I was listening to the radio for a few minutes this morning and heard this statement. "I do believe the Denver Broncos are an improved team.  I think they are a Six win Team."  Now I'm not going to venture a guess as to what our record will be at the end of the year, but I was curious, Are We An Improved Team?

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Perspective is like a one year old child.   We think we’ve got it, until we lose sight of it.  I shared a perspective along with nearly everyone else going into the draft.  Our D-line HAD to be the focus of our draft.  Well, we all know how that panned out.

It got me wondering WHY I thought this had to be the case.  The obvious answer was the play of the team last year.  We couldn’t stop the run and our D-Line looked old, slow and unskilled.  SOLD!  Draft me a DT!  Two of them!  I’m not sure why, maybe I was looking for a reason to not be upset, but I started looking back.  First let me point out that although I wanted a DT in the 1st round, when I was asked to represent the Broncos in a full-blown mock of the first two rounds, I drafted Vonn.  When it came time to pull the trigger, I couldn’t do it.  But I digress.

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So I can’t remember another time in recent history where this has happened to me.  I don’t think there is ANY WAY, the Broncos win this game Sunday.  That was hard for me to say.  I consider myself a very realistic football fan.  Objective.  Not completely impartial though and when talking Broncos, I fade to the optimistic side.  Now don’t get me wrong , I haven’t crossed over to the NegativeNelly/McG side of things (two people I greatly enjoy reading BTW).  But I’m being honest.  That being said, I have a couple points I’d like to bring up.

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OK I’m officially tired of defending the Broncos.  I’m sure nearly every single one of you are too.  But, something in me can’t stop. Soooo, as my last ditch effort I am going give Bronco fans one last piece of ammunition with which to argue. 

 

Ever since the Marshall move occurred, I’ve felt that somehow the Broncos were a better team.  It took me a while (OK way too long) but I feel like I’ve finally been able to nail down WHY we are a better team WITHOUT our stud wide receiver.  After all, that is the question posed by “experts” isn’t it?  It goes something like “So tell me how the Broncos are a better team when they LOST THEIR BEST OFFENSIVE WEAPON???”  I don’t know how many times I’ve heard statements similar to that on the radio or TV this off-season when someone suggests that the Broncos will win more than 5 games.  And to be honest it was hard for me to answer.  Until now.

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Well, I’m hopeful this post will not get me criticized to the extent that most others critical of the draft were.  And let me say right off the bat, I”M A BRONCO FAN TILL I DIE!!  This, nor anything else will ever affect my fandom.  Now, on to my negativity.

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For all of the "Professional Analysist" and "NFL Experts" who have put pen to paper stating the Denver Broncos will select Dez Bryant with the 11th pick of the draft, I have a suggestion.  Get yourself a fresh cup of coffee, find a quiet dark room and spend some time contemplating whether you made the right career choice.  OK OK, thats pretty harsh.  I'm sure they made SOME correct analyses concerning the Broncos like.....Oh  oh, Brandon has no trade value after the Santonio Holmes deal.  Eh, bad example.  How about how Cutler will make the Bears playoff........let's just move on.

 

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I can't help myself.  Mostly because I'm not seeing what I expect to see.  This will be short and sweet.  No trades, Just the picks.  Ok I take that back I'm adding a fith round pick.

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Ok everyone.  I am NOT a draftnik.  I am NOT a college football fan.  I AM a professional analysis.  What I think nearly everyone is missing in their mock drafts is an explanation of HOW these picks fit into what we learned from last year. 

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So I've wanted to do this comparison since the preseason but certain life circumstances (relocating from South Carolina to Washington State) have REALLY hampered my ability to study football thus far.  In any case, I finally have a few hours to sit down and write.

I initially wanted to put this thing together because I was a bit......flustered by what I was seeing in the preseason in the way of play calling and QB performance (I was about to jam a pencil into my eye if I saw another bubble screen or dump off).  I started thinking that there has to be a method; a development pattern of sorts, that could be used to see into the future.  Enter Matt Cassel.  What a great way to see the growth of McDs system in a new QB and maybe to see how Orton is holding up in comparison to the Patriots of last year (11-5).  Cassel certainly isn't Orton, and the Broncos aren't the Patriots, but McD obviously had some interest in bringing Cassel into the Broncos organization and no one can deny that the Broncos are utilizing the same (at least real close) passing philosophy that the Patriots did.  So here are the numbers.

