The Line Backers jumped out to an early lead in the last poll, and so they got the early nod. I knew that there are a lot of them and that this research would take some time. The D-line won by a vote so they're next, and then the CB's, so it looks like those areas that concerned us most going into the last draft win the ticket.

I immediately saw an improvement in the Line Backers over the Running backs. Just the fact that we are covering a 16 year span tells us that! (RB's started in 99', 13y)

The Bronco's have had some very solid, and exceptional talent at the LB spot. Everyone remembers the names of (4th Rnd Pick) Tom Jackson (73' - 86', 14y), (1st) Randy Gradishar (74' - 83', 10y), (UDFA) James Ryan (79' - 88', 12y), (12th) Karl Mecklenburg (83' - 94', 12y), (2nd) Simon Fletcher (85' - 95', 11y), (1st) Al Wilson (99' - 06, 8y)

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To begin with, I must make a "BIG SHOUT OUT" to http://www.pro-football-reference.com for their fantastic compilation of statistical data that they consistently keep current on every aspect of the NFL.

My hat is off to the guys who carry the rock! What a beating they take to make a living. The best of the best earn every penny they're paid, primarily due to the toll that the constant beating takes on the body. Great RB's are not easy to find as we shall see in this study.

Our own super talented Terrel Davis can attest to the danger of the position. It isn't hard to imagine the number of records he could hold had a knee injury not cut his career short early in his fifth season.

via t3.gstatic.com

I love this Pic! Although TD is almost horizontal to the ground, his legs are still grabbing yardage through the air! # 69 Mark Schlereth is braced to give him a spring board! Ya gotta love it!

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via prod.images.broncos.clubs.nflcdn.com

This study is based upon the players that were still on the roster in 2011. It begins 17 years ago since the 1995 draft still had one active player in 2011. The first group is called "The Die Hard's", and covers a 5 year period.

Last year there was no one left on any roster from the 1994 draft. The only player left from 1995 was the 5th pick in the 1st round, QB Kerry Collins. Kerry anounced his retirement this year, along with Dawkins. (249 picks were made in 1995) Kerry is 4/10 of 1% of his draft class! The QB's represent 100% of this draft class. (We will follow that stat throughout this study.)

From the 1996 draft we had two players left. 1st round pick (#26 over all) LB Ray Lewis, and 2nd round pick (#61 over all) DB Brian Dawkins. Kerry Collins anounced his retirement this year, along with Dawkins which leaves Ray Lewis as the longest tenured player still active. These two men are 8/10 of 1% of their draft class. (254 total picks in 96)

The 1997 draft had 7 players left. 2) 1st rounders, 3) 3rd rounders, and and 1 player each from the 4th and 6th rounds.

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A lot of noise has been made in regards to one single, solitary draft pick made by the Denver Broncos organization this year. That pick was the second pick over all, and the second pick in the second round of this years draft. That's right, pick #57 Brock Osweiller. We have people who say that it was a great pick for the future.

We have others who are convinced that the selection was the wrong one. Still others have said that since the Broncos made that pick, at that particular place, at that particular reach, that this draft is already a bust! WOW! That is a pretty good mix of contradictions. That definitely goes from black to white quicker than a first and second car finish in a NASCAR race!

The only way that we can actually determine who is right in this issue, is to look at the draft record of the top 5 teams in the last decade. Now you must understand the depth of the research involved with this. You can't just look at these obvious top 5 teams and simply say that they have a great front office. It's a lot more complicated than that. We are, after all, looking at the drafts.

What did they do that helped the team? Did one of the picks they made hurt their team? How many of their picks are still with them, and how many never even made the cut? I did a similar analysis of the Broncos picks in an article called "John saw it, he knows, and he remembers." In that article I looked at the same basic issues. Did any of these picks make a solid contribution 'to the team' that picked them?

These five teams are arguably the best, of the best, in the last twelve years, and are the ones that I have chosen for this comparison.

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"If you made a plan B, you planned to fail." "Why did you need a plan B? All that should have been included in plan A". "If everything is included in plan A, why not just call it 'The Master Plan?'" I think that is what John meant when he said there was no plan B! They have a master plan!

A lot of talk has been flying around about the "doubts" as to whether Peyton Manning can stay healthy, whether or not one hit will re-injure his neck and put him out for the season.

I had read a lot of what the physicians involved, and others, had said about that issue, but I had misunderstood a few things. My main misunderstanding was why he had stem cell therapy done.

I have now done a great deal more research into the matter, and found out that the therapy was to help his damaged nerves to regenerate. I had erroneously believed that it was the bones that were the concern. Take a look at the typical problem below.

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You all know how this works. You have all seen a roast before. Usually the person being roasted is a movie star, or comedian or some big name sports star, but what happens is all their friends get together and tell stories on them, make jokes about them (with heavy sarcasm so be forewarned cause it's the norm) and in general poke fun at them.

Since you are all friends, you have all been invited to the roast! It looks like I'm the host, so let me start it off...

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Perhaps John Elway was born too late.

In the 1977 season, the year of the Denver Broncos first Super Bowl apearence, "The Orange Crush" was in full force, five Bronco players made the Pro Bowl. They were:

RILB Randy Gradishar

ROLB Tom Jackson

RDE Lyle Alzado (FEAR THE RIGHT SIDE!)

SS Bill Thompson

LCB Lois Wright

Buy the time the Colts had traded Elway to the Denver Broncos six years later, (on May 2, 1983) three of those Pro Bowlers were still there. (Randy Gradishar, Tom Jackson and Louis Wright) The 1983 draft was an interesting one. Lets take a look at that one and a couple others and you'll understand the point of this post.

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If I am Adam Gase, I would be feeling intimidated right now, if not totally out of my league! In his second year as Denvers QB Coach he is suddenly given a QB to coach who is 3 years his senior, and who had been playing pro ball for 7 years prior to Adams first professional coaching gig!

Gase began his career in 2000 as the defensive grad assistant at LSU under Nick Saban. He spent the next two years serving as the assistant to the head coach at LSU. He broke into the NFL in 2003 with the Lions as a scouting assistant and held that position until 2005.

From 2005-06, Gase got his first taste of coaching as an offensive assistant with the Lions, working under Head Coach Steve Mariucci in 2005 and then Head Coach Rod Marinelli in 2006.

In his first year as Detroit’s quarterbacks coach (2007), Gase helped quarterback Jon Kitna total the sixth-most passing yards (4,068) in the NFL while becoming only the ninth player in NFL history to post consecutive 4,000-yard passing seasons.

Gase worked with former Rams head coach and current Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz in 2008 on the 49ers' staff.

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