NFL.com writer Steve Wyche caught up with former Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan last week, and Shanahan made public his intentions to return to the NFL as early as the 2010 season.
Most notably, Mike said “I probably spent more time studying football the last offseason than I have the last 10 years. I watch a lot of film and do the same thing I do during the season. I’ll see if there are any opportunities out there at the end of the year that will work out for the club and myself.”
Posted July 18th, 2009 by Henry Gula
Posted July 16th, 2009 by sayre bedinger
As the Broncos transition to the 3-4 defensive scheme, one of the major differences is going to be the switch for some players from defensive end to a hybrid defensive end/rush linebacker.
One of the great debates of this offseason was who the Broncos would recruit to play such positions, and which players already on the roster would make the switch.
When dissecting Denver’s previous group of defensive ends, it seemed that many, if not all of them, were qualified and perhaps better fit to play as rush linebackers in a 3-4 scheme.
The only problem is, these players will not only have to develop their craft as pass rushers standing up; they will have to learn how to excel in pass coverage.
For what the Broncos may lack in some other areas on defense, they definitely do not have a shortage of high-profile players who will transition to rush linebackers.
Among this group are the players who have led the Broncos in sacks over the last three seasons, two top-20 draft picks, a second-round pick, and a YouTube legend.
Posted July 16th, 2009 by sayre bedinger
In 2008, the Denver Broncos ranked 27th against the rush, allowing 146.1 yards per game on the ground.
The only teams who were worse (Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City, Oakland, and Detroit) all ended up with selections in the top seven of the 2009 NFL Draft.
In this league, success usually goes hand-in-hand with two things: effective running, and stopping the run effectively. The Denver Broncos have struggled mightily with the latter over the past two seasons.
For what it’s worth, the lack of success stopping the run cannot be attributed to lack of personnel and coaching change, as the Broncos have had three different defensive coordinators in the past three seasons, and thus, three new defensive schemes.
The newest defense will be coordinated by former San Francisco 49ers head coach and longtime defensive guru Mike Nolan, who will implement the first 3-4 system the Broncos will have had in over two decades.
For this particular scheme, it’s well-documented that arguably the most important position is the nose tackle.
Posted July 16th, 2009 by sayre bedinger
At long last, this series has finally reached the defensive side of the ball, where we will begin by dissecting the Denver Broncos’ defensive line.
The defensive lines Denver has put out in recent years have been absolutely horrendous, and have been a real Achille’s Heel for the defensive unit.
The Broncos were constantly changing personnel, coaches, and alignments to rectify their problems up front, but absolutely nothing was working.
The team even devoted 75 percent of its 2007 draft class to the defensive line, and the results have been less than impressive, to say the least.
New head coach Josh McDaniels has been absolutely hammered by fans, media, and critics alike for seemingly avoiding upgrading the Broncos’ defensive line via free agency and the NFL Draft, but I would contend that the new regime in Denver has significantly upgraded this area of the team, particularly at defensive end.
Posted July 16th, 2009 by sayre bedinger
With this article, we will finally conclude the first half of the Denver Broncos’ 2009 preview which has dissected and analyzed every aspect and every player part of this offense.
The offensive line was simply too deep and had too much to talk about to fit in one article, so if you would like a recap of the entire line thus far, you can find information about the left tackles, left guards, centers, and right guards by following the links.
This article will focus on the second of the Broncos’ two bookend tackles, third year player Ryan Harris.
Harris began the 2008 season as essentially a rookie. He saw little to no action playing right tackle in his rookie campaign of 2007, and Broncos fans really questioned whether former head coach Mike Shanahan made the right choice by letting veteran tackle Erik Pears leave Denver for the Oakland Raiders.
Lucky for Denver fans, Shanahan is an offensive genius, and as he proved multiple times during his tenure with the Broncos, he was not steering this team into murky waters.
Harris had an All-Pro caliber season for the Broncos in 2008, allowing only 2.5 sacks over the entire year. Pretty unbelievable considering the Broncos dropped back 620 times all of last season, good for second in the NFL.
What is even more impressive is that the former Notre Dame star helped his Broncos rank 12th in the entire NFL in rushing despite going through a plethora of running backs over the 2008 season thanks to injury.
