Okay... let's face it.  We Bronco fans tend to get our expectations up every preseason (and for good reason back in the '90s).  In fact, I think it's safe to say EVERY team's fans get their hopes up before the start of regular season games (except the hapless Bengals, but that's another story altogether).  I remember feeling excited when "He who shall not be named" was hired as the new head coach and even feeling excited the next year for our team to gel in its second year working with the golly-whiz-would-you-look-at-that? offensive plan.

As Rooster Cogburn might say: "Well, that didn't pan out."

So... here it is preseason again, and would you believe it?  I'm excited.

But this time it feels different.

Continue reading this post »

I apologize in advance for the weaving stat lines below.  I put this together and published it with everything looking neat and tidy.  Bah!

I was putting together a post regarding rookie receivers and how they have fared in the NFL and then noticed Orange and Blue just put together one of his own regarding rookie receivers.  I also noticed he had a different slant on his article; projecting Thomas and Decker's numbers compared with similar draft round picks in 2009 and 2008.  Read his post, you'll like it.

Since I wanted to provide a different viewpoint of how the NFL's wide receiver rookies have fared over the last number of years - including notable names going back over 10 years and more - I thought both our posts would provide information for MHR members to absorb and chew.

I compiled a list of the top-performing rookies from 2009 back to 2005 (top 5 for each year with a notable WR or two thrown in who didn't crack the top 5), regardless of draft position, in order to provide stats for everyone to appreciate and draw comparisons of their own regarding WR size, WR speed, QB's throwing them the ball, team WR competition, etc.  I then went back from 2004 to 1985 (heck, I even listed one from 1962 because I had a poster of him on my wall when I was a kid!), with names of notable receivers whose rookie stats I thought would be enjoyable to see and compare.

Anyway... on with the stats!  Try using caffeine to help absorb the dizzying amount of numbers.  I know I used it to research them...

Continue reading this post »

It seemed we might be able to breathe easy... maybe relax a little after the tumultuous off-season and its accompanying bad-mouthing of all things Broncos by the MSM (and, unfortunately, a portion of its "fans").  After all, Training Camp was humming along, BMarsh was back in town and on the field and, from all reports, he looked good and appeared happy to be part of the team.

Then his alter ago - Brandon Maridiot - showed up after the second practice.

Continue reading this post »

I may be posting a little late for this topic, but I thought with the emphasis of watching players in Training Camp, it would be nice to observe how they play in pads against competition versus expecting great things due to their combine measurables.

The Alphonso Smith debate a few weeks ago, with a great Myth-busting front page post by BroncoBear here, and all the ensuing conversation it provoked, nudged my thinking cap back into its (seldom used) position.  I started wondering about 40-yard dash times and whether a player’s straight line speed without pads on a fast track surface in a non-game day situation made the difference between good and great players in the NFL (or whether a cornerback registering a 4.51 second 40-yard time is fast enough to cover all those "blazing fast" NFL wide receivers).

As a result, I researched 40-yard dash times - Googling a number of different sites for accuracy since there were minor discrepancies in times for a majority of players – and what I came across surprised me as the research continued.  It wasn’t because straight line speed without pads made a little bit of difference versus a lot.  It was that more than a few elite/HOF/star/(insert superlative description here) NFL wide receivers are/were downright plodders in the 40 (as well as a number of running backs, but they weren’t the primary focus of my research).

Continue reading this post »

Over the last several days, there have been a number of posts here on MHR regarding the Marshall "holdout," for lack of a better term.  Included in those posts, and in discussions relating to those posts, are possible reasons for why the situation may be occurring.  Thoughtful discussion has occurred regarding Marshall's displeasure with how his hip injury was treated by the Bronco's medical staff last year as well as the upcoming issues with the CBA set to expire.

MHR has been a wealth of information, from people who aren't paid to write about sports and have full-time jobs of their own, regarding why Marshall may not be attending the mini-camp.

Then comes this five sentence "story" from Klis on the Denver Post website tonight (Saturday, 6/13/09).  Included in the "wealth" of information is this sentence:

Marshall met Friday afternoon with Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, but apparently the star receiver wasn't satisfied enough with that conversation to return.

Continue reading this post »

This is my first post.  I hope it is worth the time to read.

Josh McDaniels has a history of creating potent statistics for wide receivers in his system (see Moss, Randy - Welker, Wes).  What does that mean for the Broncos in 2009?  Which one of our young star wide receivers may be most impacted by the arrival of the new Head Coach's system?

Let me start by saying it won't be Brandon Marshall.

Continue reading this post »