WK    Result                    Comp        Att      Pct     Yds    Avg     TD    Int    Sck    SckY    Rating Cassel    1       W   17-10 KC          13          18     72.2    152     8.4      1       0      2        16         116 Orton                W   12-7   Cinci       17          28    60.7    243     8.7      1       0      3        16         100.7 Cassel    2       W   19-10 Jets        16          23     69.6    165     7.2      0       0      4         9           89.9 Orton                W   27-6   Clev        19          37     51.4    263     7.1      1       0      0         0           83.5 Cassel    3        L   13-38  Miami    19          31     61.3    131     4.2      1       1      4         17         68.1 Orton                W   23-3  Oak         13          23     56.5    157     6.8      1       0      0          0           92.1 Cassel    4        W   30-21 SF          22          32     68.8    259     8.1      1       2      5          26         77.5 Orton                W   17-10 Dal          20          29     69       243     8.4      2       0      3         22         117.5 Cassel    5        L   10-30   SD         22          38     57.9    203     5.3      0       1      4        10         61.6 Orton                W   20-17 NE          35          48     72.9    330     6.9      2       1      2          9           96.7 Cassel    6       W   41-7   Den        18          24     75       185     7.7      3       0      6          38         136.3 Orton                W   34-23 SD          20          29     69       229     7.9      2       0      1          2           115.4 Cassel    7       W   23-16 STL         21          33     63.6    267     8.1      1       2      3         17         73.7 Orton                ????????                                                                                                               Cassel    8        L   15-18  Indy         25          34     73.5    204     6         0       1      0        0           76.1 Cassel    9        W   20-10 Buff         22          32     68.8    234     7.3      0       0      1        8           89.8 Cassel    10      L   31-34  Jets         30          51     58.8    400     7.8      3       0      3       14         103.4 Cassel    11      W   48-28 Miami      30          43     69.8    415     9.7      3       1      2       7           114 Cassel    12      L   10-33   Pitts       19          39     48.7    169     4.3      0       2      5        24         39.4 Cassel    13      W   24-21 Seatt       26          44     59.1    268     6.1      1       0      3       8           84.3 Cassel    14      W   49-26 Oak        18          30     60       218     7.3      4       1      3        8           108.1 Cassel    15      W   47-7   Ariz        20          36     55.6    345     9.6      3       0      1        12         116.1 Cassel    16      W   13-0   Buffalo    6            8       75       78       9.8      0       0      1        5           105.2

So what can be derived from a look at the two, side by side (other than I really stink at inserting tables)?  Maybe nothing.  But there are a few things that stick out to me.

First, the Pats O-line isn't even in the same league as what Orton has got watching his back.  That and Orton is probably better at getting the ball out of his hand quicker.  In the first 6 games under McD, Cassel was sacked 25 times compared to Ortons 9. Wow!!  Second, Interceptions.  Through 6 games, Cassel had 6 compared to Ortons 1.  There are other things to be gleaned from the comparison but ultimately, Orton is blowing Cassel out of the water through the first six games.  But to be honest, I'd be upset if he wasn't.  Orton is a much more experienced QB than Cassel at this point and should outperform him.  But back to my initial question, when is the play calling going to open up?

In game 6, the Patriots absolutely destroyed us.  We turned the ball over 5 times and the Patriots just smeared us into the turf.  This game however, is where things started to change for Cassel.  Up to this point, most of Cassel's passes are short (read bubble screens and dump offs).  Welker and Faulk are the primary recipients and Cassel is averaging about 6-7 yards per pass and there are very few over 15 yards.  In game 6, although his stats are relatively underwhelming, Moss, Welker and Watson all had receptions over 27 yards. From this point forward Cassel gets it.  The offense opens up and they lay some serious wood on teams.  They still lose a few, 3 to be exact (Indy, Jets and Pittsburg) but they're firing on all cylinders.  The Broncos are weeks ahead of the 2008 Patriots.  We don't have a Randy Moss (there isn't another one, maybe Wayne or Fitz) to stretch the field and consistently snag 60 yard bombs.  What doesn't come across well in these stats is the distribution of the ball. 

Last year, the Patriots had 7 players with a reception over 24 yards.  After 6 games the Broncos have 8 players with a reception of 24 yards or greater (6 FREAKIN GAMES).  The 2008 Patriots had 5 players with 20 or more receptions.  The Broncos are on pace to have 8.  Orton is light years ahead of where Cassel was after 6 games.  We've watched his Passing Percentage increase steadily and his yards per pass are consistently better than what Cassel was posting last year.

