says Denver's Defensive Line is #32, but I'm not going to make you pay for Insider, so here's what they say about Denver:

32. Denver Broncos
The Broncos were a major disappointment on defense last season, ranking 30th against the run (142.6 ypg). They've done little to address the situation during the offseason. Defensive tackles Marcus Thomas and Alvin McKinley are decent players but have not shown the ability to dominate or become players who command special attention. Neither is a physical presence who can overpower blockers or force double-teams. Defensive ends John Engelberger and Elvis Dumervil are both undersized. Engelberger is a bit of a tweener who is not explosive off the edge and lacks the size, strength and bulk to be a top run defender, while Dumervil has excellent burst and acceleration off the edge but struggles when teams run right at him. Thomas and DEs Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder, all of whom were drafted in 2007, must become more productive if the Broncos hope to play better than last year.

[Guess people have to pay extra to find no mention of one of the biggest defensive acquisitions of the off-season for Denver (DeWayne Robertson). Thanks for the insight ESPN way to not mention Robertson or our newest draft pick to sign a contract, or the fact that Dumervil's a pass rushing specialist. Come to think of it **** ESPN Insider, we promise to have better information than them on the Broncos and it's here for free.]

• This guy just made a commercial with Jay Cutler, a McDonald's Commercial. They didn't want Brandon Marshall or what? Cutler's taking this stuff way too far, I'm sure Marshall got the point the second time you came out to publicly criticize him.

That's it guys (told you that I didn't have much), check back, I'll add more if there is more, because as you can tell, I really went slumming. Just kidding, I would never date a chick from San Diego [zing!?].