Denver Native (Carol)
01-15-2010, 10:33 AM
http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_14195168
Talk to the old salts around the league about free agency and the draft, and the term "muddy the waters" will often come up.
Basically, that's the choice of signing a veteran player in free agency for a specific role rather than developing — and playing — a younger player in the same spot.
Because a veteran player takes practice snaps through the week and playing time on game day from a younger guy, the thought is it may take longer to develop a team's draft picks or second- and third-year players if there isn't a concerted effort to play them.
Hence you "muddy" the developmental waters with older players who may not be more talented or in the team's long-term plans, but they simply make fewer mistakes in the short term.
In his time with the Broncos, Mike Shanahan often muddied the waters when it came to young players. Shanahan, who took plenty of criticism for his work in the draft, also let quality young players go at times after giving them little chance to prove themselves because he preferred to work with more experienced players who didn't have the growing pains.
Domenik Hixon, who has made a nice career for himself since the Broncos tossed him aside, will always be a rather tidy example of this.
But it is exactly the spot the Broncos find themselves in right now. They have some young players, like guard Seth Olsen, safety Darcel McBath, outside linebacker Robert Ayers, defensive lineman Chris Baker and perhaps even wide receiver Kenny McKinley when he recovers from his knee surgery, who are in that all-important second offseason with the team.
They are also in position to at least compete for larger roles.
Broncos coach Josh McDaniels has shown himself to be a coach who prefers age and experience at times. Like most coaches, he detests mistakes, and veteran players will always make fewer of them.
McDaniels surrendered a draft pick for veteran defensive linemen Le Kevin Smith in training camp after looking at his guys. McDaniels signed cornerback Ty Law during the season because he preferred Law coming in off the street over his second-round pick — Alphonso Smith — or rookie Tony Carter in the slot.
McDaniels continually used LaMont Jordan as a third running back over a player such as second-year back Peyton Hillis, and in team meetings often lauded Jordan for making the right choices in the running game despite the fact Jordan carried the ball just five total times in the Broncos' last 11 games.
But after another 8-8 finish, the organization's fourth consecutive year on the outside looking in at the playoff bracket, the Broncos are now in a position to choose their direction.
They can be a team committed to the draft and then working with and playing those younger players. Or they can be a team that plays the draft picks who excel immediately and fills in the rest with an ever-changing cast of veteran free agents.
Like their running game this season, the Broncos were kind of stuck in the middle in 2009. They were kind of committed to young players and kind of reliant on late veteran additions such as Law, Le Kevin Smith, Vonnie Holliday and Russ Hochstein.
Former Colts coach Tony Dungy, who won at least 12 games in each of his last six seasons on the sideline and won at least 10 games in 10 seasons overall, always expressed the need and desire to play young players in the era of free agency.
And the Colts have rarely participated in the whirlwind of huge contracts to players they didn't draft.
"We're not afraid to play young guys," Dungy always said.
And for Dungy and the Colts, that meant a commitment to those young guys in practice, in games. They consistently made good choices in April and pushed them along to be ready to play in September.
In the uncertain labor landscape of the league, in which teams can't say for sure whether a salary cap will exist again down the road or what it will look like if it does, a team committed to its own players, its own draft picks, will more easily be able to adjust to any future labor deal.
McDaniels has already talked about the importance of this April's draft for his program. And as he prepares to enter the second year on his four-year deal, he'll be facing the choice of moving forward with youth, or, in the words of several personnel executives, "muddying the waters" and then simply trying to see what he can catch.
Talk to the old salts around the league about free agency and the draft, and the term "muddy the waters" will often come up.
Basically, that's the choice of signing a veteran player in free agency for a specific role rather than developing — and playing — a younger player in the same spot.
Because a veteran player takes practice snaps through the week and playing time on game day from a younger guy, the thought is it may take longer to develop a team's draft picks or second- and third-year players if there isn't a concerted effort to play them.
Hence you "muddy" the developmental waters with older players who may not be more talented or in the team's long-term plans, but they simply make fewer mistakes in the short term.
In his time with the Broncos, Mike Shanahan often muddied the waters when it came to young players. Shanahan, who took plenty of criticism for his work in the draft, also let quality young players go at times after giving them little chance to prove themselves because he preferred to work with more experienced players who didn't have the growing pains.
Domenik Hixon, who has made a nice career for himself since the Broncos tossed him aside, will always be a rather tidy example of this.
But it is exactly the spot the Broncos find themselves in right now. They have some young players, like guard Seth Olsen, safety Darcel McBath, outside linebacker Robert Ayers, defensive lineman Chris Baker and perhaps even wide receiver Kenny McKinley when he recovers from his knee surgery, who are in that all-important second offseason with the team.
They are also in position to at least compete for larger roles.
Broncos coach Josh McDaniels has shown himself to be a coach who prefers age and experience at times. Like most coaches, he detests mistakes, and veteran players will always make fewer of them.
McDaniels surrendered a draft pick for veteran defensive linemen Le Kevin Smith in training camp after looking at his guys. McDaniels signed cornerback Ty Law during the season because he preferred Law coming in off the street over his second-round pick — Alphonso Smith — or rookie Tony Carter in the slot.
McDaniels continually used LaMont Jordan as a third running back over a player such as second-year back Peyton Hillis, and in team meetings often lauded Jordan for making the right choices in the running game despite the fact Jordan carried the ball just five total times in the Broncos' last 11 games.
But after another 8-8 finish, the organization's fourth consecutive year on the outside looking in at the playoff bracket, the Broncos are now in a position to choose their direction.
They can be a team committed to the draft and then working with and playing those younger players. Or they can be a team that plays the draft picks who excel immediately and fills in the rest with an ever-changing cast of veteran free agents.
Like their running game this season, the Broncos were kind of stuck in the middle in 2009. They were kind of committed to young players and kind of reliant on late veteran additions such as Law, Le Kevin Smith, Vonnie Holliday and Russ Hochstein.
Former Colts coach Tony Dungy, who won at least 12 games in each of his last six seasons on the sideline and won at least 10 games in 10 seasons overall, always expressed the need and desire to play young players in the era of free agency.
And the Colts have rarely participated in the whirlwind of huge contracts to players they didn't draft.
"We're not afraid to play young guys," Dungy always said.
And for Dungy and the Colts, that meant a commitment to those young guys in practice, in games. They consistently made good choices in April and pushed them along to be ready to play in September.
In the uncertain labor landscape of the league, in which teams can't say for sure whether a salary cap will exist again down the road or what it will look like if it does, a team committed to its own players, its own draft picks, will more easily be able to adjust to any future labor deal.
McDaniels has already talked about the importance of this April's draft for his program. And as he prepares to enter the second year on his four-year deal, he'll be facing the choice of moving forward with youth, or, in the words of several personnel executives, "muddying the waters" and then simply trying to see what he can catch.