My initial curiosity was focused on determining when we could expect the offense to open up and lay big-time wood. Now, after looking into things, I don't really care.  We most certainly have the ability right now. But the effectiveness/efficiency is simply awe-inspiring.  Get this!!  Remember that incredible 2007 season Brady had?  He had 6 players with over 300yrds receiving.  We are currently on pace to have 7.  Orton is also on pace to throw the ball almost 100 times fewer than Brady did that year. I don't know what any of this actually means, but I'm getting REALLY excited.

FYI.  I just heard that Champ Bailey will be on Sirius Satellite Radio in the 2 Oclock hour Eastern.  Its too bad he will be talking to Shein and Wilcotts.  I want to hear him give them a verbal beat-down.

Arrrrr, I need this post to be 75 words long so stop reading now, I'm officially saying nothing.  I wish Shien would choke on a "Big Bing Cherry".  Wilcotts makes me wonder about the Colorado Buffalos.

 

KO

OK, I give up.  For two months now I've been trying to write a particular article and have finally decided.......I cant.  I simply don't know how.  So instead, I open it up to my friends and Bronco Family at MHR.

I've realized that this is all one big exercise is prognostication.  I was trying to predict the outcome of the Denver Bronco Defense.  Here is my original question to myself.

Does a good/great secondary result in a SOLID Defense?

This is precipitated by trying to defend the Broncos upcoming season, of course.  If you can get an "expert" to admit that the Broncos Offense ISN'T going to be problem this year, they will inevitably point you to the Defense.  I can't blame them, I would too.  But as far as personnel are concerned, the only DEFINATIVE improvement, the only area we can point to and say "we are without a doubt better here", is our secondary.  But can a secondary lead the way to an all-around dominant Defense?

I've asked this question to several friends and the resounding answer is........"Wow you spend too much time thinking about this stuff."  I've asked "experts" about the key to winning football on Defense, and the answer is always "pressure on the quarterback."  Well obviously, the secondary can't put pressure on the QB consistently.  Sure there's the occasional Corner Blitz but that obviously can't be the basis of your D.  So, I started analyzing.  I'm a professional analyst.  It's what I do for a living.  But this particular task killed me.  So, I'm opening it up to you.

After crunching numbers and asking questions, it's MY OPINION, that the following are the teams with the BEST COLLECTIVE secondary's in 2008 (in no particular order).

Tampa Bay

Philly

Miami

Pittsburg

Tennessee

New York (Giants)

Washington

This list is MOST CERTAINLY up for debate

Here is what I interpreted:

1. Interceptions ARE NOT a definitive indicator of a teams overall strength at the secondary level.
2. Passing TDs ARE NOT a definitive indicator of a teams overall strength at the secondary level.
3. Passing Yards APPEAR to be an indicator of a teams overall strength at the secondary level.
4. Completion Percentage APPEARS to be (but to a lesser degree) an indicator of a teams overall strength at the secondary level.

So based on Passing Yards and Completion Percentages, the seven teams I previously listed are the best secondary's of 2008.

What can also be derived is that 5 of those 7 teams made up the top 8 teams in the league in Quarterback Sacks, and all 7 of those teams were included in the top 10 teams giving up passing TD's.  And, if you're interested, 6 of those 7 teams were also in the top 10 for interceptions (Philly tied with 3 others at #11).

Now the question is "who made who?"  It's really a chicken or the egg sort of question.  Did the secondary strength result from QB pressure, or did QB pressure result from secondary strength?  I don't know the answer.  I'm not sure there is a definitive answer.  But it does appear you can't have one without the other.

What about Rushing Defense?  Cleveland, Oakland and Green Bay were all in the top ten for Interceptions last year but at the bottom of the league in Rushing Defense.

Of the 8 teams that had 40 or more sacks last year, only Dallas, Minnesota and the Jets were not in my 7 best secondary's list.  Dallas and Minnesota had Demarcus Ware and Jared Allen respectively to skew their teams' numbers, but Miami had Joey Porter skewing theirs so draw your own conclusions.

