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Lonestar
08-19-2010, 03:52 PM
Woody's Mailbag: Westbrook seemed like a fit for Broncos
Gabe from Wyoming asks Woody about the Broncos' running back situation.
By Woody Paige
The Denver Post
POSTED: 08/19/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT


Denver Post sports columnist Woody Paige posts Woody's Mailbag on Thursdays.

Drop a question into Woody's Mailbag, or visit The Denver Post's Sports Page.

Note to readers: Despite what some dolts believe, I don't pick the e-mails, don't change them, and don't shorten them. I just answer what's placed in front of me. And I answer honestly and usually from memory, without doing research. And you can comment all you want to, but I don't drink in the morning or afternoon or take illegal drugs. I was not dropped on my head as a child, and I'm not retiring ever. I will die in the middle of answering a mailbag question.

Woody, my man, why would Coach McD go after LenDale White (a guy who wouldn't even be able to play until later in the season) and Justin Fargas instead of Brian Westbrook? Westbrook would add much needed leadership to the offense, and he would mesh well with Correll Buckhalter. I thought this would be a no-brainer. What are your thoughts?
—Gabe, Cheyenne

Gabe, I agree on both counts. The 49ers signed Westbrook, so we'll all see him when the Broncos play in London. Brian Dawkins really wanted the Broncos to sign Westbrook. McDaniels indicated an interest and brought him in. There were health concerns, according to what I've been told. The Rams took a look at Westbrook and passed too.

White was a surprise to me. I thought he was great in high school, good in college and mostly a wreck in the pros. If you have running backs injured now, why sign a guy who can't play in the regular season for a month? I suspect the Broncos thought they could use White in the exhibition games, take a look and cut him or put him on the suspended list and have him available when the running backs, as they always do in Denver, go down.

But he has had too many off-field issues,


LenDale White. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)
from weight to marijuana to attitude. It wasn't a wise idea. And he practices twice and gets a hamstring injury. So much for his career in Denver.
Fargas is a backup, at best, and a camp reject, at worst. It doesn't hurt — no pun intended — to bring him in, but he wasn't ready to play at Cincinnati. The Broncos have no running game whatsoever now, unless you count Tim Tebow.

I think they made a mistake on Westbrook. His contract at about $2 million was a steal. With running backs out all over the league, there aren't many choices. Ladell Betts wasn't considered here, but he signed with the Saints. There's Chris Brown, the old CU running back, and former Nebraska running back Ahman Green, who signed with some UFL team.

The Broncos are hoping they get a couple of backs back soon and that Knowshon Moreno is ready for the regular season, or they can see which backs are cut in the first roster reduction around the league. If Westbrook goes for 100 in England, everybody here can whine.

Woody, I love the mailbag and the articles. Everyone seems to be concentrating on the whole third quarterback rule and bringing in Tim Tebow in goal-line or short-yardage situations to get it in. Isn't there a chance on game day that Tebow could be listed as a running back or something else other than QB? That way we don't have to worry about our other QBs not being able to play the rest of the game.
—Eric, Fort Collins

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Eric, I'll try not to confuse you or anyone else here, especially me. You can list Tebow as third violin if you want, but the Broncos must have "two bona fide" (according to the rules) quarterbacks on the active 45-man game-day roster. So you'll have Kyle Orton, Brady Quinn and Tebow taking up three spots.

Why not just keep three QBs on the active list, and you can play them whenever and at whatever position you want? The NFL rule is that you can have two active and one "emergency" QB, who is the 46th man. If the emergency QB plays QB in any of the first three quarters (which is a coach's decision), the other two can't come back under any circumstances.

If you wait until the fourth quarter, a coach can use any or all three quarterbacks, assuming they are healthy.

Let's consider if Orton and Quinn are the two bona fides on the active roster, then Tebow, if he plays QB occasionally during the game, actually takes up the 45th spot, anyway. Let's say that Tebow, as a running back, comes into the game as a "wild horse" surprise quarterback.

Orton, by virtue of being in the huddle, has to line up at wide receiver, as Dolphins quarterbacks do. And you've got the coach-quarterback helmet-phone issue, if you've got two quarterbacks in the game. You're trying to circumvent the rules, which is fine by me.

But when wide receiver Antwaan Randle El occasionally has lined up at QB and taken the snap, the QB stayed in the game at wideout. If the Broncos try to get by with what you're saying, the referee can determine illegal substitution and penalize them. The rule was instituted in such a way to keep teams from doing what you're wondering about. The competition committee is not composed of complete fools.

I would say the Broncos have three choices: (1) Keep three quarterbacks on the active roster, (2) Make Tebow the emergency quarterback, or (3) Decide that Quinn is the third-stringer, which means Tebow will play if Orton is hurt in the first three quarters, then Quinn could come in for the fourth, if necessary.

It's my belief that Tebow will be the designated backup, and Quinn will be inactive, or that the Broncos will just make all three active and deactivate a seventh defensive lineman who doesn't play special teams, or the last offensive lineman because of the versatility of the linemen they have.

