SB Nation User Blog: BroncosNL

The 2010 Free Agency Question

BroncosNL — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:15:20 -0000

With the 2009 season well underway, the BYE week provides us with some time to reflect on the first 6 weeks on the season, but also to look forward to the end of the season. The Broncos are looking stronger each week, and if they keep their momentum and playing level up, we (as optimists right?) could see them going for a long play-off run.

But there is reason to look beyond the play offs. I recently started to think about our free agents next year, because we have a lot of quality players coming to the end of their contract. In this fanpost I assume that a CBA will get done, because I am remaining hopeful that it will. If it doesn't, then this topic will still be important, it will just extend the contracts with 1 year of restricted free agency.

After listening to the MHR Radio podcast, it became clear that more people are having questions about the free agency period in 2010. If a CBA is in place, the remaining players of the (great) draft of 2006 will become free agents.

For those of you who don't remember, this was our draft class of 2006:

Round 1, pick 11: Jay Cutler
Round 2, pick 29: Tony Scheffler
Round 4, Pick 22: Brandon Marshall
Round 4, Pick 29: Elvis Dumervil
Round 4, Pick 33: Domenik Hixon
Round 5, Pick 28: Chris Kuper
Round 6, Pick 29: Greg Eslinger

As you can see, we have Elvis Dumervil, Brandon Marshall, Tony Scheffler, and ofcourse, who didnt get mentioned during MHR Radio, Chris Kuper. Add to that Kyle Orton who came from Chicago this summer, and you see there is a lot of players waiting to get paid.

All these players are currently on their rookie deal, which, especially for Elvis, Chris and Brandon, is a contract value that is far below their production level. With all of them outstanding players, they will command a lot more money, making it unlikely that we can resign all of them. Lets take a look at each player:

Brandon Marshall

Pat Bowlen recently said that Marshall was playing himself into a better deal by his on the field performance, after holding out in the offseason. Marshall has established himself as a one of the best receivers in the NFL since joining the league 4 years ago.

An interesting player to compare Marshall to is the Atlanta Falcons' Roddy White. Although White has been in the league for a year longer than Marshall has, their numbers are quite similar:

Carreer stats:
Marshall: 255 receptions - 3231 yds - 19 TDs - 167 receptions for First Down.
White: 257 receptions - 3921 yds - 20 TDs - 171 receptions for First Down.

White held out this offseason, and the Falcons gave him a 6 year extension, worth 50 million dollars, with 18,5 million guaranteed. Marshall will most likely be looking for a similar deal.

Upside of resigning: Marshall is a great receiving threat against any defense. He often draws double coverage, and is good aquireing yards after the catch.

Downside of resigning: Being one of the best WRs in the league will make Marshall demand a lot of money. For a lot of people, his off-field issues and his health are still a cause for concern. Do you want to spend such a large sum of capmoney on a player with such risks, while you have a large group of others that need to get paid as well?

Elvis Dumervil

Elvis is currently leading the league in sacks, and if he continues on this pace, he will break the single season record for most sacks in one season. Interesting bit by the Denver Post:

The No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft was defensive end Mario Williams.
Houston gave him a six-year contract worth $54 million. To date,
Williams has 32.5 sacks in 52 games.

Way back in the fourth round of the same draft, with the No. 126
overall pick, Dumervil was selected. The Broncos gave Dumervil a four-
year deal worth $2 million. He has 34 sacks in 49 games.

Thus, Dumervil has nearly two more sacks in three fewer games for $52
million less than the pass rusher drafted 125 picks ahead of him.

Dumervil has been compared to the Colts' Dwight Freeney although he is a little smaller. 2 years ago, Freeney signed a six year, 72 million dollar extension with 30 million dollar guaranteed. Terrell Suggs, another OLB/DE received a 6 year, 63 million dollar deal, with 33 million guaranteed. Though Dumervil's deal might be worth a little less than those, the number should come pretty close.

