PDA

View Full Version : Broncos' Royal sees production drop



Denver Native (Carol)
09-24-2009, 02:38 PM
It is apparent that there will be no major stars now on the offensive side of the ball with the new system.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13411610

With all the attention paid to Brandon Marshall's stat reduction, Eddie Royal has quietly been quiet.

Marshall has followed back-to-back, 100-catch, 1,200-yard-plus seasons with only seven catches for 61 yards and no touchdowns through two games this year.

But what about Royal? He had 91 catches for 980 yards last year but has only five receptions for 38 yards this year.

"We haven't thrown him the ball a lot," Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said today.

And why not?

"Because there's other guys open or somebody is trying to take Eddie away," McDaniels said. "Eddie's patient. Eddie knows what we do with our offense. Some weeks there will be 12 balls thrown at him. Some weeks there might be three. We're not going to try and jam it into one guy when we have 10 players that are worth throwing the ball too."

In the first NFL game Royal played, he had nine catches for 146 yards and a touchdown.

Where have you gone, DeAngelo Hall?

Royal had that sensational debut in the season opener last year, when he torched Hall and the Oakland Raiders in a 41-14 victory at McAfee Stadium. Hall was later released and is now playing with Washington.

Royal is off to a slower start this season as the Broncos return to Oakland on Sunday afternoon for an AFC West divisional game against the Raiders. Besides Marshall and Royal, the Broncos' No. 3 target from last season — tight end Tony Scheffler — also is down statistically with two catches for 31 yards.

Then again, the Broncos are 2-0. It's just a new way of doing business.

Another receiver, Brandon Stokley, who leads the team with 157 receiving yards, returned to practice Thursday after resting Wednesday with a thigh injury.

Tned
09-24-2009, 03:34 PM
These ties in to the Marshall conversation. Eddie is suffering from Marshall not being on the field. When Gaffney is in, nobody is double covering him, instead, they are going to shade safety help Eddie's way. When Marshall is in, they are double covering Marshall and Royal is going to be open more.

Some might say, "well, what about week 1 against the Raiders last year". You had two factors then. First, nobody was going to cover a rookie WR drafted primarily as a kick returner. Second, the CB he torched was cut a couple weeks later.

Simple fact is that Marshall on the field increases the other WR's production.

Dortoh
09-24-2009, 03:41 PM
Color me not concerned.

Royal is something like 8 catches from becoming the 2nd fasted wr to 100 catches.

He will get his.

TXBRONC
09-24-2009, 03:51 PM
Color me not concerned.

Royal is something like 8 catches from becoming the 2nd fasted wr to 100 catches.

He will get his.

I'm sure he'll reach 100 reception for his career pretty quickly, but at his current pace he wont be particularly productive and same with Marshall. Both he and Marshall will be more productive if they are both on the field at the same time.

Lonestar
09-24-2009, 05:04 PM
who cares, if we are throwing to the open man, instead of forcing the ball to BM or Eddie.. and is some cases when we have those open receivers have flat dropped the ball..

when is everyone going to get it that this system is NEW to everyone BUT gaffney..

folks sometimes you have to crawl before you walk and then run..

anyone thinking it would be 2008 re duex on O should realize by now nothing is the same..

it may take awhile to be NE WEST..

patience folks patience..:salute:


we are winning and the sky is not falling..

Slick
09-24-2009, 05:10 PM
who cares, if we are throwing to the open man, instead of forcing the ball to BM or Eddie.. and is some cases when we have those open receivers have flat dropped the ball..

when is everyone going to get it that this system is NEW to everyone BUT gaffney..

folks sometimes you have to crawl before you walk and then run..

anyone thinking it would be 2008 re duex on O should realize by now nothing is the same..

it may take awhile to be NE WEST..

patience folks patience..:salute:


we are winning and the sky is not falling..
I think the article was aimed at folks who have Royal on their fantasy football rosters.

dogfish
09-24-2009, 05:27 PM
cut him. . . .

Dean
09-24-2009, 06:04 PM
Color me not concerned.

Royal is something like 8 catches from becoming the 2nd fasted wr to 100 catches.

He will get his.

