San Diego Woes Mounting

With the reports that San Diego may look at dealing WR Vincent Jackson thought I would look at the problems that are mounting for the Chargers. Super Bowl favorites? Far from it in my book. Let's take a look

So they loose Jackson oposing teams defenses will  not have to double cover him and in results less open targets for Rivers they an focus more on Gates now. They don't have a great depth at WR they lossed Chambers last year wich wasn't a huge deal only because Jacksonwas there. In two years they loose two of their starting recievers. So Rivers has no one dangerous outside of Gates to throw the ball to. Ok it's Rivers he should beable to overcome that. Oh wait their LT is refusing to play as well so now Rivers has no one to throw to and no one to protect his blind side that should mean more sacks and less completions for Rivers this season.

Hey all that's cool lets just run the ball. Hold on a moment they have a rookie in RB Ryan Mathews. He does have great potential but like Denver's own Knowshon Moreno he should experince growing pains and Moreno left much to be desire last year. Ryan Mathews looks promosing and should be an elite back in the future but it will take some time to develop just like Moreno. Their backup Sproles while a dangerous return man is not an every down back. Moreno had some support he was not the starter for many of the games last year Mathews will have to take the rock from day 1 without a reliable backup.

Ontop of that they did not do much to fix thier sub par defense from last year and they should be again sub par. This year the offense may not beable to put up 42 points to beat out the 41 points the defense gives up.

The Chargers have lots of question marks coming into the 2010 season and at this point I think the Broncos have a great shot at pulling past the Chargers and the AFC West champs confidence will be a mile high by season's end!

Elway Is Returning to the Broncos!

Ok So we arn't going to see number 7 doing another helicopter move in the super bowl this season but Elway is coming back in a mentor role for the Broncos! It has been anounced that Elway is going to work with head coach Josh McDaniels and be an advisor to all aspects of day to day operations! This is the best news of the off season and I could not be happier to have John Elway back and invloved with the Denver Broncos again. This will no doubt benefit the new kid in town Tim Tebow. Between Elway and McDaniels he is going to have some great teachers!

Check out this article http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_15386559 it is one of the most intersting and juicy articles of the offseason. It is written by Woody Paige and it talks about Elway wanting to get back involved earlier but issues came up between Elway and Shanahan. I found this extremley suprising perhaps Shanahan wanted to win that 3rd ring without Elway as that has been the knock on him since Elway retired in 99. It also mentions how he is ready to get in to NFL ownership now that he has experince from owning the Colorado Crush (a defunct Arena Football team). Perhaps Pat Bowln will sell the team to John when he is ready to call it quits imagine that!

There couldn't be any thing more exciting coming out of Denver right now and this will bring even more optimism to the coming season. Now we just need to see it all come together in September once the season starts.

EDIT 6/27/10 10:03 PM

I wanted to add another point to all this. Now that John Elway and Rod Smith both legends in Denver are on board with the direction Josh McDaniels is taking the team this could and should go a long ways to Josh winning the fans over and forgeting about all the Cutler and Marshall drama that divided the fanbase over the last year. If Elway is on board what the hell we the fans should go along for the ride Elway knows a thing or two about Denver Broncos Football. So nice to see good news coming out of Denver and the off season AFC West drama shifted further west to San Diego this summer!

Were in the World Is Terell Ownes going to play this year?

It's been a slow week really of NFL news in general so let's look at a story that us sure to develop as the summer progresses. Were is ocho uno going to play this year. I've got a few teams in mind

Chicago Bears: The Bears are in need of a playmaker at WR the question is can Jay Cutler and Terell co insist that is a big maybe! Regardless Owens would be a good fit and a nice target for Jay Terell Ownes and Johnny Knox would actually be an ice duo I guess keep Hester in there as well they really should just put him back on returning kicks he was a beast of a return man.

Oakland Raiders: The Raiders are also in need of a WR. Granted no WR can look good with Jamarcus Russell throwing them the ball and a few of their young guys could prove themselfs now that Jabust is gone. With that said TO could bring some playmaking ability to the offesnive side of the ball.

Washington Redskins: This is what the TV companies are praying for TO returning to play with Donovan. They have both been on the record saying they would be willing to play with one another again. I'd belive it when I saw no bickering on the sidelines during the season! However it would not be a crazy move to bring in TO as they are another team lacking depth at WR position.

Arizona Cardinals: They lost Anquan Boldin TO would be a nice short term replacement and would comliment Lary Fitzgerald nice. TO may meltdown however if he is the number 2 behing Fitzgerald.

San Diego Chargers: With each day looking more and more likley that Vincent Jackson will be holding out San Diego may want to think about briging in TO to be a short term awnser to fill Jackson's void. Like  Cutler it's a big question mark if he could get along with their diva QB Phillip Rivers I see a definate personality clash there! I think  San Diego would have an advantage because it would be the only team out of these that TO would actually want to go to because they are the most talented.

Seattle Seahawks: The only reason I say this is because in a NFL Network interview TO mentioned a few teams were intersted and the only he named was Seattle. They could use another reciever to go along with Tj Houshmandzadeh

No mater what team takes him they will be taking a risk although being in Buffalo for a year may have humbled him a bit he is sure to have a home by Week 1 of the 2010 season the question is were. I have to say the Cutler and Rivers relationship with TO would be very interesting. On a side note the fact that both QB are such divas is what made their rivalry so much fun (although I admit I thought it was all Rivers when Cutler was in Denver) I miss that rivarly!

Elvis Dumervil signs his tender!

Great news today OLB Elvis Dumervil siged his one year tender and is officialy under contract with the Denver Broncos this year. That's great to hear and we are guranteed another year of Elvis's services. Dumervil lead the leauge last year in sacks and has proven to be a great asset to our defense. Even better they are still working on a long term extension to keep Dumervil in Denver for years to come. We should see a deal come down the pike soon!

A few other tibits of news out of Denver the team's coaches, management and players are all impresed with their two first round picks WR Deymarius Thomas and QB Tim Tebow. Champ Bailey has nothing but great things to say about Tebow's work ethic and the Denver legend Rod Smith was working with Thomas over the weekend (wich I am thrilled to hear) and is very excited about the potential he has. Lots of exciting news and players and a great time to be a Broncos fan we are not far from being back in the playoffs.

Another AFC West team on the west coast is making news about their unrestricted free agents and No it's not Oakland! San Diego WR Vincent Jackson along with LT Marcus McNeil have both stated they are refusing to sign their tenders and are willing to risk siting out the regular season. If their agents are worth a damn they will convince both to sign thier tenders before the June 15 tender (wich is tomorrow yikes!) and then try to force a trade. San Diego has stated they are not going to work on a long term contract with CBA issues still uncertain. It seems to me that even if they sign their tenders that they are still going to want a trade I say trade Vincent Jackson to WR needy Chicago and get a high 2011 draft pick and an impact player on defense if the two sides can't come together.  This is a scarry thought for San Diego doesn't have as good of depth at WR they need Vincent Jackson to keep up that potent passing game. 

Now for some speculation. The Chargers may want to get on the phone with TO to replace Jackson. It would be a short term fix and they would need to look at the 2011 draft for a long term replacement. Can you imagine Phillip Rivers and TO my god every single player would walk out of the building having to deal with thoes two divas I can see the sideline fights and distractions now and the grin on my face.

Pre Training Camp Depth Chart Predictions

Well the OTA are coming to an end and the first round of mandatory training camps are going to be underway soon. As it stands right now here is what I think the depth chart will look like Week 1. My opinions could and will change i'm sure once we get to pre season.