Upside of resigning: Dumervil has shown to be an excellent fit for the 3-4 system that Nolan is running. He leads the league in sacks and is doing good when asked to drop in coverage. He is an important part in the defensive success of the Broncos

Downside of resigning: The Broncos drafted Robert Ayers in the first round of the 2009 draft. Robert, although a little behind because of coming into training camp late, is catching on well and looks better each game. He plays the same position as Dumervil, and has a large 1st round contract. If Dumervil would be resigned, a large part of the Broncos' cap room is stuck in just 1 position, the OLB spot.

Tony Scheffler

Tony Scheffler is arguably one of the best receiving tight ends in the NFL, and has been improving his blocking skills. He causes missmatches for almost any defense. With Daniel Graham and Richard Quinn, he is part of arguably the best Tight End group in the NFL.

Tony's carreer numbers 123 receptions for 1697 yards and 19 Touchdowns. Looking at a contract extension, Scheffler would probably look for an offer a little less than Pittsburgs Heath Miller (184 rec - 2043 yards - 21 TDs), who received a six year extension this summer, worth 35 million dollars, with 12,5 million guaranteed.

Upside of resigning Scheffler is a great weapon in the offense and has shown to be a good blocker as well lately. Like mentioned many times during the San Diego game, he creates mismatches. He has great hands and Orton has started to look more often to him in recent weeks, because he is hard to cover.

Downside of resigning It seems that, with a WR and a TE looking for a new contract, a choice will have to be made between both. The Broncos also still have Graham, who has quite a large contract as well. It doesnt seem wise to spend a large part of the cap money on one of the less important positions on the team (dont get me wrong. Not saying TE's are not important, but compared to QBs, RBs, LTs, CBs etc).

Chris Kuper

Though drafted in 2006, he only played one game in that season, and midway during the 2007 season he earned a starting spot at Right Guard. He has quietly played himself a star on the best offensive line in football (we all agree on that right ;)?). Though selected in the 5th round, he's one of the best young guards in the NFL at age 26.

A year ago, right guard Chris Snee was signed by the Giants for a 6 year extension, worth 41.25 million dollars with 17 million guaranteed. Though Im not sure if their numbers are equal (in sacks given up and such), Kuper is a young talent and a solid part of our great offensive line.

Upside of resigning: With Wiegmann and Hamilton aging, we need to make sure we keep the core together with Harris, Clady and Kuper.

Downside: Post a comment if you can think of one ;)

Kyle Orton

Last but definately not least. Kyle has shown every week that he gets more comfortable in the system. He is careful with the ball, has great work ethic and is a team player.

It's easy to say that Kyle has outperformed Cutler so far, and Cutler received a new deal 2 days ago, a 2 year extension worth 30 million dollars. Kyle is only 26, so it seems likely he will be locked up with a new deal at the end of the season. It is hard to say for how long, but like Guru pointed out, it's probably easily a 10 million dollars per year deal, especially if we make it to the play-offs this year.

Upside: Good QB who's improving in the system each week. Can stay healthy behind our O-line, and should be a solid QB for the next few years.

Downside: Large cap hit, maybe McD is grooming Brandstater to be ready to take over? (I don't think so, but i'm just listing the options).

Winning is everything

What can happen if we do very well this year, is that some of the players are willing to take a less amount of money because they are in a winning environment, something that you have seen happen to players of the Patriots. If that's the case, it could be very well possible that we keep 3 or 4 of these players.

I hope this post provides some food for debate about who to keep. I now Guru asked everyone to make a list of players, maybe this fanpost can provide a discussion point about this topic.

On a sidenote, Barrett and Prater will be restricted free agents in case of a CBA

PS: I have kept my own opinion out of this as much as possible, hoping to provide facts which everyone can use in the discussion. I personally think with Ayers already at OLB, the Broncos cant resign Doom (sad sad sad). I think Orton will be resigned, and if Marshall get's a deal, Scheffler will be let go. So my list of 3 is Orton, Kuper, Marshall, but maybe Scheffler will be able to stay as well, depending on the size of the contracts for everyone.

Anyway, discuss...

If I have missed any important thing, fact, stat, etc, please comment so I can change my post.

