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View Full Version : Klis: Walton and Beadles reliable anchors on Broncos' O-line



Denver Native (Carol)
02-19-2012, 12:07 PM
Just because J.D. Walton and Zane Beadles have much in common professionally doesn't mean they have to share outside interests.

For this Presidents Day weekend, Walton was headed off on a hunting trip in West Texas. Beadles was playing tourist in New York City.

"Never been," Beadles said. "I'm at Ground Zero now. That's a must. Anything else I see is gravy."

rest - http://www.denverpost.com/klis/ci_19996339

Ziggy
02-19-2012, 05:54 PM
Klis really played it safe with this one. Notice how he talks about the quantitiy of plays, and not the quality.

G_Money
02-20-2012, 12:55 AM
I can see Klis and I really disagree on the value of Beadles.

~G

Joel
02-20-2012, 09:27 AM
"I guess staying in shape during the lockout was important, but credit to the coaches for keeping us healthy and not making us hit every week was nice."—J.D. Walton.

Not letting guys pick you up and club your QB and RBs with your useless body is important, too; if hitting on the practice field every week translates into hitting on the game field every week, please do it. The impressive thing about McGahee going over 1000 yards is not that he did it taking less than half our snaps, but that he did it despite routinely getting hit at or behind the line. It's great that 2/3 of our starting guards have started every game of the last two seasons, but less encouraging to to consider how many times many of our RBs DIDN'T start this year, and how much they were hobbled by injury when they did.

It's scary to think Beadles and Walton may be our best Gs. :eek: I'm not saying Tebow is perfect, but this idea the pass protection would be perfectly fine if he'd just take a three step drop or make a hot read to one out of two or three receivers on 75% of downs is tedious. If a QB must live off three step drops, his pass blocking sucks; if he and the backs are constantly hit at the line on runs, his run blocking does, too. Leading the league in rushing just because we called a ridiculous number of runs and have strong, powerful pile movers at QB and (starting) RB don't change that.

I REALLY hope we draft a G early unless (perhaps even if) we sign a top FA; the only reason that's not DEFINITELY my top priority is because our secondary is such a Swiss chees embarrassment and liability.

Dirk
02-20-2012, 09:36 AM
I totally agree with you on one point Joel....the pass protection of the O-line is putrid. Run blocking was better than average IMO though.

Jsteve01
02-20-2012, 09:49 AM
I totally agree with you on one point Joel....the pass protection of the O-line is putrid. Run blocking was better than average IMO though.

It wasn't better than avg it was having a better than avg running qb and and an excellent rb that made it look so good.

SOCALORADO.
02-20-2012, 10:29 AM
Beadles is an average player so far.
Walton was above average. He had alot on his plate at center, and i dont think alot of fans realize how hard it is to play center.
I say sign Carl Nicks in FA, and have the best O-line in football.
Beadles can be a solid depth player.

Ziggy
02-20-2012, 06:46 PM
Beadles is an average player so far.
Walton was above average. He had alot on his plate at center, and i dont think alot of fans realize how hard it is to play center.
I say sign Carl Nicks in FA, and have the best O-line in football.
Beadles can be a solid depth player.

Beadles can provide depth at center, guard, and tackle. As bad as he is as a starter, he might be the most valuable backup on the team. Nicks is going to have about 20 teams hot on his heels when free agency begins. Right now, the Broncos are an offensive lineman's wet dream. If EFX wants Nicks, I think we have a shot.

Lancane
02-20-2012, 09:32 PM
Walton has steadily improved and I believe it's been difficult for both Walton and Beadles, for two seasons the blocking schemes have been erratic, switching from man-to-man to zone to man-to-man and back to zone, and of course that changes with each change of the offensive scheme also. It's hectic to really grade a lineman with all that going on. And Walton has in my opinion proven that he is flexible in that aspect, but Beadles has struggled.

Depending on what the front office feels, they could allow Beadles another season, usually it's three seasons before a staff will give up on a player they themselves drafted. Don't be surprised if he is the starting left guard come camp, but I do expect them to bring in competition, but not of Nicks caliber, we'll be looking at lineman such as Mackenzy Bernadeau (CAR) who started for Coach Fox and Coach Magazu two years back or Mike Brisiel (HOU) who started thirteen games this year for the Texans and is a graduate of Colorado State University IMHO. The other possibility is drafting someone in the mid rounds, but I have a feeling that Denver will want to go BPA and not have to count on any particular position come the draft.

Ziggy
02-20-2012, 09:38 PM
I have a feeling that Denver will want to go BPA and not have to count on any particular position come the draft.

So few around here understand this concept, but I'm glad that EFX does.

TheReverend
02-21-2012, 09:27 AM
Beadles is an average player so far.
Walton was above average. He had alot on his plate at center, and i dont think alot of fans realize how hard it is to play center.
I say sign Carl Nicks in FA, and have the best O-line in football.
Beadles can be a solid depth player.