QB: Kyle Orton
QB2: Tim Tebow (no way we leave our first roud draft pick inactive on game day)
QB 3: Brady Quinn (heck of a 3rd string QB lots of depth at the QB position this year)

HB: Knowshon Moreno
HB2: Corell Buckhalter, JJ Arrington
3rd Down HB: Brain Westbrook (Yes I say Denver Signs him. JUST MY SPECULATION! Denver has yet sig him!)
FB: Spencer Larsen

WR: Jabar Gaffney
WR2: Deymarius Thomas
Slot Reciever: Eddie Royal
WR 4: Brandon Stokley, Kenny McKinley, Eric Decker

TE: Daniel Grham
TE2: Richard Quinn

LT: Ryan Clady
LG: Chris Kuper
C: Dusitn Fry or JD Walton (both rookies this year honestly don't know anything about either one)
RG: Seth Olson
RT: Ryan Haris

CB1: Champ Bailey
CB2: Andre Goodman
CB3: Alphonso Smith
CB4:  Perish Cox

FS: Brian Dawkins
SS: Relondo McClain

LOLB: Elvis Dumervil
MLB: DJ Williams
ROLB: Robert Ayers

DT: Jamal Williams
NT: Ronald Fields

P: Britton Colquitt
K: Matt Prater

KR: Perish Cox
PR: Perish Cox

This Year's Broncos Fantasy Football Sleeper Pick

This year I think WR Jabar Gaffney has the potential to be a sleeper pick for fantasy players this year. Jabar Gaffney is posied to have a break out year. Last year he exploded against Kansas City in Week 17 and had some solid stats in other games even at being a #3 and #4 WR. He also was a nice target for Tom Brady in his time in New England. With the departure of Brandon Marshall this off season Gaffney and Royal are going to be the main targets and Gaffney should put up some solid fantasy numbers this year. He performed well last year with limited caries and this year will see a lot more action. I bet im most drafts he will go undrafted. Wait and see once the season gets under way Gaffney could be a good secoundary reciever on your fantasy team.

Broncos Sign 5th Round Draft Pick Perish Cox

Broncos came signed 5th round draft pick CB Perish Cox to a contract today. I haven't seen details of the contract but gald to see we are allready signing draft picks. Many are saying Cox could be one of our best picks in the draft and a steal in the 5th round. Cox has some character issues in the past but many say he has 1st round talent on the field. Now he is locked up and ready for camp hopefully he keeps his head on straight (obviously McDaniels has confidence he will or he wouldn't have picked him) and he becomes a grait CB for years to come. Hopefully the goal will be Cox and Alponso Smith to be the future all star CB to replace Bailey once he retires.

The Best Players in the AFC West

A look at the best players in the AFC West. I think it says something when I can't mention a single Kansas City Chiefs player when puting this list together.

OFFENSE: Phillip Rivers QB San Diego Chargers

As much as I hate to put this prick at the top I have got to put my bronco homerism thoughts beside and admit he is the best offensive player in the AFC West. He is a pro bowl QB and has a lot of weapons to get it done. His biggest downside is his often poor play that helps contribute the charger's early exits. Other than that he can get it done and should play at a pro bowl level again this year and yes he was right about Jay Cutler all along.

Runner up: Vincent Jackson (WR SD), Ryan Clady (LT DEN)

DEFENSE: Nnamdi Asomugha CB Oakland Raiders

This is really really close between Champ Bailey and Nnamdi. They are both two of the best CB in the NFL. I give the nod to Nnamdi because he is yonger than Bailey and allready playing at an elite level. You may look at stats and say there are CB out there with flashier stats but the fact is QB avoid both Nnamdi and Champ side of the field all together.

Runner Up:  Champ Bailey (CB DEN), Elvis Dumervil (OLB DEN)

SPECIAL TEAMS: Matt Prater K Denver Broncos

Matt Prater is a clutch kicker in this leauge. He was 35/30 last year and delivered often. The other plus side this was only his secound year so he is young and should have a long promosing carrer ahead of him. Nice to see the Broncos found an imidate replacment to hall of fame kicker Jason Elam!