Poll

Which player should be the number one priority for the Broncos to resign

Brandon Marshall

75 votes

Elvis Dumervil

159 votes

Tony Scheffler

0 votes

Kyle Orton

95 votes

Chris Kuper

43 votes

372 votes | Poll has closed

A Wolverine in the Secondary

BroncosNL — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:17:08 -0000

Sunday, September 13 2009 was a great day for many of us. The football season had finally returned.

As a fan in Europe, the only way to watch the game is by the video feeds, generously provided by Americans for us unlucky people who cannot watch the game on TV. With the not so great quality feed I was watching, and ofcourse constantly chatting on MHR, I missed a lot of details from the game. Luckily as I am to be able to download the game in Tuesday, I converted it to put it on my iPod for a long trip by train that I had to make yesterday. And while I was watching the game yesterday in the train, being able to focus on the plays and playcalling, the people sitting around me noticed the occasional smile on my face as I was watching our defense take on the Bengals.. the reason: mr. Brian "Wolverine" Dawkins....

Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of reasons this defense excites me... as much as the free agent additions have been discussed (and sometimes praised), I truly think one of the major additions this season is Mike Nolan. I know game 1 might be too early to tell, but I just love his attacking style defense. I used to not bother to pay too much attention to our defense when I became a Broncos fan 2 years ago. I realized back then that I'd much rather watched the Steelers or Ravens play defense, then the Broncos. But it's starting to look like the Broncos are gaining ground. Our defense is exciting to watch and fun to watch. The attacking style defense Mike Nolan implemented is a true change from previous years. We have reasons to be excited about a defensive line that is doing a pretty good job with the personel available. An athletic linebacker core with young players and vet to combine for a solid unit, and an experienced secondary that should benefit from more pressure on the QB than in previous years.

As excited as I am about players like Champ Bailey, Wesley Woordyard, Spencer Larsen, Chris Baker, Alphonso Smith, and all the other great players/personalities that we have on defense nowadays (man I can name them all if I have to haha), I noticed one thing which in my opinion is one of the keys to the success of this Broncos defense so far. I realize it's too early to call this defense a success after game 1, but let's be honest. We havent seen this kind of a defense in the past few years.

The key: Brian Dawkins.. Weapon X.. Wolverine..

In my first fanpost, I want to take you through the game, and look at some key plays with the Wolverine in the backfield.

For those of you who have the game downloaded as well, or have NFL Rewind or something similar, follow along:

Disclaimer: as a fan for only 2 years, who has never played football, forgive me if I accidently mix up a term or player.

1st Quarter: 12:15 min left

Situation: It's 2nd &9 on the Cincinnati 13 yardline. The Bengals are in a one back set with Benson in the backfield. The Bengals have Coles wide left, and OchoCinco wide right, with 2 tight ends on the right side of the offensive line.

As Coles comes in motion from wide left, Brian Dawkins takes up the spot between the Kenny Peterson, the defensive end, and Elvis Dumervil who is the outside linebacker. As Palmer takes the snap, Dawkins takes on the left guard for the Bengals. The left tackle let's Dumervil pass, who is able to rush along the line of scrimmage, and drop Benson for no gain.

Obviously this is part of Mike Nolan's defense, and could have been done by any safety. Yet I wanted to point it out as it shows the attacking (exciting) style of our defense.

1st Quarter: 10:50 min left

Situation: It's 1st & 10 on the Bengals' 30 yard line. The Bengals are in the I formation with a tight end left of the offensive line. OchoCinco wide right, Coles wide left.

The Broncos rush their defensive linemen together with Haggan and Dumervile, but they are not able to get to Palmer before he get's to throw.

As Champ Bailey misssteps and has to let OchoCinco go, Palmer fires over the middle where OchoCinco manages to catch the ball and take a step or two before Brian Dawkins comes flying through the air to spin OchoCinco to the ground by making the open field tackle.

