SB Nation User Blog: Darin H

#12 in La La Land (#18 too)

Darin H — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 04:30:50 -0000

So last year I wasn't thrilled to have the #12 pick in the draft, I thought no way Clady would fall that far and there was no one else that I though was worth picking there. I figured we'd trade down and pick a lesser LT (Williams and reunite the Vandy teammates, how ironic that they're going to be playing together).

However, in watching the mock drafts take place and the different players landing in different positions in just about every single draft, I've come to the conclusion that we're sitting in the catbird seat.

Someone who we don't expect will fall out of the Top 10 and into our laps. It's easy to envision a scenario that has Mark Sanchez available. I think he'd be okay to draft, but more importantly, we could easily make a deal with say, the Jets, to drop back a few spots and pick up a 2nd next year or another 3rd this year.

McDaniels/Xanders have done a great job in filling a lot of holes in our team already which leaves us in good shape for the draft. Think about this, we could have any number of good players like Malcolm Jenkins (CB), Tyson Jackson (DE), or BJ Raji (DT) (assuming no positive reefer test). Any one of those guys could make an impact on our defense.

We have an outside shot at Michael Crabtree (WR) somehow falling that far, how amazing would our passing attack be with the shotgun spread formations lining up Crabtree, Marhall, Royal, Stokely and Sheffler? Talk about a nightmare match up for defenses!

Additionally, the #12 pick isn't a franchise breaker dollar wise either.

I do think we have a lot of options now at the #18 spot as well. Someone like Clay Matthews (LB) who will be able to stay on the field all 3 downs, and is a smart, tough player that fits the "team-first" mold. He also probably has hands good enough to be a TE, so if we take him, expect to see him play some offense in goal situations ala Vrable.

I can't wait for the draft, if you have NFLN, don't bother with E!spn's coverage (though I hope Shefter is back this year).

Déjà vu strikes twice? The 2009-10 drafts.

Darin H — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:28:00 -0000

Now that the Jay Culter saga is over, let’s take it back to 2005, prior to the season, we traded away our first round pick to Washington so they could select Jason Campbell (how ironic it would have been had we made the reported deal with DC?), in return we received Washington's 2006 first round selection. The Broncos had a good but not world-beating offense led by Jake Plummer, had a good but not world beating defense led by Champ Bailey. On any Sunday either side of the football could dominate a game, but mostly it was both sides of the ball playing well enough to lead to a whole lot of wins.

When the 2006 draft rolled around, the Broncos had lost the AFC Championship game at home after taking down the previous season's Superbowl winning Patriots. We were in need of getting younger at a lot of positions, offense and defense. We also had 2 first round picks. We gave both of those up, plus a 3rd rounder to get up to #11 to grab QB Jay Cutler, even though Jake Plummer was the guy who led our team to within one game of the Superbowl.

How different would the last 3 years have been if we had made different decisions leading up to that draft? Would we have added key pieces to the defense so that it wouldn’t fall apart? Who knows, we could play "What If?" all day long, but never come up with an answer.

The next 2 drafts could go in a similar direction. We have 2 choices this year and next and a lot of people are thinking that we will take a QB with at least one of them, if not using them as ammunition to move up and grab The Next Big Thing. I'm willing to bet that won't happen. It might have were Shanahan still coach, he was never shy about moving up to get the guy he wanted - and I hope that Jarvis Moss still works out, but I'm not hopeful.

Josh McDaniels comes from a different style of acquiring players. The Patriots have had much success stockpiling picks and mostly building through the draft. We now have a whole lotta draft picks. The Patriots target guys that the rest of the league doesn't value as highly, specifically football smarts over athleticism. I don't know how Xanders, our GM, fits into that equation, but I suspect he's along the same lines given the turnover in the front office this year. I think Pat Bowlen has bought into "The Patriot Way" given their success.

I look for the Broncos to not make a lot of noise and buzz moving up in the draft, we may even trade down and get more (though I doubt it with 11? picks). No more reaching for "potential" or guys with "upside" early on.

Solid players and lots of them. We're building a complete team now, and for the long term.

Josh is a Mike, not a Wade

Darin H — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:53:08 -0000

I happened to catch "John Elway: Forever Champion" on NFL Network today. It's an interesting show, especially since it takes place after we won the Superbowl against Green Bay, but before the 1998 season. A fun trip down memory lane.

