Green Bay Packers vs. Denver Broncos: First Quarter

Got started just a bit late, sorry guys.

Broncos D-line looked pathetic on the first series.

Got scored on, where was the covereage?

I don't get why our sweep plays are starting off so deep. It's never worked for us and now we're trying it still in the preseason.

Giant run for the Broncos from Selvin Young, that's what we've been waiting for from Young.

Selvin Young's lining up literally 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage, I don't understand. He runs 13 to gain three yards...

Jay Cutler looks good tucking and scrambling, hasn't been sacked yet ::knock on wood::

Andre Hall gets yet another first and ten, imagine that? Penalties, even with the Packers having 12 men on the field doesn't mean they can stop the inevitable which is Andre Hall. Green Bay's Charles Woodson hurt.

Jay Cutler's 0-3 a very far cry from last weekend. Just complete one man, we'll get back on track.

Cutler to Brandon Marshall! Finally!

Andre Hall was tackled by an unblocked strong safety. Nice!

Brandon Stokley has now missed two passes this series. This one was Cutler's fault.

Selvin Young, got both hands on a pass and can't come up with it. Bring Hall back in!

Here comes Matt Prater, he's missed his first attempt every game so far- He doesn't this time 3-7 Packers.

Let's see how the Denver Broncos defense does on their second series, after adjustments.

Nate Webster just owned someone in the Packer's running system and may have solidified his first-team membership.

DeWayne Robertson with his first major contribution to the defense!

Well, we get to see the Broncos in spread coverage, Marlon McCree proves once again to be useless in man-on-man.

Dre Bly gives Greg Jennings an inch, he takes a mile... Stop them Denver!

Well, Nate Webster and Champ Bailey made sure that the Packers knew they still can't run on us. Now, let's stop the pass.

There was a sack, Kenny Peterson somehow didn't get to him! Either way, Elvis Dumervil got called for off-sides, so it doesn't matter.

Packers are just marching down the field on Denver, this is pathetic. Come on Bob Slowik, figure it out.

Finally a sack! Doom! Elvis Dumervil lining up on the left side to wrap up the first quarter!


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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 (Morning Practice)

Here it is, let's get the ball rolling.

Apparently yesterday Ryan Harris got blown out worse than we had speculated. Orange Mane's "24" posted this picture which pretty much sums it up, you can view that picture here. (Hope that he doesn't mind me including that link!)

• Spencer Larsen is back and participating in training camp and faced off against Peyton Hillis in one-on-one drills (and looked good).
  
  
• Keary Colbert again took reps with the second-team, Brandon Marshall, Darrell Jackson and Brandon Stokley all took first-team snaps with the offense.
  
  

• Rounding out the rest of the offense was: Ryan Clady, Ben Hamilton, Tom Nalen, Chris Kuper and Ryan Harris remained the starters on the line and Jay Cutler (who looked better than he has all TC today), Daniel Graham and Selvin Young rounded out the rest of the first-team o.
  
  
• Fans saw a new defensive line as the first-team fielded: John Engelberger and Elvis Dumervil on the bookends with Alvin McKinley and Kenny Peterson in the middle. Peterson is filling in for DeWayne Robertson who is not suited today.
  
  
• Guess the major story is that Nate Webster, not Niko Koutouvides played middle linebacker and he looked great. Boss Bailey and DJ Williams started at Sam and Will, respectively. In the backfield were Champ Bailey, Dre Bly, Hamza Abdullah and John Lynch. With Josh Mallard, Domonique Foxworth and Marlon McCree still coming in for nickel formations.
  
  
• During one-on-one drills, Champ Bailey blanketed Marshall and basically made him ineffective, with the exception of one pass in which Marshall beat Bailey and went yard. Scheffler looked very good in his drills... I mentioned Harris earlier, during one-on-one he looked great, handling Dumervil easily- Clady had a bit of trouble with Dumervil. Defensive tackle Josh Mallard continued where he left off last season, strong- This man will be a monster this season.
  
  
• Tight end Daniel Graham looked exceptional during one-on-ones as well, blocking wise.
  
