Broncos in-season news and notes thread

[dogfish]

i miss the off-season news and rumors thread because it gave people a place to post misc. little stuff that doesn't really need a full thread, so i'm starting a new one for in-season news. . .


Blue turf to blue chip

Clady proving college competition not indicator of NFL success

By Matt Sohn
Oct. 7, 2008

A record eight offensive tackles were snagged in the first round last April, and seven of them honed their skills in one of the NCAA’s so-called “power conferences.” Led by Michigan’s Jake Long, the two-time Big Ten Lineman of the Year, the first 31 picks included Chris Williams (Vanderbilt), Branden Albert (Virginia), Gosder Cherilus (Boston College), Jeff Otah (Pittsburgh) and Duane Brown (Virginia Tech). So naturally, it has been the lone non-BCS representative that has emerged as the class of the first-round linemen.

On the one hand, the notion that Boise State’s Ryan Clady has surpassed all of his first-round brethren shouldn’t be classified as a major shock. After all, only Long was selected ahead of him. Nevertheless, there was perhaps more uncertainty regarding Clady than any of the others. Not only did he spend his collegiate career beating up on WAC opponents, there were also questions about his maturity. Then, when bench-pressing at the Indianapolis Scouting Combine, he suffered a pectoral injury that rendered him not much more than a Hulk-sized observer for most of the week in Indianapolis.

Thus far, he has quelled all concerns, emphatically. As outstanding as Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall have been, a case could be made that Clady has been the best and most consistent cog in an offense racking up 415 yards per game. Maybe it’s the athleticism, maybe it’s the coaching, or maybe it’s the comfort that comes from being a Bronco during his collegiate career. Point is, he’s just getting it done.

Clady still hasn’t allowed a sack, and hasn’t so much as ticked his way to a false start — the next ball of yellow laundry thrown his way will be the first. Should he keep up his play, we could be seeing a rookie tackle strapping it up in Honolulu for the second consecutive season (Browns OLT Joe Thomas did the trick last year).


http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/Features/Rookie+of+the+Year+Meter/2008/rookie05.htm

[TXBRONC]

He has amazed me. I didn't think he would be starting as rookie and when he got the starting job I had doubts he would be this good this fast. Unlike some here and there I didn't think he was to dumb to be a starting LT in the NFL but to be honest I thought it would take him about a year to get acclimated and understand Denver's blocking scheme.

Clady keep up the hard work and your team will continue to be successful. :salute:

[Lonestar]

AS I stated in another thread I did not like the selection of Clady in particular because of the "WAC" competition level..

I would have rather had William and Albert..

While I have LONG advocated spending day one picks on the LOS guys even though foster was a total bust IMO.. It has been proven forever that you win and lose at the LOS and getting outcasts deep in the draft did nothing to protect the QB in pocket passing scheme..

I'm Glad to have been wrong in his selection and was very worried to be starting two virtual rookies at OT and another one at RG..

The OLINE has been one of the bright spots on this team this year..

Now lets see if someone can find a gem on day one for the DL.. NO more Pygmies that can only pass rush part time and be lousy against the running game..

[turftoad]

Looks likew we've got a stud on our hands for many years to come.

[dogfish]

Looks likew we've got a stud on our hands for many years to come.

oh yea-- sky's the limit for this guy. . . . i don't want to get TOO far ahead of myself, but he sure looks like the kind of player that could go to six or eight pro bowls and bring home a couple all-pro selections. . . i still think he has room to improve as a straight-ahead run blocker, but i have to admit that i never thought he would play this well as a rookie-- he's greatly exceeded my expectations, and i would have to guess that pretty much everyone must be thrilled with the way he's stepped into a crucial position and played at a high level from day one. . .

i wouldn't be suprised if a few years from now it's another situation like cutler's, where people say that if that draft was done over, he would have gone even higher. . . it's sure nice to see us not only hitting on our high picks for a change, but getting legitimate TOP QUALITY talent, not just functional guys. . . this team was desperate for some difference makers for most of the past decade. . . .