1st Quarter: 3:55 min left

Situation: 1st & 10 on the Broncos 18 yard line. The Bengals are in a 1 back set with a tight end right of the offensive line, and 3 wide receivers to the left of the line of scrimmage. Renaldo Hill is playing about 7 yards away from the line of scrimmage, Brian Dawkins at least 12 yards. As the Broncos rush 5, Palmer throws the screen pass to Caldwell. Renaldo Hill and D.J. Williams make the tackle, but Brian Dawkins comes running in and were I believe most safeties would have stopped, thinking the play was over already, Dawkins wants to make sure and jumps right on top of the pile.

2nd Quarter: 15:00 min left

Situation: This was the play that made me realize I wanted to write this post. It's 1st & 10 on the Broncos 34 yard line. The Bengals are in the I formation with a tight end right of the offensive line, and two wide receivers, one wide left, one wide right. As Palmer is getting ready to take the snap, Andra Davis and Brian Dawkins run to the line of scrimmage, Davis between Dumervil and McBean, Dawkins right behind Dumervil.

Davis runs right, taking up the right tackle, leaving only the tight end to block Dumervil. As the fullback moves to the left flat, the only person between Dawkins and Palmer is Cedric Benson. With a SPECTACULAR leap, Dawkins tries to jump over Benson who is trying to block Dawkins low. By the time Dawkins get's up, Palmer is on his back after being sacked by Davis with the help of Dumervil.

This play to me stands for everyting Dawkins is. His passion and willingness to do anything in order to make the play is what this defense needed for a long time, and by leading by example, his teammates will catch on to that attitude.

2nd Quarter: 10:05 min left

Situation: 1st and 10 on the Broncos 44 yard line. The Bengals are in what looks like a power formation, with 2 tight ends lined up right of the offensive line. One wide receiver lined up next to the tight ends, and one wide receiver 2 or 3 yards left of the offensive line. As on of the tight ends goes in motion to the left side of the offensiveline, Palmer hands of to Benson turns the corner on the left side of the line, with Davis being able to stop him. While both players go to the ground, Dawkins is still coming in full speed and dives on top of Benson again, to be sure he won't get up.

2nd Quarter: 8:05 min left

Situation: 1st & 10 on the Broncos 32 yardline. The Bengals show on I formation with a tight end right of the line, one wide receiver left, and a tight end moving in motion right to left. Palmer hands off to Benson who follows his blocks and gets piled up by a group of Broncos. While Benson is piled up already, you see Brian Dawkins however, trying to push him back as far as possible to keep as much field position as he can.

4th Quarter: 14:35 min left

Situation: 2nd & 8 on the Bengals 17 yard line. Palmer is in the shotgun with 4 wide receivers, 2 left and 2 right. Benson is next to Palmer in the shotgun.

The Broncos have 4 linemen. Dawkins is playign again about 12 yards from the line of scrimmage. As Palmer takes the snap, Dawkins moves at least 3 yard more away from the line of scrimmage. Palmer shuffle passes it to Benson who makes his way through a whole but meets a Dawkins who comes flying towards to halfback. Result: 3rd &2.

4th Quarter: 3:42 min left

Situation: 1st & 10 on the Bengals 23 yardline. The Bengals are look for a game winning touchdown. The Bengals line up with 2 fullbacks and a halfback, and one wide receiver on each side of the line of scrimmage.

Dawkins lines up about 5 yards of the line of scrimmage, right of the line of scrimmage between the middle linebackers and Champ Bailey. Palmer hands off to Benson, who goes left of the line of scrimmage and breaks through the hole. Even though he's far away, as soon as Dawkins sees the play develop, he takes the right angle on the runner and manages to take him down together with Renaldo Hill to prevent a touchdown.

4th Quarter: 2:00 min left

Situation: 1st & 10 on the Broncos 32 yard line. The Bengals go 4 wide, 3 on the right of the line, 1 left. Leonard is left of Palmer who is in the shotgun. Palmer takes the snap, and Leonard pretends to block, before moving up the middle where he is uncovered. Palmer dumps the ball to Leonard who is able to pick up 16 yards before Dawkins makes a flying tackle that showed a little similarity to the famous flying tackle he made against the Giants.