  
• Andre Hall will definitely give Young a run for his money this training camp. Hall is quickly proving that he's the best receiving option Denver has in the backfield. Michael Pittmann may be in camp literally to provide veteran guidance to the very young backfield, he's been a non-factor for the offense thus far and has looked especially bad catching balls out of the backfield. Rookie Ryan Torain continues to prove that he is a rookie, after a very disappointing day yesterday, he looked better today, but had a false start and dropped pass.
  
  
• Which running back did we forget to mention? Oh! During nine-on-nine drills (no receivers/corners) the defense stuffed the run. These drills are done at full speed, however, I'm now knocking on wood. As I said at last year's training camp the Broncos defensive line looked impressive as well. Of all the running backs the Broncos played, only Anthony Aldridge was able to find real success. Scampering for several 15-yard gains.

• One eleven-on-eleven drills, second-year safety (former Wisconsin Badger) Roderick Rogers continued to shine, picking off two balls (both tipped one by Marshall, one by tight end Nate Jackson). While Marshall again made a tough catch in traffic, Young ended the drill beating Jarvis Moss around the end to gain that could have gone on forever, if he didn't end up being knocked out of bounds.
  
  
• Speaking of Young, he beat Boss Bailey on a pass coming out of the backfield and the mistake quickly drew the wrath of his older brother.
  
  
• It wasn't all bad for Boss though, he drew acclaim from Coach Shanahan after breaking up several passes.

Training Camp: Day 2 (Morning Report) Part II

More notes from the AM practice:

Brandon Marshall out duels Dre Bly for a reception:

Picture taken by Kyle Sonneman © DenverBroncos.com

• DJ Williams looked so good, no one seemed to notice who's taking the majority of reps at middle linebacker, Niko Koutouvides started off the day with the first team. Are bothKoutouvides and Nate Webster that good or that bad?
  
  
• Coach Shanahan on Koutouvides, "We've been watching him for the last 17 days, and try to get the pads on and the chance the evaluate everybody day by day. That's what all the preseason is about; To get a pecking order and see these guys compete and see what they can do in special situations. It's only the second day."
  
  
• Boss Bailey has done well in pass coverage and loves being back on the field with Champ, "It's a lot more easier for me to be back on the field with my brother. It's a comforting thing for me," he said. "It's just been fun playing with him and watching and learning and trying to steal some moves from him."
  
  
• Here's what Coach Shanahan has to say about the younger Bailey, "He's been great. He did a great job during the offseason conditioning program and adjusted to our system very quickly. He's got the ability to cover the tight end by himself. He plays as a coach... So far so good."
  
  
• Both Domonique Foxworth and Josh Barrett got interceptions in the morning 7 on 7 drills.
  
  
• Jarvis Moss made Ryan Harris look bad more than once, even pushing him to the ground once. Is it that Moss is good or Harris is bad? Or are they both good and Moss is just better?
  
  
• When the first-team offense squared off against the first-team defense, the offense did not score.

Other offensive/defensive scrimmage notes:

• Peyton Hillis scored on a dump pass out of the backfield.
  
  
• Eddie Royal caught a pass in traffic that brought the crowd to their feet.
  
  
• DeWayne Robertson broke through the offensive line to bat down a screen play.
  
  
• John Lynch and Marlon McCree appear to be swapping when the Broncos bring in nickel formation McCree's playing free safety. While Domonique Foxworth,is coming in as the nickel back.
  
  
• Darrell Jackson appears to be the number 2 receiver as of right now.

That's the end from the AM, here's a thought or two from me:

Why isn't Casey Wiegmann filling in for Montrae Holland? Most likely, because it would mean someone else giving snaps for the second-team offense, but if this were the season... I don't know who would be manning the right side of the offensive line.

Are we in trouble at middle linebacker?

Don't be fooled, last year our defensive line was said to be "very impressive." Wait until Denver goes up against Dallas to decide how good the offensive/defensive line is.

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.

Webster seeing first-team reps at Middle Linebacker

The Gazette is reporting that Nate Webster is seeing the first-team reps at middle linebacker this week:

Webster, who started 13 games for the Denver Broncos last year at outside linebacker, is practicing primarily at middle linebacker during this week’s minicamp and in Thursday’s practice he took the snaps with the starting defense. Niko Koutouvides signed a three-year, $7.5 million contract with the Broncos this offseason and seems to be the favorite to start at middle linebacker. Koutouvides worked with the second team Thursday.