I have to assume that Denver's secondary is going to be one of the top groups in the league.  Up to this point I haven't even mentioned that Denver pilfered 3 of our starting 4 secondary players from those top 7 secondary teams and nobody in their right mind will say Champ doesn't fit in with that group.  I have NO REASON, ZERO, ZILTCH to think our secondary will be anything less than excellent.  But does that result in QB pressure? What about defensive prowess in general?  Green Bay is in the top 3 for Interceptions AND passing percentage but 20th in total yards and gave up a boatload of passing TD's.  There are hundreds of ways to look at this.  So I open it up to you my friends.  Is there a conclusion to be drawn?

Nothing serious here folks.  Just a bit of follow up data inquired about in my previous FanPost.  My comment was that the Bears Offense actually outperformed the Broncos Offense based on the Total Points scored.  Bears 375 and Broncos 370. 

There were a handful of comments stating that those numbers were off because they didn't take into account the Special Teams and Defensive points that contributed to those numbers.  Then we had trouble definitively finding those numbers.  Well, here they are and yes that did affect the outcome.  The Broncos Offense DID outperform the Bears Offense.  Bears 345 and Broncos 356.  I think my point remains the same, however, that based on the yards of offense and points per game, the Bears Offense (Orton/Smith) was FAR more efficient/effective than the Broncos (Cutler/Shanahan).

Bears-     23.4 Pt/Game and 295 yrds/Game

Broncos- 23.1 Pt/Game and 395 yrds/Game

Lastly, there were also some inquiries as to how drastic a difference there was in starting field position.  I broke that down as well.

	Bears		Broncos
Week	Starting position	ST/D Pts	Starting position	ST/D Pts
1	31	9	28
2	23		28
3	29		27	7
4	37		27
5	34	7	22
6	30		35
7	41	7	21
8	BYE		BYE
9	33		26
10	20		25
11	25		33
12	39		19
13	32		26	7
14	40		15
15	30	7	25
16	39		24
17	34		26
Average	32 yrd line	30 pts	27 yrd line	14 pts

I'm writing this because I'm frustrated.  Not with anyone here at MHR or the conversation on Orton, but with the focus of the comparisons/criticism/outlook.  Once again, this isn't a knock on ANYONE (ok maybe Soloman Wilcotts) just what I view as a missing point that makes all of these......thoughts not gel well with me.  I keep hearing that the Denver Broncos of 2009 aren't going to be as good as 2008.  But, the only REASONS given are #1. Losing Jay Cutler and #2. Losing Mike Shanahan.

Someone at MHR recently published a FanPost that included a fun little "pretend" conversation between McD and Pat Bowlen during the interview process.  It had McD saying something along the lines of "Here's how I'm going to fix our Offense."  That got me thinking.  Was our Offense broken?  I'm a pretty simple man, straightforward and to the point.  After looking at the numbers, YES, our Offense was absolutely broken.  The 2008 Chicago Bears, devoid of a receiving corps, had a better Offense than the Denver Broncos.

Team	G	Pts/G	TotPts	Plys	Yds/G
Denver Broncos	16	23.1	370	1,019	395.8
Chicago Bears	16	23.4	375	991	295.9

Kyle Orton is NOT Jay Cutler.  And Jay Cutler is NOT as good as he is being published to be.  I was blinded by the incredible arm, the fantasy production and all those beautiful yards.

Whether Orton can or cannot complete the deep ball is worth talking about (I guess) but what's being overlooked is WHO he had to throw the ball too.  Chicago's Offense was disgusting last year.  In fact, it's pretty freakin hard to find a comparable team from a passing/receiving standpoint.  Is ANYBODY going to say that Devin Hester is a #1 Reciever?  Quick, name the top 3 WR's from Chicago's 2008 team and I already gave you one of them.  The top two players (from a reception standpoint) for the Chicago Bears were the running back and the tight end.   Three of the top 4 weren't wide receivers and Devin Hester was the one.  Who in their right mind would expect Orton to be completing 40+ yrd bombs on a regular basis?  Here are the receiving stats for last year:

Receiving Statistics
Player	Rec	Yds	Yds/Rec	Long	TD
Matt Forte	63	477	7.6	19	4
Greg Olsen	54	574	10.6	52	5
Devin Hester	51	665	13.0	65	3
Desmond Clark	41	367	9.0	35	1
Rashied Davis	35	445	12.7	36	2
Brandon Lloyd	26	364	14.0	32	2
Marty Booker	14	211	15.1	51	2
Jason McKie	11	64	5.8	12	1
Adrian Peterson	6	45	7.5	19	0
Kevin Jones	2	5	2.5	3	0
Jason Davis	1	12	12.0	12	0

I tried to find a team that had a comparable receiving corps and the best I could come up with was the 2007 San Diego Chargers and it's HARDLY a fair comparison.