Conclusion:

I realize that many of the plays mentioned here are plays that any safety should have made. However, it's been a while since we have seen such a spark of passion and intensity on the field wearing Orange and Blue. And I believe that passion and intensity will be the key to the success of the 2009 Denver Broncos on defense. Brian Dawkins was the leading tackler in the first game, with 7 tackles and 4 assists. He might be getting older, but his leadership and passion will set an example for the younger generation of defenders that are currently on the roster.

Remember that Tweet from Wesley Woordyard?

I just heard a B Dawk (Brain Dawkins) speach... Man almost had me ready to knock down a wall. you gonna do yo dog gone job? I KNO I AM

We finally have a defense to be excited about again!

Before finishing this topic, I wanted to draw on one more thing, unrelated to Dawkins, but another thing we saw during the game.

I was watching HBO's Inside the NFL this morning, and during the replay of the Broncos game, they showed an interesting camera angle after Stokley's touchdown. It was Stokley going crazy, walking in the endzone, with Brandon Marshall next to him, his arm around him. For those of you who listened to MHR Radio, the postgame show, will know what I talk about, as mr John Bena also touched upon the matter in his show. I think the way the game ended lighted a spark of enthousiasm back with Brandon Marshall. He looked a little down at the start of the game, but the game finish made him smile and happy, and I think it will carry on to this weekend when we play the Browns.

(Another angle during the game, right after Cincinatti's kick off, before the last play of the game, you see Marshall with an orange cap, having fun with Stokley and Orton).

This was the first time for me breaking down the game by not looking at the ball, but at specific players and formations, and I really enjoyed. I wanted to share my thoughts with you about it, but would ofcourse love feedback from Broncos fans who are more knowledgable than me. There is always room to improve right?

That being said: Cleveland tomorrow!! Show them what we got Orange and Blue! Go Broncos!

Quotes from Lombardi, Michael that is...

BroncosNL — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:01:52 -0000

I thought I would share these quotes with you, that were posted by Michael Lombardi on his sunday-morning blog "Sunday at the Post":

Michael Lombardi's blog at NFP

3. I know Kyle Orton looked bad Friday when he threw three first-half interceptions, but the Broncos appeared extremely well-coached on offense. Josh McDaniels is going to be a very good head coach, especially if he can get Orton to eliminate his mistakes.

4. The Broncos changed personnel groups on every play to open the first drive against the 49ers. And once Brandon Marshall comes back, they’ll eventually have a down-the-field passing game.

6. Knowshon Moreno is good — and I mean really good. His ability to pass protect makes him a huge weapon for the Broncos, and his knee looks fine.

These kind of quotes make me excited, incredibly excited. He dedicates 3 of his 10 observations from the first pre-season games to the Broncos. That has to mean something right?

13-3 Baby! Go Broncos!

(PS: Is it a coincidence that observation 3,4 and 6 are Broncos related? Add's up to 13 ->>> 13-3 baby)

The Jerseys for 2009

BroncosNL — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:40:35 -0000

Jim Saccomano just posted a blog on DenverBroncos.com about the jerseys for 2009.
The best news in the blog is that the orange alternate jersey's will be worn twice as well, next to the AFL Legacy jersey.

Here is the blog for those of you who havent seen it.

Colorful Year at INVESCO Field at Mile HighAugust 4th, 2009 - 11:29am by jim_saccomano

Denver Broncos fans will see the most colorful uniform variety in team history for the home games at INVESCO Field at Mile High this year.

Of course, the team’s primary home uniform remains the dark blue jersey and white pants.

By now fans are well aware of the fact that the Broncos are celebrating their 50th season of play and the American Football League this year. As a result, Denver will don the notorious 1960 uniform, featuring seal brown pants and helmet, gold jersey (kind of a mustard yellow), and the infamous gold and brown vertically striped socks. The Broncos will wear than uniform when they take on the New England (née Boston) Patriots on October 11, and the Patriots will wear their AFL throwback uniforms on that day as well.

Not to be outdone, the game officials that day will be wearing what the AFL officials wore at that time, which means there will still be an orange uniform on the playing field. The officials’ shirts for all AFL throwback games are white and orange striped.

