Denver Native (Carol)
08-01-2010, 08:36 AM
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_15650359
Memo to the nearly 3,000 fans who are expected to show up this morning for the Broncos' first training camp workout: You're going to be watching the wrong kids.
It's easy to become fixated on Tim Tebow, but for the better part of the upcoming season, the rookie quarterback figures to take no more than three to five snaps a game.
Demaryius Thomas, who is 6-feet-3 with a thick core, will look like a first-rounder, and he may even show flashes of first-round skill.
But it's going to be a while before he's ready to become a five-catch- a-game receiver. Almost all rookie receivers need time, particularly those coming off a broken foot and from a run-oriented college program.
The rookies who will have the greatest impact on the 2010 Broncos will be two hefty kids: Zane Beadles and J.D. Walton.
Thomas and Tebow are first-round picks, special players for the future. Beadles and Walton were drafted in the second and third rounds, respectively. They are players for the here and now.
As training camp commences, Beadles will get the first shot to start at left guard, Walton at center.
Can it be done?
"We'll be eager to see that," Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said. "There have been plenty of good players who can contribute and play early on the offensive line as a rookie, and we may or may not have that right away, but I know that there are a lot of guys who will be competing for that."
McDaniels is ready to go forward with Beadles and Walton in part because he knows it can be done. He was New England's quarterbacks coach in 2005 when the Patriots started rookies Logan Mankins at left guard and Nick Kaczur at right tackle. The Patriots won a playoff game that year before Champ Bailey stepped in front of a Tom Brady pass in the end zone.
Memo to the nearly 3,000 fans who are expected to show up this morning for the Broncos' first training camp workout: You're going to be watching the wrong kids.
It's easy to become fixated on Tim Tebow, but for the better part of the upcoming season, the rookie quarterback figures to take no more than three to five snaps a game.
Demaryius Thomas, who is 6-feet-3 with a thick core, will look like a first-rounder, and he may even show flashes of first-round skill.
But it's going to be a while before he's ready to become a five-catch- a-game receiver. Almost all rookie receivers need time, particularly those coming off a broken foot and from a run-oriented college program.
The rookies who will have the greatest impact on the 2010 Broncos will be two hefty kids: Zane Beadles and J.D. Walton.
Thomas and Tebow are first-round picks, special players for the future. Beadles and Walton were drafted in the second and third rounds, respectively. They are players for the here and now.
As training camp commences, Beadles will get the first shot to start at left guard, Walton at center.
Can it be done?
"We'll be eager to see that," Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said. "There have been plenty of good players who can contribute and play early on the offensive line as a rookie, and we may or may not have that right away, but I know that there are a lot of guys who will be competing for that."
McDaniels is ready to go forward with Beadles and Walton in part because he knows it can be done. He was New England's quarterbacks coach in 2005 when the Patriots started rookies Logan Mankins at left guard and Nick Kaczur at right tackle. The Patriots won a playoff game that year before Champ Bailey stepped in front of a Tom Brady pass in the end zone.