Denver Broncos vs. Dallas Cowboys: Fourth Quarter

Phelps won his 8th Gold Medal or 7th?

It's good to finally hear Keary Colbert's name.

Alright, Patrick Ramsey's a bum, leaving Glenn Martinez open like that. Hope that he's okay.

Are we seeing elements of Bob Slowik's, "Bend but don't break," defense? It's possible, haven't really seen a blitz or even eight men in the box yet this game. So it's hard to tell, during the season, I expect to see much more blitzing, especially from the corners and safeties though.

Please let Darrell Hackney come into the game with eight minutes left.

I think I jinxed Clifford Russell, Glen Martinez made a smart play downing the botched kick off.

No Darrell Hackney.

Brett Kern just redefined, "Booming," a punt.

Good to see Spencer Larsen having a presence this game on special teams.

Forgot to say that I like Jordan Beck this game on defense too, injuries are getting him many more reps.

Don't know what to think of Tyrone Poole in his first game back with Denver. Biggest hit I've seen him make came against Jarvis Moss so far.

Spencer Larsen laced Richard Bartel, good hit.

Jack Williams saved the game! Haha, should have been a pick six though.

Oh sure, now Darrell Hackney comes in.

Matt Prater goes 3 of 4 again this game.

Denver wins! 23-13.

Denver Broncos Training Camp Report: Day 13

The Broncos had a quick walk through in preparation for Denver's visit to Houston tomorrow. They were with only helmets and jerseys, no shells. The afternoon practice has been canceled, as we mentioned yesterday.

As you know, if you've been reading rookie running back Ryan Torain is out at least 12 weeks. Also sitting out this morning were: Hamza Abdullah (groin), Champ Bailey (hamstring), Peyton Hillis (hamstring), Chad Mustard (hamstring) and Tom Nalen (knee).

By any means necessary Spencer Larsen suits in blue instead of white.

The Denver Broncos are obviously feeling the lack of depth with both Peyton Hillis and now Ryan Torain out, Michael Pittman split between fullback and running back and rookie middle linebacker Spencer Larsen lined up as a fullback. Immediately upon being drafted coach Mike Shanahan approached Larsen and brought up the idea of the rookie playing fullback. The experiment apparently went away during OTA's, but with the Denver coaching staff surveying the field looking for a warm body to keep drills going; Spencer Larsen is once again back at fullback.

Rookie receiver Eddie Royal (whom we're giving serious consideration to just referring to as, 'The Future,' around here) lined up multiple times as the number two receiver, with Brandon Marshall at the number one and Brandon Stokley in the slot. That's a whole lot of speed and hands on the field at once, through in Tony Scheffler and an opposing defense may have problems... Expect a similar lineup with Darrell Jackson replacing Brandon Marshall for week one and week two.

If you want my guess for the lineups on Saturday well here you go. There won't be many surprises until you get down into the second and third teams:

First team:

QB Jay Cutler
HB Selvin Young
FB Cecil Sapp
TE Daniel Graham Two TE sets: Nate Jackson
LT Ryan Clady
LG Ben Hamilton
C Casey Wiegmann
RG Chris Kuper
RT Ryan Harris
WR Brandon Marshall
WR Darrell Jackson Slot receiver: Brandon Stockley

DE Elvis Dumervil
DT DeWayne Robertson
DT Marcus Thomas
DE John Engelberger
SLB Boss Bailey
MLB Nate Webster
WLB DJ Williams
CB Dre Bly
CB Domonique Foxworth Nickel: Karl Paymah
SS Marquand Manuel
FS Marlon McCree

Second/Third Team:

QB Patrick Ramsey/Darrell Hackney
HB Andre Hall/Anthony Aldridge/Michael Pittman
FB Michael Pittman/Spencer Larsen
TE Tony Scheffler Two TE sets: Brett Pierce
LT Erik Pears
LG Dylan Gandy
C Casey Wiegmann/Kory Lichtensteiger/PJ Alexander
RG Mitch Erickson
RT Tyler Polumbus
WR Keary Colbert/Glenn Martinez/Samie Parker
WR Eddie Royal/Clifford Russel/Taylor Jacobs/Marquay McDaniel