Receiving Statistics
Player	Rec	Yds	Yds/Rec	Long	TD
Antonio Gates	75	984	13.1	49	9
LaDainian Tomlinson	60	475	7.9	36	3
Vincent Jackson	41	623	15.2	45	3
Chris Chambers	35	555	15.9	44	4
Craig Davis	20	188	9.4	18	1
Brandon Manumaleuna	10	86	8.6	40	1
Darren Sproles	10	31	3.1	14	0
Legedu Naanee	8	69	8.6	22	0
Lorenzo Neal	8	23	2.9	9	1
Malcom Floyd	7	97	13.9	25	0
Michael Turner	4	16	4.0	12	0
Kassim Osgood	2	23	11.5	15	0
Andrew Pinnock	1	5	5.0	5	0

It's fairly obvious why this isn't a fair comparison. Gates>Olsen and as much as I love Forte I'm NOT going to put him in LT's class yet.  Also, Vincent Jackson is a better receiver than Hester any day, PLUS, the Chargers did acquire Chris Chamber prior to week 8 to help fix this particular receiving threat problem.  In any case, this was the best comparison I could come up with quickly.  Now let's look at the QB stats as Apples to Apples.

Passing Statistics
Player	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sck	Sack/Lost	Rating
Philip Rivers	460	277	3152	60.2	6.9	21	4.6	15	3.3	49	22	163	82.4
Kyle Orton	465	272	2972	58.5	6.4	18	3.9	12	2.6	65	27	160	79.6

Now that looks a bit more in line with what I was thinking.  Is there a SINGLE professional analyst that would go on record saying Phillip Rivers isn't an excellent QB?  What I'm getting at in this particular section is that Orton did a fine job given the receiving options he had at his disposal.  In fact, he (and the rest of the Bears Offense) did better than OUR QB and Offense.  They scored MORE POINT.

What's important to me is Points.  For all the flash and stats of Cutler, he FAILED.  Shanahan FAILED.  Why would any professional analyst (Solomon Willcots, Adam Shein, insert name here) think that the Bronco Offense will be WORSE this year than last?  I simply don't get it. 

I know this is dragging on but I wanted to show one last group of stats.  These are the VERY FEW QB's who have attempted close to 600 passes in a season over the last two years.  Cutler is Far and Away the least impressive of the group.

Player	Team	Comp	Att	Pct	Att/G	Yds	Avg	Yds/G	TD	Int	Lng	20+	40+	Sck	Rate
Kurt Warner	ARI	401	598	67.1	37.4	4,583	7.7	286.4	30	14	79T	50	12	26	96.9
Drew Brees	NO	413	635	65.0	39.7	5,069	8.0	316.8	34	17	84T	66	16	13	96.2
Tom Brady	NE	398	578	68.9	36.1	4,806	8.3	300.4	50	8	69T	56	15	21	117.2
Drew Brees	NO	440	652	67.5	40.8	4,423	6.8	276.4	28	18	58	47	8	16	89.4
Carson Palmer	CIN	373	575	64.9	35.9	4,131	7.2	258.2	26	20	70T	51	8	17	86.7
Jay Cutler	DEN	384	616	62.3	38.5	4,526	7.3	282.9	25	18	93T	55	7	11	86.0

The lowest completion %, the least TD's, the most INT's and the lowest QB rating.  All of this while having the least sacks, an excellent receiving corps and the Mastermind as the Head Coach. 

Please!!  Somebody.  Explain to me why the Broncos are going to be worse offensively this year than last.  Why are we going to miss Jay Cutler?  Why is McD such a step down from Shanahan?  The facts simply don't support it.

This is my first post here at MHR, so please don’t beat me up too badly.

 

There seems to be a considerable amount of criticism/substantial questioning surrounding the pick of Richard Quinn.  I’d like to take a few lines to explain why this pick may be one of the most important acquisitions of this off-season.

 

I can’t remember who (and I can’t find it again), but one of the many, smarter than me people that contribute to this site brought up 3 TE sets.  Ever since reading that article, I’ve been trying hard to wrap my head around what this could bring to the 2009 Denver Broncos.  The answer?  It’s a MAJOR piece to fixing our red-zone TD production.