One of the things that stuck out to me, was the period of the early 90s, or should I say, the drama of the coaching changes in the 90s and the effect on John Elway and the Broncos. First, Dan Reeves was fired and replaced by Wade Phillips. Wade was a highly successful defense coach. His goal at the time was to leave the offense alone and just work on fixing the defense.

If you remember those Wade years (and I try not to), we weren't a very good team. Elway and the offense put up great numbers and yet the defense let them down again and again. It was typified in the Monday Night loss to the Chiefs and Joe Montana. I still remember sitting in Pollock Joe's bar in Phoenix watching Elway pull off his 4th quarter magic only to see Montana return the favor (they highlighted this game on the show as well).

When Mike Shanahan was brought in to replace Wade, he changed the entire culture of the Broncos. He didn't just say that the offense was good and he was going to fix the defense, he kept the guys that were good, and added some of "his" guys like Ed McCaffrey. Why? The offense was good, it put a lot of points up on the board! Mike Shanahan had his system and fit what players he could into it, but also brought guys along that had already bought into it. He implemented the West Coast Offense, even though the previous 2 years had seen Elway and the offense's best statistical years.

He overhauled the defense in that time too, bringing in a lot of veterans from successful franchises to complement a good young core of players. That combination of players and system was the most successful the Denver Broncos Franchise has ever been.

Are any of you getting Deja Vu yet? Fast forward 10 years. It's not exactly the same, our offense can rack up the yards, but scoring has been a problem (2nd and 16th respectively). Our defense had more holes in it than Swiss cheese. People were calling for a defensive minded coach to fix the defense and leave the offense alone. Pat Bowlen had been down that road before, instead of going with a "Wade" he went with a "Mike." A guy that would come in and change the entire culture, not just be a Bates+defense.

With the hiring of Josh McDaniels, the Broncos are sitting on the edge of a new frontier, just like we were in the mid 1990s. Taking the coordinator of one of the league's highest powered offenses and turning over the entire team to make in his image. For the most part, McDaniels has left the offense intact, but is going to change the system (at least part of the system while retaining the ZBS). He has brought in veteran leadership on the defensive side of the ball to compliment a lot of young players who have talent, but lack playing time and attitude.

I really hope that Jay and Josh can sit down one on one when minicamp opens next month and work their differences out. We've got an amazing time coming up the next few seasons, I'm excited. Bring on the draft, bring on camp, bring on preseason, bring on the season!!!

Is Chris Simms better than Matt Cassel?

Darin H — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 04:15:27 -0000

With all the drama that has surrounded last year's starting QB, something occurred to me. Since the deal for Cassel fell through, the Broncos brought Chris Simms to backup Jay Cutler at a pretty hefty salary for a clipboard carrier (and worth it as he's an upgrade over Ramsey). Here's what I know about Chris Simms - he played for about a year and lost a spleen during a game. I couldn't speak intelligently about any aspect of his mechanics, arm, or mental capacity to run a playbook. Maybe someone here can.

Did he benefit from the Tampa D (of course), to what extent? Was he coachable (Gruden, the QB Collector...)?

I don't think too highly of Matt Cassel as a guy who can take a team on his back and lead them to wins. I know he is smart enough to run McDaniels' offense, take care of the ball, and get better (much better) as the season progressed. I think Matt Cassel would have done well in Orange and Blue, he's going to struggle in KC for a whole lot of money.I think what McDaniels is trying to do in Denver is build a situation where the QB doesn't have to go out every week and try to take the team on his back like Cutler was forced to do much of the last 2 years. That may mean taking a step back at the QB position and gaining in a lot of other areas.

If Jay Cutler or Bus Cook want Jay playing elsewhere in 2009 and beyond, I'm fine with that, he has handled the situation poorly in my opinion. I'd prefer him to stay, all else being equal though.

So here's my thought - if Jay wants out and the Broncos decide to move him, can the team be better off with Simms and several draft picks? For instance, would the Broncos deal Jay to the Lions for their #20 and 2nd and 3rd round draft picks (no one wants the #1 overall pick)?

I'd have to think long and hard about that trade. If you think Simms could run the offense, you jump at that, we'd own 3 of the top 33 picks, and could probably trade down from either the 12 or the 20 spot for more 2-3 round picks, or move them to stock up for next year.

I have to believe that the Broncos Braintrust have thought about life without Cutler, they'd be stupid not to at this point. Hopefully someone can enlighten me further on the capabilities of our backup QB. Does anyone else think that Simms+#20+#33+3rd (either #65 or #82) round would make the Broncos a better team overall than staying with Cutler?

Another new addition to the Bronco family

Darin H — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:55:47 -0000

Congrats to Mdierk and his wife on their new baby boy who arrived on Thursday.

We have some news of our own...

My wife gave birth to our son Eli Joseph on Friday at 6:11pm, weighing 6 pounds 14 oz and is 21 inches long. This is him on his first night, I'll have some pictures of him in his Broncos gear in a little bit.

Both he and momma are doing well, we just got home from the hospital today. We're about to watch our first Superbowl together!

Royally Smart

Darin H — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:06:16 -0000

I'm still on Cloud 9 this morning with our pasting of the raiders last night. Any time we can beat them down and make them give up is a great game (with respect to Justin Fargas as the only one to fight for 60 mins). There is one thing that I wanted to point out about the coming out party Eddie Royal last night. Not only is he a great route-runner and has awesome hands, he's football smart.

Before I get to Royal (with Cheese!), let me go back a couple of years ago to the Chargers/Patriots playoff game where the Chargers defense needed to stop the Patriots offense and Brady's 4th down pass was picked off by Marlon Mcree. Mcree, instead of taking a knee and ending the game, tried to run the interception back he was then stripped by Troy Brown to extend the New England tying drive. New England won the game and Marty Shottenheimer was done in San Diego. A great play by Mcree was wiped out because he didn't know where in the game he was.

Forward to last night's first game. Minnesota was trying to drive for the game winning score, Minnesota was out of timeouts and with 54 seconds left Tavaris Jackson threw an interception to Atari Bigby. Bigby was on the ground, but he got up and tried to run back the interception. Luckily for Green Bay, he wasn't stripped and the game was over with a couple of kneel downs.

These are players with several years worth of experience, but they put their own fortune over that of their team (not intentionally).

Let us now turn to rookie Eddie Royal, starting his first game in the NFL, on the road on Monday Night with the #1 WR out. Royal had zero mental mistakes. His routes were precise, his hands were solid. 9 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown, rookies starting their first game aren't supposed to do that. Alone that would be amazing, but wait, there's more! On a reverse option play (where Royal was looking to either throw a pass or run) neither was open and he didn't try to force a ball into a receiver who was covered, but then also had the awareness to throw the ball away when his running lane wasn't open. It was a small play, but it was the difference between losing 5 yards or not. Not huge in a blowout game, but a lot of games are won and lost by a couple of yards.

The second heads up play by Royal was the final kickoff return. With just over a minute and a half left, the game was over. Royal took the kickoff, ran up until the first defender and sat down. There was no need to pad his stats, no need to show off and try for a score, no need to risk injury when the game was out of hand. Smart.

Eddie Royal showed me that he isn't just a wide receiver, but a football player. And already has shown the smarts of a veteran. What a great start, let's hope it continues!

Marshall's suspension reduced to one game

Darin H — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:16:46 -0000

Several sources are confirming that Brandon Marshall's suspension has been reduced to 1 game, and he will be fined an additional game:

From the RMN:

After hearing Marshall's side, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has reduced the receiver's two- to three-game suspension for violation the league's personal-conduct policy to one game, the Broncos' season opener at Oakland on Sept. 8, an NFL source has told the Rocky Mountain News. However, the league has fined Marshall one game's pay, $26,178, plus he will lose that amount for sitting out the Raiders game.

An announcement is expected Friday.

He'll be back for the Chargers game after we stomp the heck out of the raiders.

Can a Man Will Himself Into the Hall of Fame?

Darin H — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:42:12 -0000

He was arguably the hardest working man in the NFL during his playing days. He wasn't drafted and had to work on the practice squad and special teams for the better part of 2 years before he saw meaningful playing time. He never missed an off season workout in 12 years, not a single one. He wasn't showy. He wasn't a me-first player. He played his last few years with serious hip pain (which eventually caused his retirement). He just went out and did his job and did it well. As long as the team was winning, he was happy.

Rod Smith is exactly the kind of football player that deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He has the stats, but he also has the intangibles that should not be overlooked.

First, the stats:

His first reception in the NFL was a game winning touchdown to beat the Redskins (over Hall of Famer Darrell Green, I might add). He is only 1 of 2 wide receivers that have caught 70 passes in 9 consecutive season, The other WR to do so? Jerry Rice. Smith is the only undrafted free agent to have surpassed the 10,000-receiving-yard mark (only 24 WRs total have that). He is ranked 12th in NFL history in career receptions (849) and 16th all time in receiving yards (11,389). He has the most catches, receiving yards and touchdown receptions (68) of any undrafted wide receiver in NFL history. He had 8 seasons of at least 1,000 receiving yards. He made the Pro-Bowl 3 times and led the league in receptions in 2001. 6th player in NFL history to have 100 receptions against at least three teams. One of seven players in NFL history to record back-to-back 100-catch seasons (2000-01). All those taken together are better than most WRs in the Hall of Fame.

Oh, and he did all that on a run first team. Speaking of run first, unlike a lot of those "me-first" WRs, Rod took pride in being the best blocker he could for the team. The Team, that's all that mattered to Rod. His former teammates spoke out when his retirement was announced, and what they said speaks to the kind of football player Rod was.

Jake Plummer:

"Rod Smith was one of the best all-around players I played with in the NFL -- and I only got play with him when he was too old and too slow (laughing). He was the undisputed leader of the team, which took a lot of pressure off of me. The standard Rod set was high and he led by example. The game will miss a player like Rod Smith."

"Probably one of the most impressive things I've ever seen him do was, in my first year there, I had just gotten hurt and we didn't have a back up for a couple of days. So they had him take 7-on-7. I think he was 6-for-6. And it wasn't like he was dumping to the back or hitting the checkdown. He was throwing a skinny route, dead on. He'd throw a go-route, he threw an out-route. I was thinking, 'Good God, he'd be good enough to take my job if he spent a year working on it.' It was sick."

"Why I felt so good around him is physically he didn't look like anything. He'd walk kind of sideways. He sometimes had this high-type voice. I mean he didn't look like a professional receiver when you put him next to Terrell Owens. But the things he didn’t do well he worked on. It's hard to pick between them but Rod and Larry Centers had the two best sets of hands I've ever seen."

Keith Burns (who entered training camp with Rod in 1994):

"He knew he was willing to do anything and everything he had to do to make the team. It was a pact we made during our rookie orientation, that we were here for work. It was good to meet new guys, new friends, but when we leave here you never know what's going to happen."

John Elway:

"He was not only a great player, but a great teammate. He was a guy that was great for the city, great for the organization and a guy that worked his tail off. I mean, the guy came in as a free agent. It shows you what he's all about. He was not only a great football player, but a class act.

He was a guy you could rely on week in and week out."

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen:

"You are the greatest player next to John [Elway] to play for me. And if ever get anybody like you are like John again, I am very fortunate."

Coach Mike Shanahan:

"Rod is the only person I've been around on a consistent basis, day in, day out, that never cared about his stats. All Rod Smith talked about was winning. When you have a guy that talks about winning consistently, regardless of any number of catchers or any honors, anyone who is able to influence the locker room like he has, then you have a chance to do something special."

That statement by Coach Shanahan is why Rod probably won't get into the Hall of Fame, yet it is exactly why he deserves it. In Superbowl 32, Rod didn't have a catch, but was he angry about it afterwards? Hell no. He was happy that the team won, he was in the game, blocking and still running routes. He got his catches and yards the next year in Superbowl 33 with 5 receptions for 152 yards including an 80 catch for a TD, but he was more excited that the Broncos won again. Rod Smith, in his 11 years, had 118 wins. There is only one other player that has that many wins in an 11-year time frame, that's Hall of Fame worthy.

The Hall of Fame probably won't call his name. I am under no illusions about that. The media are the ones who decide who gets in or stays out. They are the same ones who like the soap-operas of the Terrell Owens, Randy Mosses and Chad Johnsons in the league, they value flash and style over winning. They favor the individual stats on the ultimate team game. You give me the choice of any receiver in their prime and I'm taking Rod Smith first. He'll catch, he'll block, he will never take a play off if he isn't getting thrown the ball that down, he'll play special teams if asked. And he will work as hard as he can at everything without complaint. And we will win.

NFL Draft 2008 - Broncos Reloading Thoughts

Darin H — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:27:34 -0000

Go easy on me, this is my first diary on MHR :)

First, a change in philosophy:

When we won back to back Championships, we had a lot of high character guys - Rod & Easy Ed, Elway, Davis, Neil Smith, just about the entire offensive line, Steve Atwater, and, for all of his talking, Shannon Sharpe. For most of the post Superbowl Mike Shanahan era, it seems that as long as someone could play technically sound football, they had a place on our team. Character traits were overlooked for numbers (Dale Carter, Daryl Gardener, Travis Henry – though he seems to be making a good effort to turn it around). Guys with attitude problems were welcomed if they could put up the stats (Javon). Sure, we'd like the guys who were leaders and had high character, and we'd have them on the team, but it wasn't a priority compared to their play. As those guys left, we didn't replace them with enough outspoken high character players. We weren't prepared for the leadership vacuum last year when Rod Smith and Al Wilson couldn't play anymore.

Last season, game after game, Bronco fans were saying to themselves and to each other "there were a lot of players who just gave up in the middle of that game." The two San Diego games and the Detroit game jump right to my mind. We had a bunch of guys out there that were just collecting a paycheck. This draft changes that, in fact, the entire reloading season has been about changing that. I got to thinking about this when I read through most of the pages on the guys we selected in the draft and that expanded to guys we brought in as free agents as well.

Second, The Rod Tidwell draft aka "I'm all heart":

Yeah Jerry Maguire isn't a great movie, and don't get me started on Tom Cruise's acting ability, but I love the Rod Tidwell/Cuba Gooding Jr story line (side note - I was bartending in Phoenix when the movie was filmed and met Cuba who was staying at our resort, great guy) he learns that playing for a paycheck isn't what makes a great player.

With each free agent we signed, with each draft choice we made, the Broncos are bringing in guys who all had a few things in common. Call it desire, work ethic, tenacity, or competitiveness, but it all can be boiled down into one thing - heart. Let's take a look at some of the guys we got in the draft:

Royal, WR/ST - Strong, good work ethic, high character guy
Lichensteiger, C - Lineman with a nasty streak, relentless competitor
Williams, CB - Competitive, never gives up, has a will to win
Torain, RB - Good work ethic, character
Powell, DT - Always gives 100%, competitor, always hustles, character
Larsen, LB/ST - outspoken leader, challenges others, gets in guys faces who don't give their all

It seemed like in addition to their football abilities the Denver Broncos were drafting guys who weren't going to take "no" for an answer. Guys who would fight for every yard and every inch until the whistle blows. Guys who will lead by example and speak up when others aren't pulling their weight.

Third, The free agent signings:

Losing both Rod Smith and Al Wilson left a gigantic hole on the field and in the locker room. John Lynch is a good leader for now, but doesn’t have many years left on the field and Jay Cutler is growing into that role as a quarterback needs to, but we need more than just one guy on either side of the ball to maintain accountability on our team.

We have heard that Niko Koutouvides was a team leader even though he was only a back up and a special teamer. He was a team captain in Seattle, I have a feeling that the guy is going to be something special for us for a long time, both on the field and off.

Shanahan compared Keary Colbert to Eddie Mac saying "I like the type of person he is, you could see the way he played in the running game and the passing game, that's what we look for in a player." I hope Colbert has the skills that Eddie Mac had, but more than that, I hope he has the drive and determination that Easy Ed had. Shanahan thinks so, so that's a good sign.

If Boss has half of the character that his brother does, he will be quite the asset as well. We know that Champ will keep him in line, but I don't think that's going to be an issue.

Conclusion:

I'm sure that we'll still take chances on talented but troubled players in the future, however, we needed to address our biggest weakness this reloading season - heart.

On that, I give the Broncos a grade A+.