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Tned
08-11-2012, 01:35 PM
Here's a nice piece on Elway by Dan Mohrmann of Mile High Sports.


PAVING THE PATH

John Elway has done a masterful job in plotting the Broncos’ future
By Dan Mohrmann | @DanMohrmann

An odd feeling had to overcome Broncos fans as the clock expired on the team’s 31-3 preseason victory over the Chicago Bears. For the first time since the end of the 2007 season, fans could look at the team with a feeling of certainty and comfort.

That’s a feeling that has eluded the Broncos faithful since the day Mike Shanahan was fired and the franchise was thrown into a revolving door of head coaches and quarterback controversies. The long path to recovery began the night Pat Bowlen mercifully fired Josh McDaniels. Hours later, Bowlen sat down with John Elway to discuss the potential of Elway rejoining the organization he quarterbacked to two Super Bowl victories.

When Elway accepted the position of executive vice-president of football operations, he had no desire...

Read the full the article here: http://www.milehighsports.com/?p=11591

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OrangeHoof
08-11-2012, 01:50 PM
There's no certainty and comfort after ONE preseason game!!! Get real!

It's not every GM who has a chance to land Peyton Manning so I'm not sure Elway should get a ton of credit there (some, but it isn't like finding a Terrell Davis or Tom Brady). What may be the smartest and least acknowledged move he's done was hiring Fox and Del Gutter. I think these two are going to work wonders on defense that may eventually outshine Peyton and the offense (which will still get the glam). It's been ages since the Broncos had a D to write home about (try those Orange Crush days of the late 70s and early 80s) but I can see one taking shape in Denver. It's not there yet but give Foxy another year or two.

Northman
08-11-2012, 02:14 PM
You may not feel good about it all Hoof, but i sure do. I havent felt this positive or great about this team in quite a long time.

Ziggy
08-11-2012, 02:38 PM
The talent level on this team is leaps and bounds above what it was two years ago.

Manning
Osweiler
Franklin
McGahee
Hillman
Tamme
Dreeson
Stokely
Warren
Wolfe
Jackson
Miller
Trevathan
Florence
Moore
Porter
Harris
Bannan

These guys are all improvements over the players that were playing in thier spots on the depth chart two years ago. I'm sure I've forgotten a few, but all of these guys are upgrades at both starters and backups.

Davii
08-11-2012, 02:45 PM
I think the article might overstate it a bit, but he's mostly right. If you aren't excited for this season, you have to at least admit that the future looks bright. I'm more excited than I have been in a long time.

Nomad
08-11-2012, 02:52 PM
I think the article might overstate it a bit, but he's mostly right. If you aren't excited for this season, you have to at least admit that the future looks bright. I'm more excited than I have been in a long time.

True! I wasn't going another season without the Sunday Ticket. The last few years I was not very motivated to get it back (after having it since 99), but I'm anxious for this season and getting to watch the games live on my TV instead of a computer. I will say last year was exciting as well because we got more games than usual up here.

OrangeHoof
08-11-2012, 04:22 PM
Some of you guys are getting way too cocky after one preseason game. Starters played what - have a quarter? The Bears sat who - Forte, Urlacher...? I'm hopeful, sure, and the personnel is trending up but it's just way too soon to get arrogant.

Canmore
08-11-2012, 04:23 PM
You may not feel good about it all Hoof, but i sure do. I havent felt this positive or great about this team in quite a long time.

I'm with you North. It has been about seven seasons since I felt this excited. I know the schedule, especially the first half is brutal, but give this team some time to gel and i think we may have a real contender. I'm looking for a second half of the season run and a playoff birth. If that comes to fruition, anything is possible. Elway has done a wonderful job of making this team competitive. I have very few qualms with the moves he has made.

Nomad
08-11-2012, 04:30 PM
I'm confident in this team, not arrogant or cocky. It's makes a big difference when you have a QB like Peyton Manning at the helm.

Northman
08-11-2012, 05:03 PM
I'm confident in this team, not arrogant or cocky. It's makes a big difference when you have a QB like Peyton Manning at the helm.

Exactly.

Cugel
08-11-2012, 05:19 PM
I haven't felt this good about a Broncos team since Elway retired. Not even close. Back in 2005 they had a great season, but I always knew that Jake Plummer could never win a SB so expectations were limited.