Meanwhile, the Broncos will once again wear their very popular alternate orange jersey (the one that is part of the current uniform as a third jersey) twice, donning that fabric against Dallas on October 4 and again vs. Pittsburgh on Monday night, November 9.

This is the greatest variety ever worn by the Broncos at home. A quick analysis of the dates shows that the Broncos will not wear the blue jerseys at home for two regular season games in a row until the November 22 game vs. the San Diego Chargers and the Thanksgiving Day game against the New York Giants four days later.

New team, new coach, new philosophies, old uniforms — and the same winning tradition.

Fans can look forward to all of that at INVESCO Field at Mile High in 2009.

This is great news to me. Personally I am a big fan of the orange alternate jerseys, and I wish those would become our standard home jerseys.

To make it easier, here is an overview of the schedule and the jersey's for that game:

WK	DATE	OPPONENT	TIME (ET)	JERSEY
Pre-1	Fri August 14	@ San Francisco	10 P.M.	Road White - White Jersey / White Pants
Pre-2	Sat August 22	@ Seattle	10.30 P.M.	Road White - White Jersey / White Pants
Pre-3	Sun August 30	vs Chicago	8 P.M.	Home Blue- Blue Jersey / White Pants
Pre-4	Thu Sep 3	vs Arizona	9 P.M.	Home Blue- Blue Jersey / White Pants

1	Sun Sep 13	@ Cincinatti	1 P.M.	Home Blue- Blue Jersey / White Pants
2	Sun Sep 20	vs Cleveland	4.15 P.M.	Home Blue- Blue Jersey / White Pants
3	Sun Sep 27	@ Oakland	4.15 P.M.	Road White - White Jersey / White Pants
4	Sun Oct 4	vs Dallas	4.15 P.M.	Home Alternate- Orange Jersey / White Pants
5	Sun Oct 11	vs New England	4.15 P.M.	AFL Legacy - Gold Jersey / Brown Pants
6	Mon Oct 19	@ San Diego	8.30 P.M.	AFL Legacy - White Jersey / Brown Pants
7	BYE
8	Sun Nov 1	@ Baltimore	1 P.M.	Road White - White Jersey / White Pants
9	Mon Nov 9	vs Pittsburgh	8.30 P.M.	Home Alternate- Orange Jersey / White Pants
10	Sun Nov 15	@ Washington	1 P.M.	Road White - White Jersey / White Pants
11	Sun Nov 22	vs San Diego	4.15 P.M.	Home Blue- Blue Jersey / White Pants
12	Thu Nov 26	vs NY Giants	8.20 P.M.	Home Blue- Blue Jersey / White Pants
13	Sun Dec 6	@ Kansas City	1 P.M.	Road White - White Jersey / White Pants
14	Sun Dec 13	@ Indianapolis	1 P.M.	Road White - White Jersey / White Pants
15	Sun Dec 20	Oakland	4.05 P.M.	Home Blue- Blue Jersey / White Pants
16	Sun Dec 27	@ Philadelphia	1 P.M.	Road White - White Jersey / White Pants
17	Sun Jan 3	vs Kansas City	4.15 P.M.	Home Blue- Blue Jersey / White Pants

 EDIT 1 - @ Cincinatti to Home Jersey. Cincinatti will wear white. / @ San Diego  changed to White AFL Legacy jersey.

If you catch any mistakes, please add a comment so I can change it.

2009 is going to be an exciting season. Can't wait to see the Broncos as the Orange Crush again vs Dallas and Pittsburg.

13-3 Baby! Go Broncos!

Peyton Hillis Interview

BroncosNL — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:44:12 -0000

Hey everybody!

Unfortunately I havent had a chance (read: time) to post a decent article yet, but I've been reading and commenting along on MHR and I've been really enjoying myself here! Thanks to all the great contributers!

I know there are a lot of other Peyton Hillis fans out here, and I didnt see this posted yet, so I wanted to share it with all of you:

Peyton Hillis Radio Interview with 104.3 THE FAN

I was still not sure which jersey to get for the upcoming season, but Peyton is just a great guy, and I think I've made up my mind.

Anyway, enjoy the interview!

Go Broncos!