Envisioning Kubiak as Offensive Coordinator
As much as I'm reluctant to admit it sometimes I can be carried along with the general flow of thought in a community. So I will admit much apprehension even at the notion that Kubiak would be the current offensive coordinator given the failures of that offense at the end of his tenure. That said as I sit here this morning having coffee overlooking Tampa Bay oh, a few things come to mind.
First off Kubiak has always been supremely successful as an offensive coordinator. That is undebatable. The last real Vision that we have of him coordinating an offense was with the Ravens. A season in which as mentioned before Joe Flacco had the best of his career. And an unknown running back became a pro bowler. That unit was balanced, unpredictable, dominating at times, explosive when needed, and able to control the clock at will.
I think the apprehension that we all have at this point is related to the two years with Manning. On a perceived ineffectiveness on Kubiak's part. More so even an inability on his part to someho generate cohesiveness with the great Peyton Manning. I find it funny that we're willing to overstate all of Gary's deficiencies in that relationship and yet in a vacuum will mention that Peyton's physical abilities had deteriorated immensely, and understate all the deficiencies in the context of that relationship. As well as roster deficiencies.
My second thought was regarding the 2005 13- 3 Broncos. People talk about Shanahan helping Plummer reinvent himself. I would like to submit that given the problems that Shanahan and Plummer had at a personal level and plummer's regression after Kubiak left that most of the growth that we saw with Jake Plummer was as a direct result of his relationship with Kubiak, Kubiak ability to tutor and Mentor him effectively, and a scheme that played to all of Plummer's strengths. It's no wonder that he failed under Heimerdinger when all of the boot action all of the pocket movement that had made him so effective in the previous season was removed from the offense after Kubiak left for Houston.
I'd also like to submit that if that team had had more than Al Wilson who masked deficiencies at every level of the defense, then they could have beaten the Steelers. And potentially beaten the Seahawks in Super Bowl. That's a lot of would have could have should have. But even with our deficiencies in the secondary which I think were greatly overstated as a result of Joe Woods ineptitude, this roster is much more talented then the team in 2005.
I think with Plummer and Keenum we can see a direct correlation. Both are plus athletes obviously Jake was more so a plus athlete. But if you look at what case did effectively in Minnesota last year, it was when Schirmer moved the pocket for him. When they allowed him to play outside the pocket he was at his best. Do I view him as the long-term franchise quarterback solution? Probably not. But I do think that given his usual ability to protect the football combined with a more creative Gary Kubiak and understated offensive weapons could provide a huge shot in the arm for the team next year.
Add to that that we have a legit defensive Mastermind taking over as head coach and I think that there is huge potential for this team to make a big leap next year.
Lastly there's this trend of thought that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and yet in our own Division I see Andy Reid redefining himself and redefining what we thought of it as the West Coast offense. There's been a huge skepticism that because somehow Elway had obsessed with college spread Concepts but now that we have Kubiak as offensive coordinator that all of that interest has just been thrown by the wayside. Do we think that someone as intelligent and humble as Gary Kubiak couldn't bring himself to reinvent or expand upon the offensive framework that he's worked with for his entire career just like Doug Pederson and just like Andy Reid have done? I don't see that in Gary Kubiak. I see a guy that has always gotten the most out of the people that played for him when he was an offensive coordinator. I see a guy who took 2 years off and regained some juice and remembered his first love was always as a coordinator. So as I always do at this time of the year I admit but when it comes to my Broncos after initial gut reactions I'm typically inordinately optimistic. But I do think that there's something to this idea that Elway and Kubiak have both taken from what they've seen in the league and what they've seen in college over the past few years and are willing to try and combine that and some sort of mad potion with the Evil Genius that is Vic fangio
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Jsteve01