I looked completely through my coloring box. There isn't a one labeled concerned. . . and I have one of the big boxes. :D

What bothers me is so little yards after catch:
Stockley 11 for 157 (87 on one play),
Gaffney 9 for 107 (49 on one play)
Marshall 13 for 61
Royal 13 for 38.

I thought that the idea was to get them the ball in open space so they could beat one man and get yards after catch. That doesn't seem to be happening with any consistency.

Bronco9798
09-24-2009, 06:38 PM
Eddies a smart player. He'll start getting more passes as soon as him and Orton get it going together. It's just taking time.

LRtagger
09-24-2009, 06:57 PM
Players like Royal and Marshall will emerge in this offense....just like Wes Welker and Randy Moss did.

Bronco9798
09-24-2009, 07:03 PM
Players like Royal and Marshall will emerge in this offense....just like Wes Welker and Randy Moss did.

Lets just hope Marshall starts getting more reps and gets out of the doghouse. He could be huge in this system. When Gaffney ran that corner route in the end zone last week, I thought "oh man, why is he running that route and not Marshall." That was a horrible call by McDaniels for that situation. Gaffney isn't as tall and can't get up like Brandon. And nobody fears him.

Tned
09-24-2009, 07:05 PM
Lets just hope Marshall starts getting more reps and gets out of the doghouse. He could be huge in this system. When Gaffney ran that corner route in the end zone last week, I thought "oh man, why is he running that route and not Marshall." That was a horrible call by McDaniels for that situation. Gaffney isn't as tall and can't get up like Brandon. And nobody fears him.

Yep, I had the same thought. If Marshall ran that route, with the throw that Orton made, it would have been 6 points.

LRtagger
09-24-2009, 07:16 PM
Probably so, but at this point Gaffney runs better routes and gets better seperation than Marshall. I think Marshall will catch on, though.

topscribe
09-24-2009, 07:25 PM
Yep, I had the same thought. If Marshall ran that route, with the throw that Orton made, it would have been 6 points.

To be fair, I don't think Orton arched the pass enough. It was too flat, so
the defender was able to get his hands on it. Had Orton thrown it a bit higher
and dropped the ball on the other side, he would have done it as a fade route
should have been done, and Gaffney would have had a TD. I think that specific
play was on Orton, not the coaches for whom they had in there.

IMHO.

-----

shank
09-24-2009, 07:26 PM
To be fair, I don't think Orton arched the pass enough. It was too flat, so
the defender was able to get his hands on it. Had Orton thrown it a bit higher
and dropped the ball on the other side, he would have done it as a fade route
should have been done, and Gaffney would have had a TD.

IMHO.

-----

it COULD have been arched more, but it wasn't a bad throw. it wasn't a bad effort by gaffney either. more than anything, it was a really good defensive play.

IMHO ;)

topscribe
09-24-2009, 07:29 PM
it COULD have been arched more, but it wasn't a bad throw. it wasn't a bad effort by gaffney either. more than anything, it was a really good defensive play.

IMHO ;)

No, I'm not saying it was a terribly bad throw. I just think that, with a little
more arch in it, the pass would have cleared the defender. A fade is a tough
pass, but I've seen Orton excel in it, and this was not up to his usual
standards, IMO.

-----

Day1BroncoFan
09-24-2009, 07:53 PM
Maybe it was the glove he wears. He will be better after taking off the glove.

Tned
09-24-2009, 08:00 PM
it COULD have been arched more, but it wasn't a bad throw. it wasn't a bad effort by gaffney either. more than anything, it was a really good defensive play.

IMHO ;)

It was a good defensive play, and I will review it again when I get to the other room where I have the game recorded. From what I remember, Gaffney, partially due to his size I am sure, barely made a play on the ball.

Tned
09-24-2009, 08:03 PM
No, I'm not saying it was a terribly bad throw. I just think that, with a little
more arch in it, the pass would have cleared the defender. A fade is a tough
pass, but I've seen Orton excel in it, and this was not up to his usual
standards, IMO.

-----

To date, it was his best corner route. Against the Bengals, he threw one to the back corner on the two point conversion that Marshall had not shot at (even though some ripped on him for not extending his arms, even though his arms aren't 7' long), and during the Browns game, I think he overthrew Royal in the right corner.

Hopefully, that is a timing thing which will get better when he is more comfortable in the offense.