[Lonestar]

Looks like we've got a stud on our hands for many years to come.


lets hope we can afford him when the contract needs to be renewed.. with Jay, Marshall, and royale all coming due about the same time..

[dogfish]

lets hope we can afford him when the contract needs to be renewed.. with Jay, Marshall, and royale all coming due about the same time..

jay and marshall will be in the next year or so. . . in fact, i'll pretty much guarantee you that we'll be dealing with a marshall hold out over the offseason if we don't sign him to a monster extension. . . he's played three years under his rookie deal, which i'm guessing will be done after next season-- with him producing like one of the top receivers in the league the past two years, he and his agent both know that he has greatly out-produced his fourth round deal. . . i just can't see him being willing to play another season for peanuts when he might be the best young receiver in football. . .

[TXBRONC]

oh yea-- sky's the limit for this guy. . . . i don't want to get TOO far ahead of myself, but he sure looks like the kind of player that could go to six or eight pro bowls and bring home a couple all-pro selections. . . i still think he has room to improve as a straight-ahead run blocker, but i have to admit that i never thought he would play this well as a rookie-- he's greatly exceeded my expectations, and i would have to guess that pretty much everyone must be thrilled with the way he's stepped into a crucial position and played at a high level from day one. . .

i wouldn't be suprised if a few years from now it's another situation like cutler's, where people say that if that draft was done over, he would have gone even higher. . . it's sure nice to see us not only hitting on our high picks for a change, but getting legitimate TOP QUALITY talent, not just functional guys. . . this team was desperate for some difference makers for most of the past decade. . . .

I wouldn't be surprise either if a few years from now they say the same thing about Clady.

I hope you wont get mad at me for adding Ryan Harris to this conversation. :fear: I would like to say that what he has done to this point is almost as impressive as what Clady has done.

[Lonestar]

jay and marshall will be in the next year or so. . . in fact, i'll pretty much guarantee you that we'll be dealing with a marshall hold out over the offseason if we don't sign him to a monster extension. . . he's played three years under his rookie deal, which i'm guessing will be done after next season-- with him producing like one of the top receivers in the league the past two years, he and his agent both know that he has greatly out-produced his fourth round deal. . . i just can't see him being willing to play another season for peanuts when he might be the best young receiver in football. . .


Your correct but we have a alot of talent coming up for BIG fat contracts over the next few years and frankly we have not had a lot of extra money laying around for almost a decade.. but then of course we have averaged $20 million or so each year in dead cap space..

Perhaps now that we are building more via the draft our overall cap space and dead money will make it possible to sign Jay, Marshall, Clady, Royale, Doom, Scheffler, Harris, Kuper, Robertson, Thomas, maybe Moss, crowder, if they stick and there replacements if they do not..

I do not see where all this money is going to come from..

[TXBRONC]

jay and marshall will be in the next year or so. . . in fact, i'll pretty much guarantee you that we'll be dealing with a marshall hold out over the offseason if we don't sign him to a monster extension. . . he's played three years under his rookie deal, which i'm guessing will be done after next season-- with him producing like one of the top receivers in the league the past two years, he and his agent both know that he has greatly out-produced his fourth round deal. . . i just can't see him being willing to play another season for peanuts when he might be the best young receiver in football. . .

And I don't see Shanahan not wanting to get Marshall signed to a long term deal.

[slim]

jay and marshall will be in the next year or so. . . in fact, i'll pretty much guarantee you that we'll be dealing with a marshall hold out over the offseason if we don't sign him to a monster extension. . . he's played three years under his rookie deal, which i'm guessing will be done after next season-- with him producing like one of the top receivers in the league the past two years, he and his agent both know that he has greatly out-produced his fourth round deal. . . i just can't see him being willing to play another season for peanuts when he might be the best young receiver in football. . .