When Jay Cutler came to town I thought there was a QB who COULD win a championship, but the team had such a weak defense it was never remotely possible and they failed to make the playoffs each of the last 3 years of Shanahan's reign after defensive collapses.

Then came the bastinado of the entire McDaniels era when all hope died.

Last year was clearly going to be a rebuilding year when the shell-shocked survivors crawled out of the ruins war-torn Berlin.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bOIt7G8UwqA/SFAgcxaKzVI/AAAAAAAAB4Q/C9AmXxF0TK0/s400/3.jpg

When you think how utterly HORRIBLE the 2007-2010 drafts were when Ryan Clady was virtually the only really good player taken, it's amazing the job Elway & Co. have done in such a short time!

2009 -- top 2 round picks utterly wasted on Moreno and Robert Ayers, Alphonso Smith and Darcel McBath.
2010 -- Tim Tebow

Compare that to the 2011 & 2012 draft. Von Miller was defensive rookie of the year of course, but Rahim Moore is now playing with renewed confidence. He's looking like he might start at SS ahead of Quinton Carter, but Carter certainly isn't bad.

Orlando Franklin still is a work in progress but he's starting at RT and has great potential. He has to improve his pass blocking this season though.

Nate Irving is still a backup, but he's looking like he will be a USEFUL backup now instead of the second coming of Terry Pierce.

And this year Derek Wolfe has looked good so far; I didn't like the Osweiler pick, but as a player he's looked promising, Ronnie Hillman has shown potential, and 6th rounder Danny Trevathan looks like a keeper. Phillip Blake will be on the PS this season and could develop at C in the future.

So, all in all two solid drafts in two years plus the astounding coup of all time in landing Peyton Manning in FA.

Plus Jack Del Rio has the defense playing well together. It's a turnaround nothing short of amazing when you consider that the wasted draft picks SHOULD be the core of this team.

tomjonesrocks
08-11-2012, 07:48 PM
Time will tell of course, but the turnaround in this team so far has been incredible considering where they were.

Champions--the greats--get lucky and cash in on opportunities.

I was convinced McD had set Denver up for a decade of utter futility. Have to give credit where it's due. Elway seems to know WTF he is doing.

Simple Jaded
08-11-2012, 08:52 PM
Elway didn't trade two #3's for Julius Thomas or a future #1 for Chris Harris, that's progress.......

Day1BroncoFan
08-12-2012, 02:38 PM
I have great hopes but am in wait and see mode. I don't want to get my expectations up too high. It looks good, it seems good, it should be good, but... we'll see.

broncofaninfla
08-12-2012, 04:28 PM
For the first time since Shanny Im optimistic about the season and the direction Elway has this team going. Granted its early but I feel much better about the Broncos than I ever did with Mcstake and Co

G_Money
08-12-2012, 09:14 PM
The talent and schemes on our last few teams have been...suspect. When we had a good scheme (Nolan's D) we threw it overboard. You could make a good chunk of a Pro Bowl team out of players we traded for too little return or passed over in the draft.

So now to again have multiple TE options, receivers, RBs, a HOF QB, more depth and talent on both lines, and some improvement in the back 7 (including a monster LB)?

That's not bad for 2 offseasons. We're a place veterans want to come again, something that was crucial in our title runs in the 90s. We have defensive coaches and an offensive genius at QB. We had one of the worst locker rooms going, incredible strife, made the news more for infractions and dissent than results, and all of a sudden have a cohesive plan for the future.

If Elway is right about Osweiler we'll be really good for a while. Will we be great? I dunno. I hope so, if not this year then next as we get through our adjustment period and incredibly rough schedule. I was not a huge fan of this past draft, but Elway has a plan and his plan is way better than Josh's was.

I'm willing to get behind it and ride it out for sure. Does one preseason game prove anything? Nope - except maybe that we're quite a bit deeper than Chicago, which was not at all true the last couple of years. Our OL depth still concerns me, but I'll just hope it doesn't come into play much, and it's still better than last year.

We'll see how the plan shakes out when the games count, but based on talent, depth, coaching, and attitude? We're MILES ahead of those McDaniels teams. I don't think we match up with the cream of the league just yet, but we can get there, and in 2010 we had no way to even envision a path to that location. John's plotting job thus far has been really good. When we see how his plans from this draft and offseason affect the team outcome, maybe we'll even be further along than I think.

I'd love that. It's good to be relevant.

~G