With Cutler Gone, Denver QB Job Is Wide Open

Unless you have been living under a rock you know that since the retirement of John Elway in 1999 the Broncos have searched tirelessly for a QB who could once become again the face of their franchise.  After failed “experiments” with the likes of Brian Griese and Jake Plummer Denver thought they had found their man in Vanderbilt’s Jay Cutler.  Well they could not have been more wrong.

With the abrupt firing of 14 year head coach Mike Shanahan the Broncos set the stage for the departure of Cutler.  The Broncos hired Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels to succeed Shanahan and he subsequently tried to bring along “his” QB from New England, Matt Cassel.  Cutler was offended and the relationship was finished before it ever even started.  Thus, #6 was traded to the Chicago Bears.

Now Denver is faced with starting from scratch with a new head coach (McDaniels), a new GM (Brian Xanders) and a new quarterback who will emerge from the likes of Kyle Orton, who Denver obtained from Chicago in the Cutler trade, Chris Simms who has played a total of 20 games since coming into the league in 2003 and Tom Brandstater who Denver drafted in the sixth round this year out of Fresno State.

Brandstater had a 59 completion percentage during his four years as a Bulldog and threw 47 touchdowns and 32 interceptions. 

Chris Simms came into the NFL in 2003 after being one of the top passers ever at the University of Texas.  He is second or third in most categories including second in most touchdowns in a single game, single season and career.  Drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Simms was expected to be the successor to Brad Johnson.  After serving as backup to several QB’s including Brian Griese and Jeff Garcia and a rather severe spleen injury his relationship with the team and head coach Jon Gruden deteriorated and he was released in August of 2007.  He signed with the Tennessee Titans in September of 2008 after Vince Young was sidelined with an injury.  Since his entrance into the NFL he has a 59.1 completion percentage and has thrown for just under 3,100 yards in 20 games.  With 12 touchdowns versus 17 interceptions he does not have very much to tout as a starting QB.

Four year NFL veteran QB Kyle Orton is most likely to win the job for the season opener.  Orton was obtained in the Jay Cutler trade and brings a completely different style than Cutler.  Drafted by Chicago in The 2005 NFL Draft Orton (Purdue) was thrust into the starter role after an injury to then starter Rex Grossman.  He also was demoted after the 2005 season in favor of Brian Griese. 

Orton certainly fits Josh McDaniels’ style of a controlled passing game.  His career yards per attempt stands at 5.83 and his longest career pass to date is 65 yards.  With the Broncos traditional focus on the running game and McDaniels’ method of controlled passing and taking what the defense gives you, Orton certainly fits the profile.

This will most certainly be the battle to watch as training camp unfolds this summer.  True, the Broncos defense is going to be a focal point.  They were nothing short of horrible last year.  However, Denver is a QB town.  The fans WANT another John Elway.  They love the running game and the smash mouth defense (until last year that is) but nothing gets them making more noise than lighting up the scoreboard with an electric passing game.  They had it for years with Elway and they saw flashes of it with Griese and Plummer.  They potentially HAD it with Cutler and McDaniels sent him packing.  All eyes will be on McDaniels and that passing game.  You can bank on it.

Broncos Defense Must Carry The Load In ’09

As mini camps open for this year’s NFL season, the Denver Broncos are facing a battle that will be difficult to win.  The free agency season and the NFL Draft have concluded and one would expect a team which finished 30th in the league on defense would have addressed defense in free agency and on draft day.  New Head Coach Josh McDaniels decided, instead, to use his first pick (12th Overall) on running back Knowshon Moreno from Georgia.

While Moreno is a fantastic running back, the Broncos had already gone the RB route early during free agency by signing Correll Buckhalter, J.J. Arrington and LaMont Jordan.  On Thursday, they also brought in former Houston Texans’ running back Darius Walker.  They will now boast eight running backs on their roster.  Though Denver lost seven tailbacks to injury last season, their running game was not what caused them to surrender a three-game division lead with three games left in the season and miss the playoffs.

Their usually stout defense was ranked at the bottom or near the bottom of the league in almost every category.  The offense, despite the injuries at running back, managed to score just over 23 points per game which put them in the middle of the pack.  Their defense, though, allowed 28 points per game which ranked 30th in the NFL.  They were also minus 17 in their giveaway/takeaway differential which ranked a paltry 30th in the league.

The Broncos two star defensive backs, Champ Bailey and Dre Bly, had less than stellar seasons and the Broncos saw only 6 interceptions all season long.  Bailey actually missed seven games during the season due to injury which took away the shut down corner Denver can usually count on.  They also got manhandled on the line giving up 4.8 yards per carry and over 115 yards per game. 

Denver did try and address some of their defensive short comings with their three subsequent picks in the 2009 Draft.  With their second pick (18th Overall) they took Robert Ayers, a defensive end/line backer out of Tennessee.  Ayers, though, has been tagged by many as a “one year wonder.”  He does show some upside with pretty good speed and power getting through to the quarterback.  The Broncos most likely plan to use him as an outside linebacker.  Don Martindale, Broncos Linebackers Coach, was the one responsible for scouting Ayers so he knows very well what the rookie can do.

After Ayers Denver drafted CB Alphonso Smith (Wake Forest) and S Darcel McBath (Texas Tech) both excellent position players.  Smith tallied a whopping 20 interceptions during his college career.  He can also make an immediate impact on kick returns as he averaged 20.7 yards in his time with the Demon Deacons.  McBath was a first team All Big 12 safety in 2008 with an impressive 70 tackles and 6 picks.

So, looking at the 2009 season Denver needs to have these defensive picks make an impact from game 1.  The rest of the NFL knows their weakness.  They were exploited last year and until they can prove differently teams will continue to attack them.  With the exit of Jay Cutler and basically the Broncos entire offensive playbook this defense will have no choice but to improve and improve quickly.  If not the don’t look for them to be even close to the 8-8 season they had in ’08.

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