Tebow can be a running back like Ronnie Brown, who plays QB on a bunch of plays, but Brown also is a running back in the game, and defenses don't know who the quarterback will be until the huddle breaks. Are we all sufficiently confused?

Woody, the article on J.D. Walton got me thinking about Tom Nalen again. Will he make the Hall of Fame?
— Timothy, Toronto

Timothy, I sneaked into the actual Hall a couple of weeks ago during the early part of the ceremony so I could see where Floyd Little's bust would go, and where it was in relation to John Elway's and Gary Zimmerman's.

I walked down to the room where the busts are located and walked off the steps between Elway's spot and Little's. (Zimmerman's bust is in between.) Nobody else was around. The distance was 13 steps in the circular room. I wandered about (and wondered if somebody would catch me if I stole Johnny Unitas' bust, although I'm sure they're hooked up to some kind of security system, and it wouldn't fit under my coat, anyway).

I got to thinking about others who belong. There are several exhibitions spread throughout the building that recognize certain Broncos' accomplishments, the old vertical socks and The Barrel Man.

I'm certain that Shannon Sharpe's time will come soon. Rich Jackson, Louis Wright, Steve Atwater, Dennis Smith and Terrell Davis belong, but people don't realize how tough it is when there are a maximum of seven every year.

There is an East Coast bias (more members of the committee live in Eastern cities), and nobody paid much attention to the Broncos, or gave them any credit, until Elway got them to the Super Bowl regularly.

Someday Jackson will get in via the seniors committee, although the older members of the committee have retired or been replaced. I left when I moved to New York for three years, and Jeff Legwold, who had been the representative in Nashville, Tenn., took over, and did an incredible job getting Floyd in, at last.

I think Wright, Atwater, Smith and Davis — because of the shortness of his career with the serious knee injury — will fall short. Nalen has a great chance to make the Hall of Fame, and it will be shame for the Hall if he doesn't.

But it generally takes offensive linemen awhile, and the blog-brains who say he has to be on a fast track are clueless. Offensive linemen are at the bottom of the food chain for the Hall of Fame, and most all have to wait through several selections.

Nalen has all the positives necessary. He played from 1994-2007. He was a five-time Pro Bowler and a two-time, first-team all-pro. He was the center for Elway on two Super Bowl championship teams and was a starter in another conference championship (with Jake Plummer behind him). He started 188 games and rarely missed a game.

He had longevity, championships and all-star appearances. The only thing he didn't have was a loud voice and some freak reputation. He was on the teams that didn't speak to the media, but so was Zimmerman, and he made it — although it took awhile.

I'd say that by his fifth or sixth chance he will make it. (He's still not eligible for a couple of years.) There are several offensive lineman candidates still ahead of him.

Woody, I know camp is not over yet, and I know the preseason has barely begun. But from what I've read, there is some concern growing about a horrible year in store for the Broncos. The offense has the same problem as last year. They can move the ball but can't get it into the end zone and have to settle for field goals. That is not a good thing. Is this going to be something to expect this year, the Broncos scoring field goals and the defense allowing TDs?
—John, Pittsburgh

John, a Broncos fan in Pittsburgh. Dogs and cats living together. I'm certain those tens of thousands of Steeler fans who have moved to Denver — I would guess three or four people from Colorado have moved to Pittsburgh in our lifetime — will take over the stadium again for the third exhibition.

Everybody knows the Broncos "fans" will sell their tickets to the devil or the Steelers for the Aug. 29 exhibition, although it is the third preseason game and one in which the starters will probably play most of the game.

As you said, John, camp is not over; the Broncos have played one game. Calm down. The growing concern is among people who don't know or think they know and don't or have considered the loss of Elvis and some of The Dr. Doom Patrol to be the end of the world (which isn't supposed to happen, I've heard, until 2012).

Without a quality running back in the lineup, you can't expect anything to happen now. And they played a very good team (the Bengals made the playoffs last year) on the road in the opener.

How can you say the offense has the same problem as last year? The first unit scored two touchdowns in three possessions. It has been pointed out to me by the Broncos staff that Orton was among the most successful quarterbacks in the league on third down inside the red zone last year.

Don't keep looking up expecting to fall just yet. Can we at least wait until after that third exhibition? I can. Panic does not become you, John. Get back to me at the end of October, and the trip to London, and we'll all panic together, if there's reason.

http://www.denverpost.com/woodysmailbag/ci_15819676

rcsodak
08-20-2010, 11:50 AM
Orton, 3rd down, red zone,successful.......
....wow. You don't see those words strung together very much. In fact, just the opposite by the anti's.....
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broncofaninfla
08-20-2010, 12:00 PM
A aging vet made of glass, yup, I have to agree, he seemed like a perfect fit.....

rcsodak
08-21-2010, 12:31 PM
A aging vet made of glass, yup, I have to agree, he seemed like a perfect fit.....

You do realize his age, right?

Do you know his predecessor's age?


:tsk: