The San Diego/NY Jets Playoff Game and What It Showed

Brian:

I read a couple of your archived articles this morning and I liked them both very much. The article on the running game was very interesting to me, and I thought I'd bring some things to your attention. Most of it probably isn't new.

The points that were made on the comments were quite accurate. One of the things that was a very effective for Denver under Mike Shanahan was that they would use the passing attack them to get ahead, and use the running game to close out the game. This is taken directly from Bill Walsh, the inventor of the west coast offense. Although other coaches have used this same line over the years, he understood and used ( if he did not coin it) the phrase "Pass to score, run to win". At the very least, he based much of his system on it.

What Mike Shanahan would do was to have a high instance of scoring on the first drive in a high percentage of games. His ability to score in the first quarter of the game (or the first half, at least) was almost unsurpassed. In the third quarter, then you begin to see the dominating running game, which would use up a lot of clock time;  almost guaranteeing a win. Yes, they ran before that - they ran in every quarter, in degree. Mike was particularly good at that. It showed in Denver's won and lost record.

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One of the many things that fans are talking about, complaining about, praising and espousing right now is the talk about how Tim Tebow was NOT drafted to sit on the bench. For the upcoming season, it's entirely possible that it will prove to be exactly what he was drafted to do - at least on Sundays, for the moment. During the season, he'll get to train, practice and learn, things that he adores and that will give him a chance to eventually be a a solid, perhaps even elite NFL QB. But it isn't now, and he isn't close to ready. Therefore, sitting on the bench, unless there's an injury, is exactly what he'll get to do. There are good reasons for that, too.

Here are a couple of things on Orton from this past week or so:

Aug 11, Kirk Davis
Tim Tebow throws a pass into Alric Arnett's back. Kyle Orton hooks up with Willis for a touchdown. Orton throws a fade to Brandon Lloyd for a touchdown. Orton throws to Eddie Royal for a touchdown.

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Training camp has been nothing if not eventful. As is common at this time of year, some events are positive, some are not. First, I was asked on a thread about the injuries to Josh Barrett and Kenny McKinley. McKinley had a knee injury that is unrelated to size or power - get hit the wrong way and you've got the injury. I haven't heard anything on time frames for Kenny. Barrett hurt his shoulder, but he won't be rehabbing in Denver - New England picked him up off of waivers when we went to put him on IR. In a way, that works out very well - we have several new special teams players (like Joe 'Tyson' Mays and Kevin Alexander) who may be able to contribute more in regular game play than Barrett was able to. And, we needed room for the new ST players. I doubt that Barrett being exposed was a total accident.

Well, McD picked up two WRs as UDFAs when McKinley went down, so we've got even more people at WR. I'm starting to think that Willis is going to make the team and be active more often than not. While, over time, D. Thomas is going to be a heck of a player, Willis has impressed the heck out of the players who worked out with him this offseas on, and that apparently included Kyle Orton. If they've had a chance to throw the ball and get used to each other, that's another gold star on his side of the paper, so to speak. Decker has continued to show confidence, poise and that endlessly sure-handed catching ability. He may end up starting the season on the game-day active roster. With Willis creating vertical difficulties, Decker catching everything that comes into his area code and Eddie getting his slot time, with Gaffney and Lloyd filling out the group until D. Thomas is ready (if not right away), I'm not really sure where the 'they'll never score points' business comes from. It's probably linked to the situation on the OL. More on that after the jump.

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Although the Broncos loss of Moreno and Buckhalter caused most of us to hold our collective breath, Denver seems to have dodged a bullet. Moreno's injury is worse and at least 3 weeks is expected, while Buckhalter might be back in a week. Tyler Polumbus has given us reasons to hope for Clady's quick return, and training camp has started off with a bang!

I thought that it might be helpful to those of us who like to prepare for games against the foes Denver will meet first to keep an eye on some of them in training camp. This isn't intended as a long diatribe on all 16 games, but it seemed reasonable to know what our first few foes are showing: are they getting their players in camp? Anyone important (like Jared Gaither, starting RT for BAL) going down? Anyone new standing out? You've got questions, the Great and Powerful INT (and the not-so-much Doc Bear) has answers.  I thought that I'd just start with our first 5 opponents, plus a short note on our division rivals.

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When Josh McDaniels took on the task of remaking the Denver Broncos into a perennial playoff contender, his approach to player personnel was relatively direct. He put in place manuals for each of the positions that laid out in detail the height, weight and physical characteristics of each of the players that he wanted to see on the field as well as the mental attributes. He also reworked the scouting department, getting them up to speed on the way that they wanted players scouted and the types of skillsets that were valued by the organization. Overall, his approach was simple - he wanted tough, physical, smart versatile players at every slot on the field. With the draft of 2010, one of his final selections seems to be the epitome of that concept.

While a defensive lineman in college, and one who played both the DE and DT positions, Jammie (pronounced JAY-mee) Kirlew is exactly what the coach ordered. Whether or not he has the level of skill to make the leap from college to the NFL is still to be determined. Whether or not Kirlew fits into the outline that the Broncos have drawn is not - it fits him like a glove. One credit that he's earned was putting in place a system from the regional scouts to the tense moments of the draft know, understand their roles within it, and it's producing the kind of players that McDaniels and Xanders like. The further question of whether these are the players that the team can win with is yet to be determined. Jammie Kirlew was on the Denver board as a 5th round player, as was Syd'Quan Thompson. A quick quid pro quo involving the Denver pick in the 2011 draft and both players were slated to wear orange and blue.

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Every year, during the lull between the appetizer or OTAs and the 'meat' of training camp, articles start to filter through the blogosphere suggesting various combinations of players for the 53 man final active roster. This year, many positions are fairly set (or appear to be so), while others are obvious battles that may go down to the last two or three roster slots. This year, the players at OL, WR, CB, and OLB seem to be looking at the most competitive fights. While judicious use of the PUP option may smooth out some things in the short run, finalizing a 53 man roster looks to be a tough set of choices.

That's a very good thing if you're a Broncos fan and want to see an increasingly competitive team each year until Denver makes it (and stays) back into the upper ionosphere of the playoffs. At the same time, it will usually mean that some personal player favorites will fail to make the team, a yearly sense of loss experienced by many serious (and not so serious) fans. There is always the route of the practice squad for some of these players, but the bad news is that to get a player there you have to expose them to waivers first. The good news is that while you're trying to protect your (hopefully) future guys, the other teams around the league have the same set of problems. Unless the player is just too good to pass up and a perfect fit (remember - PS players who don't clear waivers have to be added to the 53 man roster immediately, so you can't just raid and fill up the PS on other teams' best 54-57 players), most teams are busy defending their own choices as much as looking at yours.

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Within the past week, to mix my sports metaphors, the Broncos stepped up to the plate. Despite back and forth theories and contradictions both within the fanbase and the media about how the Broncos were treating or mis-treating the well-named 'Doom', the delay was just a matter of working out the details. Doom was due his 3.168 million on his first contract, which would have ended later this year. But once the i's were dotted and the t's crosses, including this season, Elvis had a brand new 6 year, 61.5 million dollar contract.

That contract includes a record 43.168 million dollar guarantee against injury, according to two NFL sources, including the local Denver Post. Among other things, that guarantee shows that the team is cognizant of the injury factor that is one of many sticking points in the NFL CBA problems. Denver has made it clear to one and all - performance dictates premiums. Doom's teammates should be listening. Adding an extra 7 million dollars per year to Doom's salary is partly just recognition for the value that a player who can lead the league in sacks has for the team. It's also a way of saying to the rest of the players on the Denver squad, "Hey, show us what you can do. If you can do that, you'll be properly rewarded.

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So many folks have asked me about the story of why Walter Payton used that funny, straight-legged style of running that I feel like I was (inadvertently) teasing them when I said that I'd tell it one day. It's a Broncos site, but it's also dead season and there's a bit of history here that might interest a lot of folks around the league. I didn't feel right about that feeling of leaving the Windy City folks hanging, and as it turns out, I had  quiet, nice day today. I had time to put together the things that I know about the tale: I hope that you enjoy it. 

Early in Walter Payton's career, he was made aware of the low percentage of players who make it past their 4th year in the NFL. Injuries play a substantial role in that issue, and as a running back, Sweetness knew that knee injuries were a common cause of a sudden end to a promising career. Unlike most people, Walter seemed to look at life in a different way. He wasn't going to accept those statistics without doing his part to play far past them. He contemplated the problem, and he then assembled a group of men whose responsibility it was to give him every kind of information on the causes and effects of different impacts on the body and on the knee in particular. He included those who manage injuries after the fact.

Walter put together some of the top men in Chicago. He brought in a kinesiologist, a physiologist, an orthopedic surgeon, a chiropractor, a physical therapist who specialized in knee rehabilitation and a professional football trainer. They spent a long time considering the problem, establishing what the specific factors were that present or causative in creating various and specific knee injuries, and they used that information as a platform, a place to start, and to build on.

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So many folks have asked me about the story of why Walter Payton used that funny, straight-legged almost kicking style of running when he broke free that I feel like I was inadvertently teasing you. I didn't feel right about that, and as it turns out, I had  quiet, nice day today. I had time to put together the things that I know about the tale. I hope that you enjoy it. 

Early in Walter Payton's career, he was made aware of the low percentage of players who make it past their 4th year in the NFL. Injuries play a substantial role in that issue, and as a running back, Sweetness knew that knee injuries were a common cause of a sudden end to a promising career. Unlike most people, Walter seemed to look at life in a different way. He wasn't going to accept those statistics without doing his part to play far past them, and he knew that he would need the minds of professionals to develop a solution. He contemplated the problem for a time, and he then assembled a group of men whose responsibility it was to give him every kind of information on the causes and effects of different impacts on the body and on the knee in particular. He included those who manage injuries after the fact - such individuals often have helpful perspectives on how to avoid needing their services.

Walter put together some of the top men in Chicago. He brought in a kinesiologist, a physiologist, an orthopedic surgeon, a chiropractor, a physical therapist who specialized in knee rehabilitation and a professional football trainer. They spent a long time considering the problem, establishing what the specific factors were that present or causative in creating various and specific knee injuries, and they used that information as a platform, a place to start, and to build on.

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A brief background - I grew up in several cities, but I was born in Cook County Hospital and my family moved back to Chicago in the 60's, when I was 10. A friend over on MHR sent me this link (find it here) regarding some of the most memorable players in history. It's no shock that some of the Bears were first on the list. As these things tend to do, memory took me back to the prevailing 35 mph SW wind, the bitter cold in Wrigley Field and the experiences that I had there. i lived most of my life in Denver and Colorado, but with these being Chicago stories, I hope that you can enjoy them. Peace.

Bradley:

Thanks for sending me that link. Ironically, I'd just read that when I got to your email. It was/is a heck of a read, and I appreciate you including me. If anyone missed it, it was here:

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bradley:

Thanks for sending me that link. Ironically, I'd just read that when I got to your email. It was/is a heck of a read, and I appreciate you including me. If anyone missed it, it was here:

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Some years back in Denver (Doug or TJ could tell you how many), Dan Reeves fired a young coach who was, in fairness, trying to get around Reeves with regard to the type of plays that would be run for star QB John Elway. Reeves was also reputed to have a personal dislike for the somewhat cocky young coach, and despite the value and importance of this individual personally to John Elway, Reeves went ahead and fired Mike Shanahan. Ironically, Shanahan went to the raiders to get some head coaching experience. Oakland is where he found out why so many coaches dislike Al Davis, where Shanahan won a court case that he never bothered to collect on and then came back as a friend of Elway's, as head coach of the Broncos (a job that evolved into head coach and general manager), and won two Super Bowls for a grateful Denver and all of Broncos Country. He holds a very high place in the annals of the Broncos history and in the hearts of many of the Broncos fans who were around during the miraculous period when Denver won 2 super Bowls, one against a heavily favored Green Bay team, a 'team of destiny', as they were being called. He also took apart a pretty good Atlanta Falcons team the following year that was, ironically, coached by Dan Reeves. By a seat-of-the-pants calculation, Mike Shanahan gave well over 15,000 hours of his life to the Denver Broncos and is rightfully a legend in this town. 

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Every time Richard Quinn's name comes up, you begin to hear the same Greek chorus - "He's only a blocking back. He only caught 12 balls in college." The second statement is true. The first is up for considerable debate. What many people don't seem to know about Richard Quinn is that before he was a TE, he'd been a WR/TE in high school. He was a good one, too, and highly recruited. Sometimes you don't get the whole story when you only see headlines. Quinn is an unknown quantity to most Denver fans. That's going to change over time, and I'm betting that Broncos fans will like what they see. 

Think about this predraft statement from Rivals.com: "Caught the ball extremely well at the Combine despite being greatly underutilized as a receiver in college alongside three legitimate NFL starting-caliber receivers"?

Quinn served in an offense that used TEs almost exclusively as blockers. Does that mean that he can't catch? No. It means that his college didn't use TEs a receiving threats. It had NFL-quality WRs - Obviously, they didn't see why they should use a receiving TE. Personally, I love to see TEs catch out of formations, but not every coach does, nor do they always need to. If you phrase the question "Did he catch a lot of balls in college?" the answer is no. If you phrase it "Is Quinn capable of catching balls as an NFL TE?", the answer is a definite yes. 

"Just give me a chance and I'll get it done for you." That's what Quinn told teams at the Combine and the Broncos are counting on it.

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I was chatting with anothe member this afternoon, and he mentioned his discomfort with the article in today's Denver Post on the 'It' factor. He brought up a few very legitimate concerns, too. I understand his feelings. I agree with much of it, too. I'll tell you the good side that I see, though, for whatever it's worth. Please bear with me - it covers a few different areas, but there is a point to the journey, I promise.

As you might know, in my former life, I was a physician. One of the things that I learned was physio-postural analysis - how to see what was 'wrong' with the human form, posture and gait; to be able to break it down and analyze it in a way that leads to a better diagnosis and treatment. Many of my patients had conditions that were created or exacerbated by the way that they stood, moved and carried their weight. For example, I saw quite a few cases of what's called 'thoracic outlet syndrome', or just TOS. TOS is a nasty problem. It's a pinching of the nerves that come out of the neck (mostly the brachial plexus, which emerges from the openings of the 4th through the 7th vertebrae of the neck), down the shoulder, through the hole or 'outlet', down into the upper thorax of the body and from there out into the 4 main nerves of the arm. when this pinching occurs, the arm usually goes numb. In bad cases, the patient begins to lose use of the hand and/or the arm. The only western treatments at that time were PT and a choice of two surgeries, both of which are excruciating and neither of which works more than about 50 percent of the time. One was the removal of the 1st rib and the other a removal of part of one muscle in the neck - the splenius capitus, so the procedure is called a partial splenectomy, although it has nothing to do with the organ called the spleen. Removing that part of the muscle created, in theory, more room for the nerves.  We had a perfect record on curing those patients if we got them pre-surgery. Why? Because I could do the postural analysis that told me why they had the problem and I had developed the techniques  to fix it. I'm not smarter than other docs - I just had training that let me view from a different perspective.

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There are players who come into the NFL, seemingly immediately ready to take on the challenges of the game. You may find them in the 1st round or the 7th - you may even find them in the ranks of the undrafted college free agents. Regardless of where they are found, they all have one thing in common - they're very, very rare. Only a gifted few players are ready to contribute immediately. Most NFL teams will give even 1st round prospects 2 full training camps before even considering how well they might be working out for the team. The NFL game is bigger, faster, stronger and a lot more complex, and it takes most people time to figure it out. One of those players is Marquez Branson.

Not a great route runner...Gives good effort but just an average blocker...Isn't real elusive...Intelligence has been questioned...Did not face elite competition. (nfl.com)

If you just look at the above analysis from nfl.com, you have to wonder what this guy is doing taking up valuable space on the practice squad. That's one of the things that makes Marquez Branson such an interesting player. Measured at the Combine at 6'1 and 241 lb, Branson is one of those individuals who has continued to grow later in his life than most. Currently measured at 6'3 and 248 lb, he's one of the players that Josh McDaniels has chosen (along with Chris Baker) to mention publicly as an example of those lesser known from whom good things are expected as the team moves into the 2010 OTAs that will prepare the squad for training camp. One year ago, he was an afterthought to most fans, just one more on a list of undrafted college free agents. It wasn't a list that saw good things ahead in the NFL for the majority of names that were on it. These were the folks holding on to their NFL careers with fingernails and super glue. Every now and then, some of these players work out. There was a guy named Rod Smith, a while back, who epitomizes that possibility.

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I've been one of the folks who would prefer a more balanced view of the Broncos newest quarterback. He's done some great things, and he has some weaknesses that are not minor issues. In the midst of all the laudatory arguments that seem to claim that the Broncos are now Super Bowl bound, I'd like to add some centrist reasoning. I'm hearing quite a few straw men arguments, and perhaps there's a middle road to be considered on that.

I tend to read and research quite a bit. Contrary to a recent post, I've heard very few people claim that Tebow 'wasn't accurate' in college. It's extremely important for the chances of future success that a QB making the leap from the college to the pro level to have a minimum of a 60% completion rate in college. Tebow's was well over that, and I haven't hear much in the way of comments that differ on this. College and the NFL, however, are vastly different. I have heard the criticism that he has trouble with accuracy on certain throws. That will or won't be true at the NFL level with the new throwing motion that he is trying to develop - certainly, there is a great connection between Tebow and McDaniels, and TT's in the best spot that he could be in that sense. He'll get the best help that he can to work on all throws.

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The Option of Drafting a Later Round QB

I was wandering through the day's information, casual as you please, when this next bit from walterfootball.com jumped up and bit me on the imagination. As most of you know, I tend to be a big Bill Walsh fan, and Mike Holmgren was his star QBs pupil. That made me think about the following blurb:

Holmgren has never spent a first-round pick on a quarterback. There's a reason for this. Like Bill Walsh, Holmgren firmly believes that he can take "inferior" quarterbacks and make them into really proficient passers. These "inferior" signal-callers don't have to possess a great or even a very good arm; they just need to make quick decisions, and be accurate in the short and the intermediate passing game. Clausen could absolutely thrive in Holmgren's offense, but I don't think Holmgren would be willing to spend the No. 7 overall pick on the Notre Dame product - even if he is the top quarterback prospect in this class.

What caught my eye was that this article believes that there is a trend that Walsh started - supposedly - and that Holmgren is supposed to be maintaining. The evidence is sketchy, but it's possible. What interested me more was that Bill Belichick and his pupil, Josh McDaniels, may have also gotten into what may be a growing trend regarding looking for later round QBs. So far, Josh McDaniels has followed Bill Belichick in this approach, just as Holmgren has (if the article is to be believed), follows Bill Walsh. What interests me the most is that these four men - Holmgren, Walsh, Belichick and McDaniels - are all considered highly knowledgeable about QBs. Walsh, Holmgren and Belichick have had a chance to prove it. This poses a question: Do they just believe, that with their backgrounds, they can know something that others don't? If so, is that because they believe that they can find, or see, things in quality QBs later in the draft that others will miss, or is there more to it? I decided to follow the data - once I'd found it.

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 SWG777 asked me for some draft theory info. While there are more knowledgeable members on this subject, I did have a ton of draft info in the archives, so I put some together for this. Here's hoping it's of some interest.

About 3 months before this time of year, you start to hear terms bandied about, sometimes accurately, sometimes carelessly. The most common point of discussion is talked about as 'need' versus "BPA' or best player available. The fact is, no team drafts exclusively for one or the other. Both come into play when a team talks about any player. Let's start wth scouting and move along the path to the draft.

One of the complaints that you will hear yearly at this time comes from the scouts in the game. I'll explain in a little while. Some teams use services, like BLESTO (which was originally and acronym for the Bears, Lions, Eagles and Steelers scouting organization. National Scouting Service, knows simply as 'National' is the other larger scouting house. More and more, though, teams have their own scouts arranged usually by region or by conference. They may still subscribe to the info from the scouting services, but they do their own legwork once the early work is done.

You can tell by the grading or ranking numbers which scouting service certain draft sites use. National uses a 1-9 system, and 9 is the best possible grade, a player that you expect to come in, start his first year and eventually make the Hall of Fame. It's rarely awarded, as you can imagine. National breaks down the grades by several subcategories and many, like New Era Scouting and what was nfldraftscout.com and has apparently merged with CBS, use their grading system. It's moderately intricate and helpful. It's a good start

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In Part I, I tried to look at where Denver stands right now, and to establish how a year's familiarity with the team and systems could, for most of the players and coaches, provide a noticeable benefit. In this installment, I'm going to dissect the defense and look at some strengths, weaknesses, and potential for the future.

The Defense

There's a new defensive coordinator in town, and Don 'Wink' Martindale has been unabashed about his feelings on the game. He's enthusiastic, he's excited and he plans to increase the aggression level of the Denver D. There was a lot of 'read and react' during the unlamented 2008 version, and it didn't work well. You still saw some of that in 2009, but it was (thankfully) limited. What you did see a lot of was what Renaldo Hill called 'vision coverage' - the DBs watched the QB's eyes to take their cues, which is somewhat different from read and react, an approach that deals with both run and pass. Vision coverage is, according to an interview with Renaldo Hill, a little moment slower and leaves some openings that receivers can take advantage of as a result. According to  Hill, that won't be the case this year. You can expect to see the players locking harder onto the offensive players who come into their zones. Hill seemed to think that dropping this coverage and implementing the different approach would improve the secondary and the pass defense. There will also be more blitzing, and there will be an effort to avoid using eight in the box as much as is possible unless it's being done to exploit an offensive weakness. Nate Jones, the newest cornerback, is said to specialize in cornerback blitzing, so there should be some opportunity there which adds a weapon to the arsenal.

Some things will be the same. You'll still see, as far as we know, a 5-2 version of the 30 front defense. The OLBs will still be responsible for setting the edge and funneling the RBs to the ILBs, while the DL is responsible for taking up the OL as much as is possible. There is still a major expectation of the DL to harass the QB and squash running backs. With some of the size upgrades, that may be less difficult than it was in 2009.

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The Denver Broncos came into 2009 on the heels of a shocking dismissal of long-time head coach Mike Shanahan. The next few months would be filled with the hiring of Josh McDaniels and his entire coaching staff, the dismissal/firing of both Jim and Jeff Goodman, the architects of the 2008 draft class, a tiff with QB Jay Cutler that resulted in his trade to Chicago, rumors of trades of Tony Scheffler (who ended 2009 in the doghouse of the new coaching regime), a very active role in free agency and a hotly debated role in the 2009 draft. Other than that, it was unusually calm in Dove Valley, unless you include redecorating and even removing some pictures, resulting in some (even more) irritated fans. Comparatively, 2010 has been very quiet. The two worst problems are trying to know if we have an interior line guy on either side of the ball and trying to understand who folks are talking about when they just say, 'Quinn'. Brady or Richard? Richard is the taller one....

The former issue brings up a fair question, especially as the team looks to the 2010 draft. What can a fan reasonably know about this team? Mike Nolan resurrected the defense in the first half of the 2009 season but nothing he did was able to stop the run over the second half of the season. Nolan was replaced by former LB coach Don 'Wink' Martindale, who has promised a more aggressive approach to defense. The offensive line is a cipher, Brandon Marshall either is or isn't leaving town, depending on who you ask, and the same is true of Tony Scheffler (again). Just another fun-filled offseason in Dove Valley.

One of the things that has rightfully been debated over the past few months has been the statement that was (to the best of my knowledge) made by Tom Brady that it takes two-three years (Not 4. Let's be clear :D) to become fully comfortable in this offense. Some have seen many of the errors that the team's offense made to fall into that slot, while others complain that Brady's statement is overdone and that the fans who are quoting that statement are just making excuses. As there usually is, there's a middle road here that makes a great deal of sense.

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When I was asked for a piece on Mario Haggan and the inside linebacker position, I went through the three research files on Haggan that I had already developed and quickly realized that there was a lot more to the situation than just a story on Mario. Since I've covered him a few times already, I felt it best to deal more directly with the question, "What options do the Broncos have for ILB this year?" Since getting it all done solo wasn't an option right now, I gave a call to the Dude, admired the way his rug pulled the room together and enticed him into the project. Never one to miss out on some play time, TJ tossed in with gusto. At this point, you hopefully can't tell where one of us stops and the other begins, in a literary sense. We both hope that you enjoy the offering. Doc and TJ

Over the course of the 2010 offseason, questions abound as to the direction that the Denver Broncos have chosen for the last few weeks of free agency and the NFL draft. The initial question was what to do abou the defensive line, one that failed in the second half of the season. The acquisition of Jamal Williams, Justin Bannan and Jarvis Green has almost undoubtedly bolstered the size, power and ability level of the defensive line. The progress of Chris Baker, Everette Pedescleaux and the changes that Marcus Thomas are attempting (losing over 20 lb. in an attempt to compete for a DE position instead of NT) are unknowns that Broncos fans will continue to speculate on until training camp reveals their progress. One thing is certain, though - Denver is recovering its long-held reputation as a desirable destination for quality free agents. Regarding his own experience, DE Jarvis Green said,

"I know that when free agency hit, I was like, "Denver Broncos, Denver Broncos"... The last thing I remember is watching him (Josh McDaniels) doing the fist pumps at the end of the game, and I saw that and I saw the energy, and the players, they way they're playing for him, and everybody wants to play for a coach like that. And I was like watching guys from the sidelines and I thought, "Hey, man, I want to play for a coach like that too".

The new looks that we will see on defense apparently will include a greater emphasis on blitzing, including cornerback blitzes. The recent acquisition of Nate Jones adds a dimension to the secondary that was missing for much of 2009. Jones played with Renaldo Hill and Andre' Goodman in Miami and one of his strengths is the cornerback blitz. Jones is also known as a stronger tackler than talented cover guy Andre' Goodman, and has played corner, nickel corner and safety in his 6 seasons in the NFL, 4 with Dallas and 2 with Miami.

Poll

Who Would You Like to See Most at ILB?

7%

Mario Haggan

131 votes

17%

Spencer Larsen

311 votes

8%

Wesley Woodyard

146 votes

0%

Baraka Atkins

6 votes

39%

Rolando McClain

707 votes

7%

Donald Butler

127 votes

5%

Brandon Spikes

96 votes

1%

Micah Johnson

34 votes

0%

Jason Worilds

7 votes

0%

Daryl Washington

12 votes

11%

Danged if I know

200 votes

1777 votes | Poll has closed

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We've been talking for weeks now about the nose tackles in this league, on this team and in this draft. It seems that every time I turn around, some other NFL team has decided that the intelligent answer to the short passing-based attack that has been sweeping the NFL is to move to the versatility of the 3-4 formation. As more and more teams use this attack as their primary or secondary weapon (in the case of some of the hybrids formations, another commonality in the NFL right now), there is a growing demand for nose tackles. Big ones and shorter ones, faster and slower ones, nose tackles are becoming one of the talks of the league.

When you see a growing trend towards the 3-4, 5-2 and hybrid formations that require a NT, you're quickly going to see counter-moves by the offenses in the league. It's been going on since Org realized that he could hit Ulah with a rock from farther away than Ulah could whack him with a stick - the move and countermove that we have seen in the evolution of human society has been seen in small in the game of NFL football. One of the counter-moves that you might begin to see may be a greater emphasis on the center and guard positions. Someone has to stop the big guys from making burgers out of your 12 million dollar quarterback. Your primary investment loses value quickly if he's throwing a desperate pass with 325 lbs of nasty leaping onto his head. Those someones who protect that QB have often been nearly forgotten in the dash for more points, the fantasy standings and the glory hounds who play what are still called the skill positions. From my own perspective, keeping the Ngatas of this world from making post holes with your QB's head is definitely and categorically a skill.

The Broncos have a guy who is nearly unknown, but who is the only straight up center listed on the current team roster. Let's face it - offseason, predraft team rosters are nothing more than a little guesswork and a lot of smokescreen that fulfills an NFL requirement. But even so, as things stand right now, Dustin Fry is the only pure center on the Denver Broncos. That may change between now and the end of the draft, but for the moment, we should probably get to know the man who may be snapping the ball to Kyle Orton on the first day of the 2010 season.

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Perusing the list of offerings from this past week, I particularly liked the article Trends that Ivan put together, and I want to compliment him on that great effort. It was a very nice job of organizing a lot of disparate information in a way that brought out and clarified many of the concepts that were within its scope. As good articles tend to do, I found that I did have a couple of questions and thoughts from it. I thought they would fit best in an article rather than a comment - I try not to write a 'War and Peace' comment more than once a month...;-). After the response to the historical retrospective on choosing a quarterback, it brought me to the understanding that it will take a little time to cover the issues that have to be considered when choosing a nose tackle for a 3-4 defense. Much of this originally came up in regard to T. Cody, but this is equally important regardless of which NT you decide to draft for your team.

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via cache.daylife.com

A Historical Perspective

One of the most important abilities as a general manager, a coach or a scout is the ability to analyze talent. Each of these professions needs to understand what a players strengths are, what their weaknesses are, and what they will and won't be expected to be able to do. It's particularly important - and difficult - when it comes to talking about quarterbacks. What is it that makes a quarterback successful? How can you structure an understanding of how effective a player will be in 1, 2, 3 and 5 or more years from when they will be drafted? Why is it, historically, that so many quarterbacks have failed to make the leap from college to the NFL? There have been many quarterbacks who we can look at, to try to discover why it's such a difficult decision.

The first thing that every quarterback's coach knows is that most players at the college level are not really trained in a pro style of offense. The game is very different at the NFL professional level - faster, more complex, more difficult and far more stressful. Years of practice at reading defenses from under center, practicing footwork until it is second nature, working on the mechanics of throwing, developing a feel for the pocket, an understanding of the tendencies of 32 teams (many with playbooks the size of bookcases) is a massive and difficult undertaking. Having four or more additional years of practice at playing a game that mirrors the skills and abilities of the game at the NFL level is a huge advantage when a player reaches the NFL level. The NFL players are bigger, stronger, and much, much faster. Even for the most prepared QBs, the jump to the pros can be overwhelming. IPS, or information processing speed, is not always linked to raw intelligence, although intelligence is obviously a requirement as well to succeed at the position.

Developing a unified and effective footwork and mechanics combination is essentially the Holy Grail of the physical game of football, but they pale in comparison to the amount of information that a quarterback in the NFL has to process. Just the ability to run a huddle, function accurately and instinctively at the line under center, call the adjustments and prepare the team pre-snap is far more complex than most fans are aware. That's what makes players like Peyton Manning as incredibly good as they are. But Manning also had certain advantages, genetic and in the way he was trained, that few QB will be able to boast. He is also as hardworking as any player in the game, studying every nuance of his position and how it relates to every other player on the field. His practice habits are nearly perfect. It shows when he steps onto the field on game day.

Manning grew up learning perfect mechanics from his NFL pro father and from all of the coaches that Archie Manning would bring in. He learned from the best over the years, and has always had marvelous mechanics and remarkable footwork. They are also the product of intense training over a large number of years. If a player comes from a high school and/or college system where they rarely, if ever, play under center, that means that those 8 years of training in proper footwork, proper mechanics and the skills that an NFL QB requires under center - each of which is a major undertaking, it places the quarterback coming into the pros in a difficult position. Sometimes, the QB can overcome that kind of restriction. Other times, he cannot. Despite constant attempts at developing systems for judging QBs who are draft prospects, the approaches still can fail.

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Understanding Linebacker Play Within the Broncos Scheme

One of the big questions going into the 2010 offseason is deciding exactly what, if anything, the Broncos are going to do about their linebacker position. Given that Coach Don Martindale has been named to the defensive coordinator position, it's clear that that Broncos both like his style of coaching and appreciate what he's done with a group that was cobbled together from continuing players, castoffs from other squads  and players from Denver moving from different positions.