Harris plans to pair with fellow tackle Ryan Clady on the Broncos’ offensive line for a decade to come.
He joined the Broncos as a third round draft pick in 2007 out of Notre Dame, and was featured on an episode of MTV’s True Life as a high school senior training to become the starting left tackle for the Fighting Irish. Harris is only the third lineman in Notre Dame’s storied history to start on the offensive line as a true freshman.
In addition to Harris, the Broncos feature veteran Brandon Gorin, a free agent acquisition from the St. Louis Rams.
Gorin has spent time in the NFL with the Rams, Cardinals, Patriots, and Chargers.
He has started 26 games in his career, and could be a very valuable backup for the Broncos if he makes the final roster.
Gorin is joined by third year pro Clint Oldenburg, a former fifth round draft pick out of Colorado State by the New England Patriots.
Many who follow the Broncos closely feel Oldenburg has a good chance of making the final roster if not at least the practice squad because of his experience in the New England offense.
The Broncos also signed the very athletic Stanley Bryant of East Carolina as a rookie free agent in 2009 to compete at right tackle.
The Denver offensive line is an extremely deep unit, and Bronco fans should be very excited about the direction they are heading, especially under the tutelage of longtime offensive line guru Rick Dennison, who has been orchestrating the Broncos’ offensive line for over a decade.
Posted July 16th, 2009 by sayre bedinger
While bookend offensive tackles Ryan Clady and Ryan Harris get much of the publicity (or lack thereof) among the Denver Broncos’ offensive lineman, one man up front has been equally as dominant for an even longer period of time.
That man is fourth-year guard Chris Kuper, a former fifth-round draft choice out of North Dakota.
Kuper has been the starting right guard for the Broncos since Week Seven of the 2007 season, and he has quietly been one of the more consistent guards in the entire NFL.
Posted July 16th, 2009 by sayre bedinger
Like the majority of the Denver Broncos’ offensive line heading into 2008, the center position was really in question.
Future Broncos’ Ring of Famer and possibly Hall of Fame selection Tom Nalen, the lone remaining Bronco from the Super Bowl days, had suffered his second consecutive season-ending injury before the year had even started.
Fortunately, Denver had a backup plan. Late in the 2008 offseason, the team signed veteran Casey Wiegmann to a two year contract. Wiegmann had played most of his NFL career with the rival Kansas City Chiefs, and had been one of their better players over the course of the decade.
Posted July 16th, 2009 by sayre bedinger
Where in the world is Chris Kuper?
Thankfully for the Broncos, the fourth year guard missing from the photo is not the subject of this article.
However, this article will reveal a statistic that could possibly surprise even the most die-hard of all Bronco fans.
Quickly glancing over the Denver Broncos’ current roster, there is not a single player who has a longer tenure with the team than left guard Ben Hamilton.
Hamilton was drafted out of Minnesota in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft, and has started every game he has participated in at this level, which including the playoffs is a whopping 100 contests.
Posted July 16th, 2009 by sayre bedinger
Heading into the 2008 offseason, the left tackle position was a huge question mark for the Denver Broncos.
After a dismal 7-9 effort in 2007, they found themselves holding the 12th overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. At the time, they were expected to go after one of three players: Boise State tackle Ryan Clady, Virginia tackle Branden Albert, or Vanderbilt tackle Chris Williams.
Clady was considered by many to be a top-five talent, and some scouts even projected him to go as high as fifth overall to the Kansas City Chiefs.
When he fell to the 12th overall pick, there was no way the Broncos would pass him up.
Posted July 16th, 2009 by sayre bedinger
Since the early 1990’s, the tight end position for the Denver Broncos can be described in one word: stability.
From future Hall of Fame lock Shannon Sharpe to three-time Super Bowl champion Daniel Graham, tight ends have been a huge part of the Bronco offense for nearly two decades.
Nothing will change in 2009.
The Broncos feature two Pro Bowl caliber players at the position in Daniel Graham and Tony Scheffler, and a newly acquired second round pick whom the coaching staff is really high on.
Can this unit take pressure off of Kyle Orton?
Oftentimes, teams only keep three, maybe four tight ends, so who will make the final roster for the Denver Broncos?