Damn you dog...why do you have to ruin my weekend with this kind of talk?

Of course you are right, I just hope they step up to the plate early and get something done. If not, this type of thing could get ugly.

[BroncoJoe]

I don't normally watch the line play much during the game, but the past two games, I have.

This kid is the real deal.

[BroncoJoe]

While I do believe Marshall will want a "mega" contract soon, I also believe he understands that at least 1/2 of his success is due to having Cutler throwing it to him, as well as the good relationship they have.

[Lonestar]

I don't normally watch the line play much during the game, but the past two games, I have.

This kid is the real deal.

Being an OLD ORG I watch the LOS stuff more than the actual plays..glad I have tivo for most of those games..

[Lonestar]

While I do believe Marshall will want a "mega" contract soon, I also believe he understands that at least 1/2 of his success is due to having Cutler throwing it to him, as well as the good relationship they have.

I doubt he would get it as we speak look at how screwed up most WR are..

He is still very immature as his antics over the past couple of years have showed..

Perhaps his relationship with the Broncos will override the "ME" factor most Wr seem to get.. Knowing that mikey has been at his side when he has done something really stupid each of the times he has done it..

[dogfish]

Damn you dog...why do you have to ruin my weekend with this kind of talk?



you got beer in the fridge, right? see, the weekend's not ruined. . . . :beer:



While I do believe Marshall will want a "mega" contract soon, I also believe he understands that at least 1/2 of his success is due to having Cutler throwing it to him, as well as the good relationship they have.


i believe that he'll want to stay in denver for that reason, but i don't believe that it will make him accept less money than close to what he'd get on the open market-- rising young superstars aren't known to give much in the way of hometown discounts, especially when they've been playing on fourth round deals and this is their first shot at the big time. . . marshall has earned a top-dollar contract, not only with his ability to get open and catch the ball, but also with his desire to fight for extra yards and the work he puts in blocking for the running game. . . if we want to keep him, we're going to have to pay him what he's worth- there's no point kidding ourselves. . . bernard berrian got like sixty-two million, how much more will marshall be worth?

it's going to be interesting watching things develop over the next few years. . . it's been a while since this franchise even had players that anyone else would want, so losing guys to free agency hasn't been a concern of ours-- but it's about to be. . . which makes it more important than ever that we continue to draft well. . . there'll be some tough choices coming up, and if we don't find some young defensive talent through the draft, they're going to have to decide whether to let some of our weapons go if they want to add veteran talent on the D. . . .

oh well, it beats the hell out of a few years ago, when our talent level just wasn't high enough to really compete at this level. . .

[TXBRONC]

you got beer in the fridge, right? see, the weekend's not ruined. . . . :beer:





i believe that he'll want to stay in denver for that reason, but i don't believe that it will make him accept less money than close to what he'd get on the open market-- rising young superstars aren't known to give much in the way of hometown discounts, especially when they've been playing on fourth round deals and this is their first shot at the big time. . . marshall has earned a top-dollar contract, not only with his ability to get open and catch the ball, but also with his desire to fight for extra yards and the work he puts in blocking for the running game. . . if we want to keep him, we're going to have to pay him what he's worth- there's no point kidding ourselves. . . bernard berrian got like sixty-two million, how much more will marshall be worth?

it's going to be interesting watching things develop over the next few years. . . it's been a while since this franchise even had players that anyone else would want, so losing guys to free agency hasn't been a concern of ours-- but it's about to be. . . which makes it more important than ever that we continue to draft well. . . there'll be some tough choices coming up, and if we don't find some young defensive talent through the draft, they're going to have to decide whether to let some of our weapons go if they want to add veteran talent on the D. . . .

oh well, it beats the hell out of a few years ago, when our talent level just wasn't high enough to really compete at this level. . .

