2008 Broncos Offseason Analysis

So the draft is over and a whole lot of nothing happens between now and the pre-season. Sure there is training camp and possibly some late trades but all the big splash players are set in their teams; even Chad Johnson as much as he wants to go somewhere probably will not be going anywhere this season. So what do I think of the Bronco’s offseason moves this year? Overall I would grade what we have done this year as a resounding “A”.

First there was the firing of Jim Bates: Assistant Head Coach and Coach in Charge of Defense (not to be confused with Defensive Coordinator). This had to be expected even though it violates that unspoken 1 year grace period rule most franchises employ. Any time a new coach comes in for whatever position or area of responsibility, that position or are suffers for a year. There are growing pains, new coaches have different ways of doing things that players are not used to, terminology is different, and basically the whole style of play and techniques of players are different. So there is a 1 year learning curve. So in year 2, if your area is not cutting it, you’re on the hot seat. But with the Broncos, after 1 year finishing 19th overall and 30th against the run, it was time to say bye-bye. Sure we had Dré Bly and Champ Bailey in the secondary that were supposed to wreck havoc on the passing offense of other teams. But we forgot one thing: the run defense! Oh yeaaaaaaa…the run defense, I forgot about them. Instead of teams and quarterbacks challenging Bailey and Bly, they said, “Screw it, let’s just run against these yahoos.” And they did with a lot of success. So sorry Jimmy, we need to be able to stop the run. Pack your bags Jimmy, we are going to promote Bob Slowik, the Defensive Backs coach, who oh-by-the-way, has been coaching Champ Bailey who is the best defensive back in the league right now, possibly ever.

Then there was the firing of Ted Sundquist. Of course we all know that Mike Shanahan can do no evil with the Broncos and owner Pat Bowlen so this was obviously Shanny’s decision. A lot of sports writers, including the NFL Network, criticized Shanny for this move but I applauded it. Sundquist was the General Manager, or the GM. For those of you that don’t know what a GM does their primary responsibilities are bringing new players in via the trade and free agency, and drafting new talent. First of all the trading had been horrible with Sundquist driving the bus. Look at last year, bringing in a bunch of over the hill veteran players that had already been released by their original teams because they realized what we didn’t: sure these players have had great careers but they are over now. We thought we could squeeze some more life out of them (Simeon Rice and Sam Adams the most notable), and they went down in a blaze of glory. Also look at the wasted draft picks we have spent these last few years. The only highly successful draft would be 2005 when we crushed it with Jay Cutler, Tony Scheffler, Brandon Marshall, and Elvis Dumervil – all of whom are starters and in my eyes top 10 players are their position in under 2 years which says something. Sorry Ted, 1 good draft isn’t cutting it; see you later, have a nice life.

Let’s talk about some trades as well. I think that we have done an awesome job with trades this year and I am actually a little disappointed that no one else has been ranting and raving about what we have done. We took San Diego’s starting strong safety Marlon McCree away from them and added him to our roster, he should compete with Hazma Abdullah for the starting SS position; we also added Manuel Marquand for some depth at the SS spot. John Lynch has decided to stay which is good. This will be I’m sure Lynch’s last year but with him staying one more year it allowed us to address some of our core needs this offseason without worrying about an additional starting safety; we can draft one next year with our first pick and be set at the safety position for the next decade. Let’s talk about our new linebacking core, the heart of the Denver defense. Denver’s style of defense requires the need for quick, fast, and agile linebackers and we have been lacking in that department for the last few years. Think of our linebackers as barracudas where as the other teams have sharks. Most linebackers in other teams hang rush in and hit a gap hard in a run plugging everything up on the line, like a shark. However Denver needs quick linebackers: Denver’s linebackers flow as one unit hanging back until the hole opens and the running back appears and then flow to the ball carrier like heat guided missiles. DJ Williams obviously can do this and we have treated him unfairly these last few years. He is quick and freakishly fast and agile for his size but we started him at Strong Linebacker, or Sam, for a few years – then we moved him to Middle, or Mike, last year where he ranked second in the league in tackles directly behind Patrick Willis, the defensive rookie of the year. This year the plan is to start him at Weakside Linebacker, or Will, where his talents suit him best. He can utilize that blazing speed to pursue the backside and should also be picking up 5-7 sacks this year as an added bonus, something that should warrant him a ProBowl look. So now we need to shore up the vacancy at Mike that Williams has now left. Niko Koutouvides (coot-u-veed-s) ring any bells? It shouldn’t as he has been a career backup and special teams player for Seattle since he was drafted in the 4th round 5 years ago. What? How is a special teamer and backup an upgrade over our existing position? How about the fact that he was one of the Seahawks four captains as a special teamer and backup. That says something about his leadership both on and off the field; something imperative in the Mike who calls out every defensive play. And don’t ignore who he was backing up, Lofa Tatupa one of the best middle linebackers in the business. Everyone in Seattle lamented his departure so that speaks well for us. Now that leaves us the Sam position; what to do, what to do? How about Boss Bailey, our best defensive player Champ Bailey’s brother. He is big, freakishly fast for his size and strength, and very strong – the perfect components for our style of Sam Linebacker. So we went out and got him after he was unhappy in Detroit and they were not exactly enamored with him. Next we needed to address our receiver corps. No one has questioned Brandon Marshall’s ability, in fact that was the chief reason Javon Walker wanted out of town: he wants to be the number one but Brandon Marshall is already better than him as a second day pick in his second year – see you later Javon we will see you twice a year when we trounce the Raiders. Marshall will only be better if we get a viable #2 receiver to go on the other side of the field to prevent the double coverage and deep zones. So we went out and got Darrell Jackson, a starter for San Francisco and Seattle, and then we got Sammie Parker who has been the slot receiver in Kansas City and they purged him to get their bevy of draft picks for their rebuilding of their franchise. And finally our Defensive line. We are fairly well stockpiled at Defensive End although it will be interesting to see what happens with Jarvis Moss this year, boom or bust? But our D-Tackle was horrible last year. That is why we were so far behind in stopping the run, our linebackers couldn’t get uncovered to make plays and stop the run…the job of the D-Tackle. So we got Dwayne Robertson, a former 4th overall pick a few years ago for the Jets who just does not fit their system. There is nothing negative about his play, the Jets play a 3-4 defense and Robertson is no nose tackle, he plays the 3 technique primarily where your NT in a 3-4 needs to be a big body and play the 1 or 0 technique. So we snatched him up for a bargain. I loved our offseason trades and FA pickups this year.

So finally we arrive at the draft. After addressing our as many of our core needs, we have some that are left over – offensive line and wide receiver. We still need a burner that we can line up next to Marshall and challenge defenses and stretch the field. And we need a good Left Tackle to pass protect for Jay Cutler and to improve our running game which was not as great as we would have liked last year. So in the first round we pick up Ryan Clady who is perfect for the zone blocking scheme as he has been doing it for 2 years already. Next we need a WR to stretch the field and return kicks. More on returning kicks next. So we avoid the obvious DeSean Jackson because of some slight character issues and pick up Eddie Royal. At first I didn’t know who the hell he was but after doing some research I really like the guy, more than Jackson even. And check out this guy’s interview. None of that urban culture crap, just a good humble kid with a lot of talent that wants to play and do good things.

So what about a recap of the season? I have to hand it to the folks at Mile High Report. They talked about it best and what needed to be done. Check out their article.