It says here that Martindale has been one of the top coaches on the team, and if they move him up to DC, I hope that they can find someone nearly as good to take his place. By the way, for those who asked - the style of defense and the terminology were part of the package that Josh McDaniels impressed Pat Bowlen, Joe Ellis and Jim Goodman with. It's not going to change, so there will be continuity.

But the linebacking corps still needs work, and I think that the LB squad would agree. As most MHR members seem to concur, there is a problem at inside linebacker. Andra Davis seemed to fade a bit down the road and may be experiencing the only opponent that always wins - age. DJ Williams, on the other hand, was at his fourth position in 6 seasons and still managed to lead the team in tackles.

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After reading two of BShrout's articles this week, I liked them both very much. The article on the running game was very interesting to me, and I thought I'd bring a little extra info to your attention. Most of it probably isn't new.

The points that were made on the comments were quite accurate. One of the things that came out was that it was very effective for Denver, under Mike Shanahan, to use the passing attack to get ahead, and use the running game to close out the game. This is taken directly from Bill Walsh, the inventor of the West Coast Offense. Although other coaches have used this same line over the years, he understood (and used that phrase in an interview I saw with him) the phrase "Pass to score, run to win". At the very least, he based much of his system on it. Lots of teams know this principle and use it - as in, all of them - in degree.

What Mike Shanahan would do was to score on the first drive in a high percentage of games. His ability to score in the first quarter of the game was almost unsurpassed. In the third quarter, you begin to see the dominating running game, which would use up a lot of clock time, and almost guarantee a win. Yes, they ran before that - they ran in every quarter. Mike was particularly good at that. It showed in our won-lost record.

This is why there is a strong argument between people who feel that a dominant running game is what will win the game for you, and those who recognize that a high number of yards gained by the running game will not guarantee that you'll win. Many people know that those higher running numbers can simply indicate that you were already winning the game. However, it's equally important to realize that you can have a dominating running game in both the first and second half. That's not as common anymore, but it is done.

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Marquez Branson

He isn't the best of blockers, although he's been steadily improving in that area (is any of this starting to sound familiar?). However - while this player, who was the Senior Bowl quarterback Nathan Brown's favorite target at Central Arkansas in 2008, he has the frame to add an estimated 10 to 15 pounds of muscle without sacrificing speed. That's good, because his Combine average was only about 4.7 (He did a run a few timed 4.55's between preparations, Combine and Pro Day). Branson has an arm span of 34.25 inches and a hand span of 10 inches, which gives him an edge in a lot of situations. He lead the All-Southland Conference First Team with an impressive 16.4 yards per catch at Central Arkansas, after doing two years at East Mississippi Community College and he managed 18 TDs in his last two years. Oh, and he managed a 35 inch vertical leap at Combine, third in that year at TE.

On his Pro Day, his performance was even better. His Pro Day numbers were remarkable: he ran even better at the UCA Pro Day, with times of 4.55, 4.67 and 4.66. He also posted a 36" vertical, a 4.40 short shuttle and a 7.29 3-cone. This is a player who may need to figure out his niche, but who has a lot of skills and some maturity to bring to his game.

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Team Building 2010

I have a confession to make. I love the draft.

To me, it's both Christmas and birthday, rolled into one. Optimally, the general manager and the head coach combine with every scout, position coach and assistant to pick out my presents for me, and I can't wait to get a chance to play with them. It's a great time to consider the issues of strategy and tactics, to review one's own way of viewing the game and the concepts of team-building. It's an opportunity to watch the front office carefully and to pick up ideas about how your own team views these same ideas. In short, it's a heck of a chance to debate, theorize, argue, bloviate and pontificate. It's two of the most enjoyable days of the NFL calender year, back to back. In many ways, there's nothing like it.

Perhaps my favorite part of the draft is one that gets relatively little press. To draft well as a team - as well as to do well in free agency - you have to have your priorities clear in terms of which positions are the most important to you. It's the game of 'How do you Rebuild' - even though few teams will use that term.

The Denver Broncos are in a unique situation. While they do not accept of the idea of 'rebuilding', and still don't believe in using the term, Josh McDaniels was comfortable saying during the 2009 training camp, "We're not a Super Bowl team". He was right, they weren't and aren't: changing that for the better is the entire point of the offseason and draft experience. MHR members like Colinski can give us chapter and verse on the concepts of draft strategy and I won't waste time echoing (poorly) their understanding. However...The simple issue here is that we have to get better and free agency and the draft are generally the ways that you do that. I'll lump the college free agency in with the draft to make this all easier. So, what's our theory on which positions are the most important in our version of 'improving' (I'll use that, since the 'R' word is verboten).

Where are the Broncos this year in their preparations? Simple - much further along. To quote Frank Schwab in the Colorado Springs Gazette:

 

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