DE Jarvis Moss/Paul Carrington
DT Josh Mallard/Nic Clemons
DT Alvin McKinley/Kenny Peterson
DE Ebenezer Ekuban/Tim Crowder
SLB Louis Green/Jordan Beck
MLB Niko Koutouvides/Spencer Larsen/Miguel Padilla
WLB Jamie Winborn/Wesley Woodyard
CB Karl Paymah/Lamont Reid
CB Jack Williams Nickel: Christian Morton
SS Roderick Rogers/Josh Barrett
FS Marquand Manuel/Josh Barrett/Vickiel Vaughn

There's more! Check out the Broncos Denver Broncos Blog for multiple daily updates.
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Denver Broncos Training Camp Day 8 (Morning) Report

I may have jinxed our gentle giants in Dove Valley and I'm sorry. Starting free safety Hamza Abdullah (groin) and strong side linebacker Boss Bailey (knee) were both added to the list of inactives today, which includes: Tom Nalen (knee), Peyton Hillis (hamstring), Chad Mustard (hamstring), Michael Pittman (too many reps) and Montrae Holland (TFTP).

The good news?:

Brandon Marshall is Magic!

Seriously, Marshall hasn't even caught the ball and the referee is already calling a touchdown. He's so sure of his skill that he doesn't even stand up to catch anymore. Just sits in the end zone and waits. It's a sign, what Marshall is trying to illustrate with this metaphor is that even "sitting" he will be effective. He's telling fans that it's okay, look at the young boy just below the ball, he understands.

Tom Nalen's MRI was negative, which is great news to everyone, except center Casey Wiegmann, who has been filling in for the injured Nalen on the first-team offense.

I proposed this a couple of days ago (maybe even the first day of camp), what do you guys think of this for a front five: Clady, Hamilton, Nalen, Wiegmann and Kuper? Just a through, of course if missing this many reps in training camp does not affect Montrae Holland then of course swap him and Wiegmann. I love Ryan Harris and I'm assuming the coaches do too, because of the amount of first-team reps he is getting at right tackle. However, if Chris Kuper doesn't have to play right guard and the Denver staff can put him on the outside, they probably will. He's playing like a programmed machine, broken hand and all.

Nate Webster is still at middle linebacker on the first-team. As I stated yesterday, as far as I can tell it's two day rotation, Webster plays two days on first-team, then Niko Koutouvides plays two days on first-team. Who's better? Hmm... Webster's certainly more exciting to watch play, while Koutouvides seems to be the more intelligent player. They both come from good NFL pedigrees as far as previous experience, however Webster was an animal for Denver last season. Can he be trusted in pass coverage? Not as much as I would trust Koutouvides in pass coverage and here in lies the problem for Denver's coaching staff. Preseason will sort out the situation, hopefully. Let's not forgot about rookie Spencer Larsen either, while he's most likely going to go head-to-head with Jordan Beck for special teams thriller, Larsen provides nice insurance to Webster and Koutouvides.

Dre Bly's a man on a mission:

Can you imagine the results of the above picture in an actual game? Backup quarterback Patrick Ramsey would most likely have spinal fluid coming out of his nose from the hit he's about to receive. The week old battle between Bly and Domonique Foxworth is only going to get hotter. Only Denver will benefit from this competition, with both Bly and Foxworth playing to beat each other out. Foxworth is in a contract year and fans seemed to have shifted favoring Foxworth over Bly, where as their were rumblings to trade Foxworth for a fourth rounder prior to the draft. I'm hoping that the three along with rookie Jack Williams and Karl Paymah can link to form the iron curtain coverage that any team needs to force an offense to become one dimensional.

With Hamza Abdullah out, rookie Josh Barrett was given an opportunity to shine and he did, nabbing a sack during eleven-on-elevens. Roderick Rogers, whom I haven't brought up as much as I should have in the days since John Lynch evacuated, also picked off a ball today. If I'm the coach, I don't know who stays and who goes, either way, there are going to be some very talented players in a lot of the positions who won't be making the team unfortunately.