As to your earlier comment about arch under the ball. I think that is a bigger factor than the arm strengh people talk about. Orton seems inconsistant in the 'type' of ball he throws. Throwing a flat ball, when an arched one would work better. A hard throw when a soft one would be easer to catc. Etc.

The good news is that these are things that a good QB coach can probably help him with.

TXBRONC
09-24-2009, 08:15 PM
Lets just hope Marshall starts getting more reps and gets out of the doghouse. He could be huge in this system. When Gaffney ran that corner route in the end zone last week, I thought "oh man, why is he running that route and not Marshall." That was a horrible call by McDaniels for that situation. Gaffney isn't as tall and can't get up like Brandon. And nobody fears him.

Unfortunately Marshall was on the sideline at that time.

Kaylore
09-24-2009, 11:22 PM
Marshall will help this some, players learning the offense more will help too. I'd like to see us run more to get those safeties to cheat up so we can start getting more single coverage. If we ran more then that would help. This offense is still learning itself so I expect more growing pains as the season goes on and the coaches learn what the players are good at and like doing.

topscribe
09-24-2009, 11:34 PM
To date, it was his best corner route. Against the Bengals, he threw one to the back corner on the two point conversion that Marshall had not shot at (even though some ripped on him for not extending his arms, even though his arms aren't 7' long), and during the Browns game, I think he overthrew Royal in the right corner.

Hopefully, that is a timing thing which will get better when he is more comfortable in the offense.

As to your earlier comment about arch under the ball. I think that is a bigger factor than the arm strengh people talk about. Orton seems inconsistant in the 'type' of ball he throws. Throwing a flat ball, when an arched one would work better. A hard throw when a soft one would be easer to catc. Etc.

The good news is that these are things that a good QB coach can probably help him with.

The people who talk about Orton's arm strength talk out of ignorance (and
some just persist in it, despite the facts that have been laid before them).
However, you are right about putting the arch into the throw. That is
typical of young QBs (Cutler has occasionally had the same problem, in
fact), and Orton is essentially a young QB, having only two years'
experience actually on the field.

As you implied, he now has the coaching to help him with that, and I'm
sure that is what is happening. I predicted that Orton would probably not
"break out" until after the bye, and it seems to me that may be pretty
close to what will happen . . .

-----

TXBRONC
09-25-2009, 08:59 AM
Marshall will help this some, players learning the offense more will help too. I'd like to see us run more to get those safeties to cheat up so we can start getting more single coverage. If we ran more then that would help. This offense is still learning itself so I expect more growing pains as the season goes on and the coaches learn what the players are good at and like doing.

This has crossed my mind as well. We have solid stable of running backs in my opinion if we ran the ball a little more it would take some pressure off of Orton.

T.K.O.
09-25-2009, 11:14 AM
i think we will see a "run heavy" offense this week,as we will need to play "smash mouth " style against the raiders and wear down that big d-line
of coarse if nambi assmuggah is still struggling,orton could torch them for 300+ and 3 tds.
but i think we will see a low scoring game until the 4th quarter when we run up the score 38-17:salute:

Northman
09-25-2009, 11:30 AM
I looked completely through my coloring box. There isn't a one labeled concerned. . . and I have one of the big boxes. :D

What bothers me is so little yards after catch:
Stockley 11 for 157 (87 on one play),
Gaffney 9 for 107 (49 on one play)
Marshall 13 for 61
Royal 13 for 38.

I thought that the idea was to get them the ball in open space so they could beat one man and get yards after catch. That doesn't seem to be happening with any consistency.


As long as it produces wins i dont care what the stats say to be honest.

Dr Velcro
09-25-2009, 12:34 PM
IMO-

I don't think Orton is used to having anybody on the other end to catch a ball, lol!

I'm not too pleased with Orton throwing to Gaffney so much. I don't think he's even good enough to be starting. Then again, I'm not really pleased with any of Orton's decisions on the field. I'm not a fan (of either). Too much talent ready to catch that ball. Sans Gaffney, I'd love to have any of those receivers with my team.

I'd especially love to have Stokley back. I'd love to have Royal.

Meh on Marshall right now. He needs to get to work and adjust that
stick in his ass. Very talented, but too big of an attitude.