Runner Up: Sebastian Janikowski (K OAK), Shane Lechler (P OAK)

Wow that was quick Colts sign Brandstater

Well yesterday did a post on Tom Brandstater being released and thinking about were he would end up. He allready has a new home Colts picked him up on Monday. Obviously he's not starting but could be a decent backup behind Peyton Manning. Remember the Jets game when "the painter" came in last year and ended their undefeated season? Obviously needed an upgrade at the backup Q position. Good luck in Indy Brandstater!

Tom Brandstater is released

The Broncos made a move that leaves 3 QB now on the roster. They cut Tom Brandstater Friday. This seemed like it was only a matter of time until this would happen. More Importantly it now solidifies Orton, Quinn, and Tebow as the QB at this point I see none of them going any were and now the only question up in the air is who will start that still remians to be seen. Honestly don't know much about Tom he was a late pickup in last years draft in the 6th round. Heard some interviews that he may hove some potential but the question is will another NFL team pick him up. I can think of a few possibilities. The best situation for him in my opinion would be the Buffalo Bills or the Arizona Cardinals he may have a chance to actually compete for a starting job in thoes cities both are needing a QB. I can see some other teams that could bring him in as a backup as well. The New England Patriots (obviously the offense in New England is simillar to what Josh is running here in Denver. In addition The Kansas City Chiefs (the GM is a new england guy plus a division rival why not bring him in to give them so insight on what we do.) Regardless I wish Brandstater the best of luck wherever he goes!

NFC North 2010 Predictions

The NFC North should get shaken up a bit this year. I will let the predictions do the talking.

Green Bay Packers (12-4)
The Green Bay Packers have the most complete team in the NFC North. Behind New Orleans they are one of the best teams in the NFC. The divsion will go through the frozen tundra this year. They have an elite QB in Aaron Rodgers. With an awful offensive line last year he still had a pro bowl year. I think Rodgers is highly underated and a huge fan and like what he does and is capable of. I'm confident his game will setep up to an even higher level this season. Rodgers have some nice targets as well in WR Jennings, Driver and TE Lee. They have also worked on fixing that offensive line that caused them problems last year through both the draft and free agency. They also have a good defense ontop of their potent offense especially CB Charles Woodson. The one aspect of the game the Vikings have on the Packers is the running game but hard to beat Adrian Peterson. Even with AP still think the packers will represent the NFC North in the playoffs this year and have a chance to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl

Minnesota Vikings (10-6)
"Should I Stay or Should I go Now?" Grandpa time is playing that song over and over again for another off season he's just holding another NFC team hostage now. I think Favre will be back but I have to belive he won't have as remarkable of a year then he did last year coming off sergery.  With that said the Vikings still have a lot of talent but I can see a few less wins this year especially if Favre finally decides to call it quits so he can then be traded to Chicago so he con haunt two of his former teams. Adrian Peterson is obviously one of the elite RB in the game and he should produce again this year. The one drawback with Peterson is he is prone to fumble the ball he has to work on that. Vikings will have another sucesfull year and should get in the playoffs again this year.

Detroit Lions (8-8)
One of the suprise teams this year will be the Lions. Detroit fans should see a vast improvment over last year. QB Matthew Stafford is entering in his secound year and we should see an improvment in his game. He has a phenominal WR in Calvin Johnson and added a great recieving TE in Tony Scheffler. It was only two years ago in 2008 when Tony Scheffler and QB Jay Cutler were connecting big time and putting up great numbers in Denver. Also drafting Suh is a great move. He is a freakish athlete he literally just throws people to the ground he will be feared by oponents for years to come. The Lions have made a splash in Free Agency they were bussy retooling their team and they should see results this year. Granted I'm not ready to say the Lions are ready to compete with the Vikings and Packers but a 500 year is a sucess for a team who has been a 0-5 win team in recent years.