We know that Jay is a no-brainer. You don't let a franchise quarterback and potential Super Bowl titles just walk out the door. I think Marshall falls in that same category, with as young as he is and his strong work ethic in practice and on the field it's hard to let a player like him just walk away.

I could see us in the same position of Colts of just few years ago. They had Manning, James, Wayne, Harrison, and Freeney all having to be re-signed or let go all within a year or two of each other. The only guy they let walk away was James. Now I don't know what Denver's financial situation will be in few years but I can easily see Denver finding away to get our core players signed to long term deals. When you have players already on your team that are elite and can get you championship you find a way to make them happy.

[horsepig]

I watch the games about the same Jr, I watch the live play and then TIVO it to scrutinize the LOS. It's the only way to see what's really going on, and Clady's my man, he looks like an old pro out there.

[horsepig]

I just wish I could do the same thing on defense so I could see the coverage schemes but, the television guys only show past the front 7 after big pass plays, oh well.

[REB]

Saturday, October 18, 2008


A Closer Look: New England Patriots




The Broncos and Patriots will face off Monday night at Gillette Stadium.


By Gray Caldwell
DenverBroncos.com

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- For the second time in seven weeks, the Broncos will be under the bright lights of Monday Night Football.

The first go-around pitted the Broncos against the division-rival Oakland Raiders, and Denver came away with a 41-14 victory. This time the Broncos travel to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Patriots.

The Patriots have been one of the best teams in the NFL in recent memory, but this year things have started a little more slowly than the team probably would have hoped after a 16-0 regular season last year. Quarterback Tom Brady went out for the season with a Week 1 season, leaving the team with the untested Matt Cassel, a fourth-year quarterback who hasn't seen playing time as a starter since high school.

Cassel said it's been a learning experience for him, stepping into the MVP-sized shoes Brady left behind with his injury.

"You get thrown into the position, and you just try to take a deep breath and say, 'Here we go,' he said. "You get going, you just start to work your way into the position and you learn as you go."

But while he's learning, Cassel did admit his life has changed a good bit from seven weeks ago.

"It's changed a lot, especially from the responsibilities factor," he said. "Week in, week out, there's a lot more added responsibility. Then from the outside there's obviously a little bit more attention from the media and I have a lot more people asking for my time. But when you get actually into the stadium, most of it's the same."

Overcoming a blow like losing Brady would be tough for any team, but the Patriots have managed to get out to a 3-2 record heading into their Week 7 matchup against the Broncos.

It's not the prolific Patriots offense of a year ago, but any team with receivers like Randy Moss and the elusive Wes Welker will be fine. The Patriots have also been using a running back-by-committee system, similar to in Denver. The team sports the No. 21 overall offense in the league right now, but Head Coach Mike Shanahan said the offense has the potential to be just as dangerous as it was last season.

"I think that they are running the same offense that they did with Tom," Shanahan said. "There are check-offs and protection schemes that change throughout the game. Tom was unbelievable with double teams, getting the line redirected to blitzers and getting the team to a perfect play."

But Shanahan said Cassel is doing an admirable job, never having played in the league.

"He is obviously a big, tall, rangy guy," he said. "Obviously Tom has a few more starts than Matt, but it is a growing experience for any quarterback. You are not going to come in right away and light it up, but I think he is doing an excellent job."

Part of the reason the Patriots have been able to maintain a winning record even without their go-to quarterback is the play of the traditionally stingy defense. Even that unit has had its struggles so far this season, but it still ranks No. 15 in the league.

Michael Pittman said the defense is tough, and a lot of it has to do with the amount of veterans on the squad. When you've been in the league a long time, you don't often miss your gap assigments, for example.

"Their defensive line –- they’re good," Pittman said. "And their linebackers too. They’ve got a lot of veterans on that defense that are very smart. A couple times, people have broke big plays on them, but you’ve just got to gameplan on them. We’ve got to hope we can break some big plays on them. But they’ve got a great team -- 16-0 last year. It’s going to be tough."