I wouldn't refer to what Beadles does as average.

He ole's more blocker than he puts his hands on.
He's a waist bender.
He's GREAT at pulling and getting upfield...
...but when he does he NEVER hits anyone. It's almost like he thinks he's racing the ball carrier and doing nothing else.

One of the most frustrating Broncos alongside "Good"man

Joel
02-21-2012, 11:23 AM
It wasn't better than avg it was having a better than avg running qb and and an excellent rb that made it look so good.
It's not even that Tebow and McGahee are such phenomenal runners so much as the fact their particular assets (breaking tackles and moving piles with power running) help weak run blocking. Speedy and/or shifty runners would have trouble behind our line; even a Barry Sanders would. An Earl Campbell or Jerome Bettis, however, would have a field day, and it's no accident our starting RB is more similar to them than to a burner.

The biggest problem is that 1) if those power backs had holes that let them get 5 yards downfield before having to break a tackle they would gain a LOT more yards and 2) getting hit at or behind the line and having to break a tackle just to get back to the line of scrimmage, then break MORE to GAIN any yards, means they are often hurt. Again, how much time did our backs miss this season, and how often were they playing hurt?

Superchop 7
02-21-2012, 11:34 AM
Im ok with Walton but Beadles had some horrible games. They rarely run to his side of the line......cmon Klis.

Ziggy
02-21-2012, 02:22 PM
Im ok with Walton but Beadles had some horrible games. They rarely run to his side of the line......cmon Klis.
...and when they did, they had Kuper pulling to that side.

TheReverend
02-21-2012, 02:28 PM
...and when they did, they had Kuper pulling to that side.

Or were playing option off the DE with Clady downfield sealing the OLB.

bcbronc
02-21-2012, 05:14 PM
imo our OL is way underrated by this fan base. Not saying they're great, but they're not horrible either. They're probably lower middle third trending upwards.

Beadles and Walton do need to get stouter at the point of attack. Luckily, the easiest thing for a professional athlete to do is to get stronger. I'm completely fine having all five starters back next season and letting them mature as a unit. Who knows what they can do with an offseason to focus on refining the blocking scheme rather than relearning a new one.

Upgrade the depth, yes definitely. And if an upgrade on a starter is available, sure you do it, same as every other position. But I don't see OL as a top priority.

Joel
02-21-2012, 07:26 PM
imo our OL is way underrated by this fan base. Not saying they're great, but they're not horrible either. They're probably lower middle third trending upwards.

Beadles and Walton do need to get stouter at the point of attack. Luckily, the easiest thing for a professional athlete to do is to get stronger. I'm completely fine having all five starters back next season and letting them mature as a unit. Who knows what they can do with an offseason to focus on refining the blocking scheme rather than relearning a new one.

Upgrade the depth, yes definitely. And if an upgrade on a starter is available, sure you do it, same as every other position. But I don't see OL as a top priority.
Well, you and I have a strong difference of opinion there, 'cos we have very different impressions of the same data, but we both already knew that and that's fine. The nature of football typically makes isolating one players performance from the others difficult, because we seldom see any of them performing in isolation rather than in concert. That's true of the offensive line more than any other unit. If four guys are pancaking their assignments every down and the other one is whiffing, the D will pour through that hole all day long and terrorize the offensive backfield.

The thing is though, partly for that last reason and partly because good blocking is so indispensable to running AND passing, a good line is vital to a good offense. Without a lot of exceptional "skill" players, a mediocre line will never produce more than a mediocre offense, and mediocrity doesn't win championships. When folks say, "anyone can complete passes or run for lots of yards if no one tries to tackle them," my response is "precisely!"

I want Pro Bowl linemen, because a championship offense is impossible without them; unless we have a Steel Curtain or No Name D we can't win a Super Bowl without bona fide hogs (Elway ought to know that better than anyone.) Right now Clady's our only Pro Bowler (IF he regains his past form next season.) Beadles and Walton have had 34 starts to justify their #45 and #80 overall picks, and we're still waiting for them to do it: NEXT!

Simple Jaded
02-21-2012, 08:26 PM
Walton and Beadles are horrible. If it were coming from anyone other than Mike Klis this wouldn't be nearly as amusing.......

dogfish
02-21-2012, 08:46 PM
man, wait 'til elevation sees this. . . :lol:

iLands
02-21-2012, 09:29 PM
I'd love to see at least one pick in the draft for OL.

Joel
02-22-2012, 12:43 AM
I'd love to see at least one pick in the draft for OL.
Much as with CB, I'd like to get a top FA AND draft one early, because one stud can't lock up the position for us. Replace the train wrecks that are Goodman/Beadles and we'd still have a gaping hole in Walton/whoever plays CB when Champ goes to FS. Plus, even the most highly touted rookie is unknown quantity; Beadles was considered a top guard in the 2010 draft.... http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8112f2a3