Webster says:

“It’s competition,” Webster said. “I guess we’ll be evaluated throughout the camps, practices and preseason. Nothing has been handed to him or me. We’re going to compete, which I don’t mind doing.” Adding, “That’s almost like being back home,” Webster said. “Middle linebacker is home for me. I can play the other ones, but I’m more instinctive in the middle.”

Eye On- Denver Linebackers

I was writing a recent report grading the entire Broncos Defense, where I was also predicting who would be the starters at which position. Short of some training camp mishaps or a player coming out of nowhere it's fairly safe to say that Champ Bailey and Dre Bly will return as the starting corners in Denver, Marcus Thomas and newcomer Dewayne Robertson will most likely handle the Defensive Interior. Then at Linebacker we can look forward to Free Agents Boss Bailey and Niko Koustividas at the SAM (Strong) and MIKE (Middle) positions, respectively, and as Coach Shanahan stated DJ Williams would return to his natural position at the WILL (Weak) position... Or can we?

All the excitement the Broncos generated by bringing in Champ's brother Boss, spilled over to Koutouvides and fans seemed to forgot about Nate Webster and Jamie Winborn. Webster is coming off a stellar season, in which he accounted for nearly 1/10th of the team's tackles, finishing with 100 Tackles, 77 being solo. He is entering into his 9th season and is capable of playing any of the Linebacking positions. Last year he played well at SAM, he even had a better season than Boss who played SAM in Detroit. Bailey's statistics have steadily decreased since his rookie season in 2003, this is not because of injury, he's only missed six games in four seasons.

Winborn also had a decent season last year, playing as a backup, he managed 34 tackles, 27 solo. Which is more than Koutouvides, but they don't play the same position. Then we drafted Spencer Larsen out of Arizona and quietly picked up Brandon Archer off of waivers from Indianapolis. Though Archer does not threaten anyone’s starting position at this point, he is quite capable of filling a gap quickly and two years ago led the Kansas State Wildcats in tackles for three straight seasons.

Back to Larsen, besides just being a rookie whom Bronco fans would love to emerge as an immediate impact at Linebacker, what is he capable of? He’s a mad man, head hunter or as one NFL Scout referred to him as a “thumper,” I might be audacious enough to compare him to Tedy Bruschi. It looks as if he’ll have an immediate impact on Special Teams, most fans by now know that he is the same age as Brandon Marshall, old enough to be going into his second or third season professionally and already having a family. In college he was known to be able to realize a play quickly and immediately adjust to stop it. The NFL is the NFL though and diagnosing plays instantaneously is not a likely crutch Spencer can fall back on.

Here’s the kicker though, Shanahan has already asked Larsen if he’s willing to try Fullback. However this conversation may or may not have taken place before the Broncos drafted Peyton Hillis in the 7th round. The common factor between Larsen and Koutouvides is the number of games they have started at Middle Linebacker in the NFL-
zero.

One more candidate to add to the corps is undrafted free agent Wesley Woodyard, who some of projected to be a Cato June or Derrick Brooks type of Linebacker. Perfect for a Cover-2 or Tampa-2 Defense… Some say he’s undersized, may be better as an “in the box,” Strong Safety, some say he’s just not good enough, big enough, strong enough to even make it in the NFL at all. Scout projections like those applied to Woodyard are eerily similar to the way that Elvis Dumervil was graded coming out of Louisville as well. There didn’t seem to be a scout outside of Denver who wasn’t saying that Dumervil would need to switch to Linebacker to succeed in the NFL.

So who will do what? What will be the most interesting battles come training camp? I say Koutouvides first of all, keep an eye on Middle Linebacker, not only is Larsen capable of pulling ahead and winning the position battle, but Webster is also probably not looking to return to Special Teams and middle looks like the weak link on the chain which ultimately will get him back into the starting lineup. Boss Bailey also may have his hands full sealing off the strong side with Webster and Winborn breathing down his neck.