Chicago Bears (6-10)
Bad offensive line, bad running game, aging defense that isn't what it use to be, and no stars at the WR position. Jay Cutler proved last year he needs talent around him in all thoes areas to be sucessfull. Well Chicago still doesn't have much talent. Devin Hester being a number 1 WR is a joke. Last year Johny Knox showed some promise so there is a bright spot there. Matt Forte had a huge off year last year so if they have any hope for sucess he needs to imporve his game they did add Chester Taylor that was a good move on their part. They also signed Julius Peppers but one man can't turn the entire team around alone. And with limited draft picks this year (Denver had them all) they figured the best need was to draft a 3rd string QB. Unbelivable. The Bears will have another looisng year and Lovie Smith will be fired and they will clean house in Chicago.

A Look back at the Post Elway Era QB

With all the talk about the QB position latley in Denver what a perfect time to reflect on the QB the Broncos have had since since the great #7 called it a carrer. We still haven't found our next Elway granted we will never truly replace Elway but hopefully we are close to getting that next true franchise QB.

#6 Bubby Brister 1997-1999
Ok so Bubby was mostly a backup to Elway but he is part of the story. He played well in 1998 when asked to fill in for Elway for a few games. He was poised to be the starter the following year in 99 but a suprising move by head coach Mike Shanhann changed things for Brister when he named the young Brian Griese as the starter.






Statistics as a Bronco                                                              

Year      Rateing      Yards      TD      INT      SACKS              
1997        79.9          48          0          0            0                  
1998        99.0         986        10         3            7
1999        30.6          87          0          3            0
---------------------------------------------------
Total-------------->1,121     10         6            7

Career Statistics

Rateing      Yards      TD      INT
  72.3         14,445    81        78

1986-1992: Pittsburgh Steelers
1993-1994: Philadelphia Eagles
1995-1996: New York Jets
1997-1999: Denver Broncos
2000: Minnesota Vikings

#14 Brian Griese 1998-2002
Brian Griese was the lucky one who's job was to fill Elway's shoes. Now the Broncos were not horrible under Griese but not spectacular either. He still had a lot of the talent from the Super Bowl Years early on in his carrer and still left much to be desire. It boiled down to consistantly. He never was consistantly good one game he show some promise the next game throw multiple picks and look poor. Unfortunatly for Griese his life after Denver was mediocore at best he was a backup most of his time in Chicago and Tampa Bay howevehe did start on both teams at one point in his carrer.



Statitics as a Bronco                                                              

Year      Rateing      Yards      TD      INT      SACKS             
1998        2.8             2           0          1            0                      
1999       75.6         3,032      14       14          27
2000      102.9       2,688       19         4          17                   
2001       78.5        2,827       23       19          38                
2002       85.6        3,214       15       15          34                
---------------------------------------------------                  
Total------------->11,763     71        53        116                   

Career Statistics

Rateing      Yards      TD      INT
  82.7         19,440   119      99

1998-2002: Denver Broncos
2003: Miami Dolphins
2004-2005: Tampa Bay Bucaneers
2006-2007: Chicago Bears
2008: Tampa Bay Bucaneers

#16 Jake Plummer 2003-2006

Jake Plummer is the secound best QB the Broncos have ever had. I miss Jake the Sanke. We experinced the most sucess in the post Elway era under Plummer. A lot of fans were divided some were Plummer fans other didn't like the number of picks he could throw. The fact is we won under Plummer and he consistantly got us into the playoffs. We experinced our only playoff win since Super Bowl XXXIII in 2005 against the Patriots. Jake also was amazing when he scrambled he was the king of the bootleg. After a poor showing in the 2005 AFC championship game loss at home against the Steelers Mike Shanhann decided Plummer was not the long term anwser when he moved up in the 2006 draft to select QB Jay Cutler in the first round. The writing was on the wall for Jake at that point and didnt make it trough the entire 2006 season.

