Denver Native (Carol)
09-26-2008, 03:26 PM
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/sep/25/broncos-report-marshall-grows-ever-more/
Some tricks of the trade are helping Brandon Marshall become one of the best in his field.
Last week, he talked about incorporating "late hands," into his repertoire.
By waiting until the last second to raise his arms, the defender has less of a hint that the ball is headed their direction.
But Marshall also has used his hands in a more aggressive manner, too, helping him get off the line of scrimmage when a cornerback is aligned in press coverage or face to face with the receiver, trying to disrupt his release off the snap.
"I have always been a finesse type of guy, always trying to make it look good, and sometimes that is not always the best way," said Marshall, who is second in the NFL to New Orleans' Reggie Bush with 24 receptions and second to Green Bay's Greg Jennings' 373 receiving yards despite having played only two games.
"Sometimes you just have to get dirty a little bit and get physical," he added. "I think being able to mix it up a bit with the finesse game and the physical game has really helped me a lot this year."
Marshall had been consumed with increasing his speed in previous offseasons yet set about rebuilding his entire body this year. In workouts in Atlanta before his March arm surgery, he was benching 350 pounds five times.
But he also is getting more separation from cornerbacks, too, allowing quarterback Jay Cutler to look his way down the field more instead of Marshall having to turn short gains into long ones with yards after the catch.
"I've definitely seen a difference with him in press coverage, and with the deep ball, also," teammate Brandon Stokley said. "As big as he was, he didn't make as many plays as he could have on deep balls. He's already improved that."
Marshall already has five catches in excess of 25 yards, four coming in Sunday's 34-32 victory against New Orleans. His 35-yard score against the Saints occurred when he raced through two defenders and caught the ball in stride in the end zone.
"I thought if I was able to incorporate the deep ball and beat press coverage that I would be unstoppable, and that is what I did," he said.
Some tricks of the trade are helping Brandon Marshall become one of the best in his field.
Last week, he talked about incorporating "late hands," into his repertoire.
By waiting until the last second to raise his arms, the defender has less of a hint that the ball is headed their direction.
But Marshall also has used his hands in a more aggressive manner, too, helping him get off the line of scrimmage when a cornerback is aligned in press coverage or face to face with the receiver, trying to disrupt his release off the snap.
"I have always been a finesse type of guy, always trying to make it look good, and sometimes that is not always the best way," said Marshall, who is second in the NFL to New Orleans' Reggie Bush with 24 receptions and second to Green Bay's Greg Jennings' 373 receiving yards despite having played only two games.
"Sometimes you just have to get dirty a little bit and get physical," he added. "I think being able to mix it up a bit with the finesse game and the physical game has really helped me a lot this year."
Marshall had been consumed with increasing his speed in previous offseasons yet set about rebuilding his entire body this year. In workouts in Atlanta before his March arm surgery, he was benching 350 pounds five times.
But he also is getting more separation from cornerbacks, too, allowing quarterback Jay Cutler to look his way down the field more instead of Marshall having to turn short gains into long ones with yards after the catch.
"I've definitely seen a difference with him in press coverage, and with the deep ball, also," teammate Brandon Stokley said. "As big as he was, he didn't make as many plays as he could have on deep balls. He's already improved that."
Marshall already has five catches in excess of 25 yards, four coming in Sunday's 34-32 victory against New Orleans. His 35-yard score against the Saints occurred when he raced through two defenders and caught the ball in stride in the end zone.
"I thought if I was able to incorporate the deep ball and beat press coverage that I would be unstoppable, and that is what I did," he said.