On the defensive line, Josh Mallard is continuing reps with the first team. At one point in practice the defensive line consisted of nearly all draft picks from 2007, as Jarvis Moss, Marcus Thomas and Tim Crowder front ended Denver's second-team defense.

Photo credit: Kyle Sonneman © DenverBroncos.com

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.

Preparing for the '09 Draft; pars quarta:

If you have read the first three parts, especially "pars tertia", we have attempted to establish a rational basis for discussing the '09 NFL Draft. Previously, a likely group of players of interest for the Broncos was presented drawn only from college Seniors in '08. What happens when Juniors come out? It changes much and reshuffles the overall ranking of players. Look what happened prior to the '08 Draft. A bunch of Juniors joined an already deep group. There were several highly regarded RBs among them. They (McFadden, Mendenhall, Stewart, Rice) crowded into the upper echelons of the pool and changed the order. Had that not happened, I doubt if the Broncos would have been able to pick either Ryans (Clady or Torain) with the picks they utilized.

What will happen in '09? Juniors will come out as they have regularly done. How many will impact the first round of the Draft? Hard to say because all of them won't come out, but a guess would be 8-10 first rounders. What this may do is shuffle Seniors of interest to the Broncos within their reach. It may also introduce a new player of interest for whom Denver might be willing to trade up. What Seniors of interest might be shuffled within reach? As indicated in "pars tertia", Duke Robinson, G, OU and Aaron Curry, OLB, Wake Forest might be considered, especially the former. Just as a Clady is seldom available, the same could be said for Duke and it might solidify Cutler's blind side for years to come. Another FS for whom the Broncos might trade up is William Moore, FS, Missouri, 6-1, 224, 117 tkl, 2 sk, 7 tfl, 6 pbu and 8 int in '07. Due to its depth, '08 was a good year to acquire many rookies, but the need for quantity vs. targeted quality will pass eventually.

Could there be Juniors of interest for whom Denver might trade up? I'm thinking Taylor Mays, FS, USC, 6-3, 225, 65 tkl, 6 pbu, 1 int in '07. I think, on paper anyway, that he makes me think of ... Josh Barrett? Which is another thing we won't know until the end of this year; how will Barrett do? A stellar season on his part could change the outlook on the '09 Draft. What about Brandon Spikes, ILB, FLA, 6-3, 242, 131 tkl, 1.5 sk, 14.5 tfl and 7 pbu in '07? Make anybody think ... Al Wilson? Again, we don't know how Niko Koutouvides and Spencer Larsen will do in '08. If MLB moves up as a priority, I would expect the Broncos to be interested in Spikes and Laurinaitis and Maualuga as well. On the other hand Niko and Spencer might do so well that MLB could be moved to the back burner for awhile. Shanahan will only contemplate trading up for a certain player who is so good at a certain needy position that sacrifices will be made in order to obtain him.

What if Barrett and Wesley Woodyard are doing well as FS and box S, and Koutouvides and Larsen are fine at MLB/ST? An influx of highly regarded Juniors might bump some Seniors from the first to the second round. The presence of Mays and others might push Courtney Greene (who might actually be every bit as good a FS) to the second round. It's a possible scenario. In it, Denver might be able to get Robinson and Greene thus filling a couple of definite needs with well-regarded prospects.

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.

Four down...

Well, you didn't hear it here first, but Denver signed three draft picks and also released contract information on a fourth. Defensive tackle Carlton Powell, (rookie of the year hopeful, just kidding) running back Ryan Torain and (former Bronco fullback, current Linebacker/badass) Spencer Larsen all signed four-year contracts last evening. In the words of a former employer, "They'll be sorry..." The Rocky Mountain News reports that seventh=round draft pick (safety) Josh Barret "got a four-year, $1.76 million deal that included a $56,300 signing bonus."

However, in the meantime, we've "added depth" in "positions of need" and we can now "look forward" to the "season ahead" and the "superbowl" or at least "Madden 2009".

It's interesting talking about Ryan Torain, here's a running back that the Broncos actually drafted, you would think that he'd be over hyped by now... Especially by fans and bloggers, hmm. I guess maybe during the season people will finally start to talk about him, considering he's the next Terrell Davis. Spencer Larsen as I've stated in this very blog and I think Sam will agree, is someone who was brought in to have an immediate impact on Special Teams. As fans are very well aware by now, a lot of the rookies and UDFA's were picked up because of their diversity and potential to provide a little more wow. Hoping that maybe next year our hardest hit on Special Teams won't come from our (former) kick returner (Dominik Hixon).

Now Carlton Powell, I don't know seemed like fans were screaming for a DT in the first, second and third-rounds this year, but in their short sightedness forgot that we drafted like that last season (and it worked out well right?). I for one am glad that we took care of everything else, prior to picking up Powell, was he the best "value" when we picked him up? Who knows, get back to me in three years and maybe I'll have an opinion.

Links!

It's the rut, what is it two more weeks until training camp? Who will win out at middle linebacker? Who's going to be the second wide receiver on the depth chart? How will Bob Slowik's defense shape up? Will Selvin Young keep the starting job throughout the preseason or are we going to see Michael Pittman, Andre Hall or Ryan Torain starting against Oakland? Are we going to see the youngins- Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Marcus Thomas, Selvin Young, Tony Scheffler and Jarvis Moss step into the players we're all sure that they can be (some have already made significant movements in the right direction). Is Eddie Royal the next Devin Hester? Or should we have drafted DeSean Jackson?

The journey to knowing is sure to be a fun one. Here's some things I've stumbled upon this morning, hope everyone had a great Independence Day and for our Canadian and Mexican readers, hope that you had a wonderful weekend.

Okay, first up, I stumbled on this site, thanks to Josh Temple at BroncoTalk. The blog Orange Bucksnorts features a column called "Cream of the Crop" which takes the best of message board posts, comments from articles at the Denver Post and wherever else fans or players may be quoted or writing, and displays them along with commentary.

Here's a beautiful example and I agree with Hercules, it may be one of the best things I've ever read, ever. It's to the Denver Post's Woody Paige:

Dears Woodrow Tiberius Grandfather Woodchuck,

First quest, can I has Jay Cutler autograph? He hard to get from east coast.

Second, before Bronco draft in makey chat Denver Post you say Bronco not high on Clady. Then Bronco pick Clady. Why Bronco not high on Clady? Was they makey wrong choice before draft to makey other team think not choice? I watch youtoob and clady pan cake guy to ground hard then fall on guy as get up. Fall on guy as get up! Like ton of brick house! Mean spirit guy we need guy this makey all the plays.

Three, sorry guy in first quest. Secon rushmore Chanp Baily. Three rushmore Steve Atwater cause megaton Okoye hit on monday night, call see play before happen, I dont care what guys say he there cause that. Four is reserve Jay Cutsler and is megaton propeller arm fully upgrade diabetes checked Elway cross return to stomach of receives.

Thank you Grandfather Woodchuck. Mighty Bronco wisdom man. May no disease toad rain on family area abode.

Horvil Tiki

I died a little laughing so hard, you can visit the blog here. Horvil, whoever you are, you have a spot on our site whenever you'd like.

Some links:

• Jay Cutler injures Golfer Jay Hass at a wedding, while throwing him a pass. He was also a groomsman at the wedding for his old backup QB.(We're digging deep here folks, did I mention it's not preseason yet?)
• The International Herald Tribune reports Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination at Invesco Field at Mile High.
• Spencer Larsen played fullback for a couple weeks, but says he'll probably stay at linebacker. (I think we all knew that, but it was posted).
• Under owner Pat Bowlen, the Broncos have averaged 10.471 victories per season over 24 years.
• Kissing Suzy Kolber reviewed Stefan Fastis' new book and it's hilarious (and tons of quotes you'll never get from the Broncos on any official websites).
  

And that's that, this week, we've got Sam previewing the 2009 draft for Denver and I'll be breaking down the season ahead. Of course we'll keep you up-to-date if any news breaks (such as the signing of any draft picks), I'll also be guest blogging over at Bronco Madness with Garret and the guys, so check them out. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute something soon to those great guys at BroncoTalk as well.

Oh and Hercules (Orange Bucksnorts), you've got a new fan.

In His Own Words: Spencer Larsen

"There is a lot thrown at you, more so as a rookie," Larsen said. "It is a real confidence builder coming out having defense and in my case the offense down as well and come out in training camp and not be worried about understanding the full playbooks. I have the base concept and now I can go ahead and move on."

"It is a lot," Larsen said. "You just have to study and dedicate the time to it. It is like learning a new language, once you learn it. Defense is a lot easier than offense since I have been more involved in that."

"I think I have less distractions," Larsen said. "My age comes with a little more maturity but I also have things a little more under control as far as family life and I have a system and way of going about things that has been in place for a few years."

"Being a professional athlete brings a whole new aura in the way that people look at me and even my family," Larsen said. "It is just a different way of life that takes some getting used to."

Broncos Special Teams Improved?

Spencer Larsen warms up during Team Camp.

Yep... However, I was looking for a Matt Prater highlight for this very blog, let's just say it didn't go well. The only thing I could find was a horrible shank that he had last year for Atlanta. I want to pull for Garrett Hartley (OU Rookie F.A.) to make it as our Kicker, he was nominated for the Lou Garza Award (best college Kicker), but despite having the best statistics he did not win. Hey, if Jason Elam made it in Denver and he was from Hawaii, why not Hartley from Oklahoma?

A lot of our free agent/draft signees, I cannot see contributing anywhere else other than special teams. Look at Spencer Larsen or Wesley Woodyard. Those guys are here to bust some heads on Kickoffs and Punts. Obviously there's Eddie Royal, there's also Anthony Aldridge who should contribute on Kickoffs, as well as Jack Williams who could as well. Hell, maybe even Peyton Hillis will be out there (everyone knows the story of how Terrell Davis got noticed) cracking skulls as he chases down an opposing team's Punt Returner and blocking on Kickoffs.

Also, there's Defensive Tackle Josh Mallard challenging Mike Leech as the Long Snapper on Punts. If you watch the Chicago game, which many people did, because it was just on NFL Network last week, in both Touchdown returns Leech missed tackles on Hester very early on. If he could have simply got in the way, maybe we win that game and we're 8-8 instead of 7-9. Which at a certain point in the playoff hunt would have gotten us in.

Anyway, looking forward to see the new Special Teams this season, a little worried about the Kicker and the Punting situation... Even before Jason Elam left, I love him, but it was his time to ride off into the sunset. Our Punting may not have been great before we cut Todd Sauerbrun, but it was scary after.

Lorenzo Neal wants to play for Denver

We have a starting fullback, don't we? Well, we have Cecil Sapp, behind him on the depth chart sits Mike Bell (remember him) and rookie Peyton Hillis (whom yours truely likes for the starting position this season). I remember being disappointed in Sapp's performance more than a couple of times last year. He's not to blame for the lack of red-zone touchdowns for the Broncos last season, but as the lead blocker and the main target in their bread and butter bootleg pass to the fullback.

I was hoping that Denver would draft the guy that blocked for Darren McFadden and Felix Jones (Hillis) last season in the 4th, when we got him in the 7th I was pretty impressed.
Of course, I immediately thought he will start, as he has very strong hands and can just crack skulls busting through the offensive line. However, post draft, when Coach Shanahan immediately mentioned Spencer Larsen possibly competing at fullback, that's when I got unsure.

Now in a Michael Silver column over at Yahoo, former San Diego fullback Lorenzo Neal (the guy that's been opening up holes for LaDainian Tomlinson and Michael Turner and a Pro Bowler for the last three years) has Denver on a short list of teams he wants to play for. The other two teams are Dallas and Pittsburgh. With the exit of Travis Henry, the Broncos have an open spot on their roster, do they fill it with a 37 year-old fullback who has proven that he can still play?

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.