Recently the Broncos have had some success against the Patriots -- more so than any other team in the league, in fact. Since 2001, when New England began its string of deep playoff runs, the Broncos have a 5-1 record against the Pats.

Daniel Graham, who played in New England before he came to Denver, said he remembers the struggles his former team had against his current team.

"Every time we played the Broncos they had our number when I was up there," he said. "I recall just winning one time. Coach Shanahan has a great scheme against the Patriots, and we are hopefully looking forward to that this week also."

But Shanahan has said the past is the past, and both organizations have put out very different teams this year than even one season ago. Brandon Marshall agreed, saying the record is irrelevant to him, because 2008 is a whole new season.

He admitted that this game is big, however, not only due to the fact that the Patriots have had so much recent success, but because the national spotlight will be shining on both teams.

"It is a big game," Marshall said. "It is Monday night and everybody is going to be watching. You get a lot of exposure for our team and organization. You get to show everybody what we are about.

"That is what I play for -- games like this."

[Skinny]

Broncos Join List Of Teams Eyeing Wake (http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=917614)
Mike Beamish, Canwest News Service

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

VANCOUVER - The pessimist's view is that Cam Wake has played his final game at BC Place. The optimist's view is that he'll play under the dome one more time.

However you want to look at it, the dynamic defensive end won't be around much longer in a B.C. Lions jersey.

From the moment the Lions' training camp began in June, when Dallas Cowboys scout Sammy Garza showed up on opening day, through Wednesday, when Garza's father-in-law, Cal Murphy, representing the Indianapolis Colts, put in an appearance at practice in Surrey, B.C., the NFL's Wake Watch has been on.

Asked if he recognized that the older gentleman wearing the white ballcap with the blue horseshoe logo on the front was from the Colts, Wake quipped, "Really? He's from the Colts? I thought the horseshoe was a good luck charm."

Fred Fleming, a pro scout for the Denver Broncos, said NFL teams really don't have to go to all this trouble. Videotape evidence is easy to get. And, as he pointed out, anybody can go to YouTube and download images of Wake showing off his 47 1/2-inch vertical jump by snatching paper money taped to the locker room ceiling to see that he's special.

Still, the scouts want to get a firsthand crash course on a player who's running roughshod over the CFL, to see if he can translate to heavy duty time in the NFL. Wake is contractually free to flee at the end of this season.

"It's amazing to me how a player with that amount of talent gets away (Wake was released by the New York Giants) and now we're trying to bring him back," Fleming says. "He has an opportunity to start for us.

There are maybe 9-10 teams looking at him. I just wanted to meet him after the game to show him we're interested. Anything we've heard about the young man is that he's outstanding, including his character."

Even though Wake's bountiful season has hit a roadblock - he has a league-leading 20 sacks but only two have come in his past four games, when he's faced double-teaming and nefarious scheming - the Lion is still contributing in other remarkable ways. A blocked field goal attempt one week, a 45-yard fumble return for a touchdown the next, have served to highlight other aspects of his repertoire.

"It's sad the way (CFL) teams are keying on him," says Aaron Hunt, the Lions' defensive tackle who was named defensive player of the week Wednesday after a three-sack performance against Toronto. "I really wanted to see him break the sack record (26.5). It's crazy. Teams will do anything they can to keep him from getting a sack. That's why it was huge for me to get defensive player of the week. He's still making his presence felt despite the double teams. Even if it's not a sack, Cam will still do something in a game that's amazing."

Both Fleming and Murphy think the CFL's best pass rusher will have to weigh his options carefully and opt for the NFL team that offers the best fit, not necessarily the one that offers the heftiest signing bonus.

Fleming naturally thinks Wake would be a good complement in Denver, a team where the defence is in disorder and usually needs to score big to win.