Statitics as a Bronco                                                                   

Year      Rateing      Yards      TD      INT      SACKS             
2003        91.2        2,182      15         7             14                    
2004        84.5        4,089      27       20             15
2005        90.2        3,366      18         7             22                   
2006        69.8        1,994      11       13             18                   
-----------------------------------------------------
Total-------------->11,631    71       47         69

Career Statistics

Rateing      Yards      TD      INT   74.6        29,253     161    161

1997-2002: Arizona Cardinals
2003- 2006: Denver Broncos

#6 Jay Cutler 2006-2008
Mike Shanahan made a splash in the 2006 draft when he taded up for Cutler especially fresh off an AFC Championship location. Cutler started his first game in the last part of the 2006 season against the Seahawks (I was actually at that game It was a cold Sunday night game!) Jay had Denver fans really excited with his rocket arm. He started to emerge along with WR Brandon Marshall and TE Tony Scheffler. It was looking apparent these three were going to part of the bright future of the Denver Broncos. Only one problem Jay put up some decent stats and looked good but we were not consistantly winning under Cutler. It actually cost 14 year head coach Mike Shanahan his job at the end of the 2008 season. To Cutler's defense during his time in Denver Shanahan did not put the best product on the field on the defensive side of the ball but regardless he did lead the leauge from 07-09 in red zone picks. All was okay and fans were really excited when New England Patriots assistant coach and QB genius Josh McDaniels was hired as head coach. Only one problem Josh wasn't excited to work with Jay. He tried to trade for QB Matt Cassell who we had worked with the previous year that didn't go through and he went to the Chiefs. At that point the relationship between McDaniels and Cutler went sour and a very public divorse took place. We traded Cutler and a 2009 5th round draft pick for QB Kyle Orton, 2009 first round draft pick, and 2010 first round draft pick. I will admit I was a Culter fan while he was here in Denver but he imbaresed the Broncos franchise and after he left made some less than classy remarks. I am disapointed with Cutler and now love to root against him. He will regret turning his back on the Mile High City and he had a horrible year in 2009 with Chicago. The only thing he has proven is he is imature, lacks leadership, and has never had a winning season both in College and the NFL.

Statistics as a Bronco                                                                 

Year      Rateing      Yards      TD      INT      SACKS                
2006        88.5        1,001       9          5             13                   
2007        88.1        3,497      20        14            27
2008        86.0        4,526      25        18            11                  
-----------------------------------------------------                
Total-------------->9,024      54       37         51

Career Statistics

Rateing      Yards      TD      INT
  83.8        12,690     81       63

2006-2008: Denver Broncos
2009-Present: Chicago Bears

#8 Kyle Orton 2009-Present
After the bitter breakup between the Broncos and Jay Cutler in comes Kyle Orton. In my eyes he had a solid year. With that said there is room for improvment. After Plummer and Cutler we were use to mobile QB and one who could make the big play with his arm. Orton didn't exactly throw it deep last year and is not mobile at all. He did put up some good stats but unfortunatly it was another 500 year for the Broncos. Orton most likley won't be a Bronco for the long term. McDaniels showed his desire to upgrade the QB position when he traded for Brady Quinn and moved up in the first round to draft Tim Tebow in the first round this offseason.


Statistics as a Bronco                                                                                                                           
Year      Rateing      Yards      TD      INT      SACKS             
2009       86.8         3,802       21       12            29                   

Career Statistics
Rateing      Yards      TD      INT
   76.9       9,121       51       39


2005-2008: Chicago Bears
 2009-Present: Denver Broncos


That brings us to 2010. Since Elway left we have only hung on to a QB for a few years we still are looking for the long term franchise QB. Let's hope Josh McDaniels was spot on with Tim Tebow and he becomes the face of the Broncos for 15 plus years. In the short term we should expect to see another year of Kyle Orton or Brady Quinn and hopefully Tebow will be ready. Josh says Orton is our starter but he also said he was excited to work with Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, and Payton Hillis. Cutler is now a Bear, Marshall a Dolphin, and Hillis a Brown. Point is I'll just wait and see who walks out on the field Week 1 in Jacksonville kind of hard to take McDaniels for his word. Regardless McDaniels can redeem himself after his collapse last year and there is a lot of hope and exciment going into the 2010 season! GO BRONCOS!