 

So back to the original question, “Why Richard Quinn?”  Because he was the best pass blocking TE available.  In order for the 3 TE set to be effective, 3 different TEs are needed.

1. A spooky receiving threat TE.  Someone that can be split out, set beside the Tackle or set as an H-back that can run a mid-deep route and consistently make the catch. SCHEFFLER
2. A versatile TE that can do everything well.  GRAHAM
3. A pass blocking TE that nobody is going to account for other than a guy that’s going to hit a Run-Stuffing LB.  See QUINN

Prior to drafting Quinn we simply didn’t have another TE capable of blocking the way that D. Graham can.

 

It’s been pretty tough to do any real substantial research on the 3 TE subject, but I’ve tried.  I asked Jim Miller, via another message board I frequent, his opinion on the matter; specifically on the WR involved in the package and how it would be applied with the Broncos personnel.  He didn’t answer it completely but I’ll post his reply.

 

Kdo9,

Awsome stuff! Yes, I would think it would be Marshall too. 3 te sets force defense into either 1. going to a 4-4 look where they bring in extra linebacker to stop the run or 2. bringing that extra safety down into a LB position to defend the run. And they get antsy to fill quickly. It would give Marshall a good look outside. If the defense does keep a safety over the top of Marshall's side, now you are outmanned frontside. You can out-leverage a defense when this happens with te in the flat and other front-side te on a corner route. If you can run the ball well, play action now becomes nightmare. Lb'rs will have a tough time recovering vs te's off a play action fake.

Plus, normally the longest runs from the LOS happen in a 4 minute drill when you are trying to run out the clock and have heavy personnel on the field. Example is Balt vs Dallas last year, they ripped off and 76 yarder and a 64 yarder in the 4th qtr to seal the deal.

Defense plays closer to LOS especially the LB'rs and safeties. If they are out of position at all or a gap is not controlled, it is going to the house because RB gets to the second level faster, due to defense encroaching on the LOS.

Mills

 

So it appears that the primary purpose of the 3 TE set is short yardage/running the ball.  But what I was really interested in when I asked Mills the question was concerning the pass option.  At this point I need to divert ALL the credit to Dagger of Postgameheros.com.  In his Sept 20, 2007 post he does an excellent job of explaining why the Steelers (surprisingly) drafted the “best TE in the Draft” (Matt Spaeth) when they already had a stud TE in Heath Miller.  At the time the Steelers had a different personnel issue than the Broncos.  They were missing the “other receiving TE”.  The TE not mentioned much is a guy named Jermaine Tuman, a 6’4” 250lb veteran TE.  Ever heard of him?  Probably not.  An eleven year veteran TE with 46 career receptions isn’t going to be high on anyone’s radar.  In any case I highly recommend checking out his article.

http://www.postgameheroes.com/?p=764

 

So to conclude, the Broncos were……..not good at finishing drives last year.  If the 3 TE set is primarily used to facilitate short yardage running situations, that alone should help our Red-Zone production.  But with the passing problems this formation presents, our TD production should be noticeably improved.  

 

As one last note, I’d like to point out one last possibility that this formation COULD provide.  If the normal 3 TE set consists of 1 WR, 2 TEs on the line and another in the H-back position and a RB, what would a Defensive Coordinator think/do if instead of 1 WR, we have SCHEFFLER split out wide with GRAHAM and QUINN on the line……..and MORENO and HILLIS in the backfield.  Plan for that one!!

 

Thanks for your time.

KO

 

 

ROTOWORLD.com is reporting that  the EAGLES called about Schef but McD says he's isn't going anywhere.  The reported asking price is a 1st rounder but its suspected a 2nd or 3rd would get the deal done.

From Rotoworld:

The Eagles phoned the Broncos about Tony Scheffler's availability recently.

Philadelphia lost out to Atlanta for Tony Gonzalez, but could add more speed and youth with Scheffler, who has experience in a West Coast style offense like Andy Reid's. The Denver Post says the Broncos won't trade Scheffler unless they're offered a first-round pick. We're confident he can be had for at a second- or third-rounder, though. Josh McDaniels' offense uses TEs little, Scheffler's in a contract year, and he's been on the trade block for months. Apr. 25 - 2:59 am et