"Sure, it would disappointing for the Lions to lose him to us," Fleming says. "But if these guys (Lions)_needed a player, and there was a player down in Denver we were releasing, Wally'd be the first guy I call."

Buono chuckles at the mention of player pipeline between Denver and Vancouver.

"We almost made a trade with the Broncos one year," he says. "Jarious Jackson (then with the Broncos) for Marc Boerigter (a receiver with the Stampeders). Jack Elway (a Broncos scout and father of Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway) and I were just goofing around. You can't trade a contract from one league to another."

Too bad the Lions can't cash in on a transfer fee, as the small soccer clubs do in Europe, when a wanted player is swapped to a rich team. But Buono seems resigned to the fact he'll lose Wake to the bigger league and he's comfortable with that. It's why he has no intention of making the attempt to sign him to a new deal. Perhaps on the rebound, if it comes to that.

"As much as I'm being harassed for not making Cam an offer, I believe he's going to get what he wants - an (NFL) opportunity," Buono says. "If it doesn't happen, then we can talk."

Buono could be waiting a long time.

Cameron Wake Video (http://www.cfl.ca/media/video/id/5477)

[dogfish]

looks good, sounds good. . . but at 6'3" 241 he's tiny for an NFL end. . . wouldn't necessarily matter if they want to use him as a pass rush specialist, but he sure isn't going to help anyone's run defense at that size. . . we need all the help we can get, though-- i won't complain about them giving somebody else a chance, and it's not like there are a lot of other options available right now. . . .

[Lonestar]

looks like he is getting a lot of help from the rest of the DL..

Has the speed but does not look like he is much bigger than what we have in doom and moss.

[hamrob]

As for Clady...let's see how he handles Porter on Sunday. That should be a great test for him. He's looked good so far...but he hasn't hit the rookie wall yet either.

Marshall is a great WR in Denver...he would only be a good WR elsewhere in my opinion. He's a big guy who can dominate CB's and make yards after the catch. But he's not the guy that will run by you and score a quick six. He's essentially an H-back in our offense. Nowhere else would he get the number of balls that he'll get in Denver where Cutler is in love with him. If his agent is smart, he gets him to sign for less to stay in Denver...so that there's another big payday down the road. Should Marshall go elsewhere...there most likely will only be one big payday for him.

[dogfish]

November
Nov. 20, 2008
Injury-prone label sticking to Broncos TE Scheffler


We hear Broncos TE Tony Scheffler is not completely healed from a groin injury that forced him to miss three games — all of which were Denver losses — earlier this season. Sources say Denver’s pass-catching tight end has a mix of good and bad days and there’s no indication that he’ll completely get over the injury anytime soon. No one questions his talent or his toughness, but there are growing doubts about his ability to make it through a full season healthy, sources say. Prior to the groin issue, Scheffler missed a chunk of offseason training with a foot injury and health problems have been fairly constant throughout his three-year career. It’s not a huge concern for him yet, but if Scheffler doesn’t disprove the injury-prone notion in the near future, the dreaded label, which comes into play in contract negotiations, will be hard for him to shed.


Nov. 14, 2008
Broncos DE Dumervil gets back in the groove


Updated at 9:30 a.m. CST Monday, Nov. 17

After a disappointing start, sources in Denver say Broncos DE Elvis Dumervil could be in for a strong second half of the season. In the past few weeks, Dumervil has looked more like the player that hunted down quarterbacks for 12½ sacks last season. He didn’t have a sack through the first four games, when he was playing basically with just one able hand. His injured right pinkie had pins in it, which severely limited his ability to gain leverage. Dumervil, who’s undersized for a defensive end, relies more than most players on his arms and hands to gain an advantage. Since the pins were removed in late September, the third-year veteran has three sacks, and another one was negated by a Dolphins penalty in Week Nine. In Week 11, Dumervil didn’t have any sacks but did record a QB hit. With the defense ailing from a slew of injuries, Dumervil is being counted on to make big plays down the stretch.