Knowshon Moreno Answers Questions At RB For Denver Broncos

With the 12^th pick in this year’s NFL Draft, the new Denver Broncos’ regime under youngsters Brian Xanders and Josh McDaniels secured the consensus number one pick at running back in the 2009 class, Knowshon Moreno.

More importantly than draft ranking for Denver, Moreno has the tools to fit the new offensive philosophy that McDaniels brings to the Broncos.

Moreno has the size, muscle, and crazy legs to be a dependable between the tackles runner, only lacking home run speed.

But even without that speed, Knowshon’s running characteristics fit well in the prototype New England scheme McDaniels will install this year.

That scheme will try to hold on to the ball, running to secure time of possession while passing, often out of a spread, to secure the lead.

To critics, however, there is a sticking point.

Moreno brings unmatched ability in this year’s draft to catch the ball out of the backfield, an option that was not often used for the No. 1 running back (either Laurence Maroney or Sammy Morris) during McDaniels’ tenure calling plays in New England.

Instead the Patriots chose to use Kevin Faulk as a receiver coming out of the backfield for the past three years while McDaniels was calling plays.

So does Moreno become the receiving option out of the backfield for Denver or the running back that runs on first and second down? Or does he remain a three-down back in that he both catches and runs the ball—which would be a novelty for a McDaniels offense?

For critics of the Broncos’ draft strategy the question isn’t just academic.

Anything short of Moreno seeing the field for all three downs will be considered by the draft know-it-alls to be a blown draft pick.

On a team aching for defensive talent, the Broncos already had a crowded backfield with proven and workman-like, if not spectacular, runners and receivers LaMont Jordan, Correll Buckhalter, and J.J. Arrington on the roster.

Certainly, they’ll argue the team could have selected a higher impact defensive player than Moreno at No. 12.

Perhaps.

Because when one looks more closely at what the Broncos had on the roster at the running back position going into the draft, one starts using words like, “if,” “perhaps,” and “maybe” to describe those backs.

If LaMont Jordan can stay healthy, he might provide 4.5 yards per carry and a cloud of dust.

Perhaps Correll Buckhalter can fight Father Time and injuries to be a good receiving option out of the backfield again. The Eagles didn’t think so.  

Maybe what JJ Arrington needs is a change of environment, where he can beat the too-dumb-to-play rap he had in Arizona.

With two of the three players mentioned above at 30 years old, they can only be considered stop gaps, not answers to long term roster questions.

And the NFL Draft is first about answering roster questions no matter the round a player is taken. 

In Moreno, you certainly have other questions that remain unanswered, but they are the normal questions you have with any youngsters coming into their first NFL camp.

Can he pick up the play book? Can he adjust to life in the NFL? How will being an instant millionaire affect his desire to succeed?   

For Xanders and McDaniels there is no time like this first season to get those and other questions settled about the second most important position on the offensive side of the ball.

Perhaps then, next year, unlike this year, we’ll all have more answers than questions going into the season. 

 

Denver Broncos: Five Stages of a Trade

While it appears that some Denver Broncos fans are gratified that Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler was traded to the Chicago Bears for a 2.5 drafts picks and bearded quarterback to be graded later, this is just a chimera, as temporary as training camp, or the first quarter of a preseason game.

So as a public service I will now explain to football fans about the several stages of a trade and how those stages might later affect the judgment of fans.

Experts agree that the first stage of any trade is the “denial” stage.

This stage is characterized by irrational, inconsistent arguments that deny a trade is in the offing. At this stage a team might first deny trade rumors involving a player only to admit later that trade talks did indeed happen.

“Well, he’s our quarterback, until he’s not our quarterback, ha, ha,” a Coach McDaniels could say with a wink, wink and elbow, cough, hack, laugh. 

“I don’t exactly remember,” the team’s owner might say during the denial stage. “I may have spoken with the star quarterback who I am personally contracted to pay close $50 million to over the life of his contract. Or I may not have. I’m old. I can’t even remember what I ate yesterday. But, just YOU remember: I’m in charge of the team.”

This stage inevitably leads to the next stage of a trade, the “anger” stage.

The anger stage is characterized by the verbal volleys of insult and innuendo between a team and a player which goes back and forth in the press, aided and abetted by fans and sportswriters and it might read something like this:

‘They lied to me.”

“Oh yeah? We’ll he’s a drunk.”

“I can’t trust them.”

“He’s 17-20 as a starter.”

“They lied to me again!”

“He’s a remote, petulant jerk!”

“They lied to me though text messages!!”

“He hasn’t even gotten us to the playoffs!!”

For obvious reasons, the anger stage is the longest and most difficult stage of any trade and it generally lasts a bit longer than it did in the Cutler-Bronco trade drama.

But in one way or another the anger stage gives way to the next stage of a trade, “bargaining,” which also happens to the stage Broncos fans are stuck in now, at least until the exhibition games start .

The bargaining stage of a trade is most dangerous for fans, because all things are possible during this stage.

The fans’ chat boards light up during the bargaining stage with the wild and improbable trade scenarios and play scenarios developed by guys sitting in their underwear that go by the handle “ElwayGuy732”:

“The Broncos trade Cutler to Detroit for the first pick in the draft and a 50 percent share in the federal bailout in GM. Then the Broncos trade their GM share to genetic researchers who clone Brett Favre. Then the genetically altered Favre and Barrack Obama will storm the G20 conference saving it from Russian and Chinese capitalists. Go Broncos!”

Or “The Broncos’ new players are a race of genetically altered super-people, who were created by the federal government to bring the Super Bowl back to the Mile High City! Go Broncos!”

The bargaining stage generally last until after the draft or until the season starts when hopes and dreams and draft choices are telescoped into real-life wins and losses and thus fans enter the next stage of a trade, depression. 

Their depression might be severe or only transient depending on whether the beloved Broncos make it into the playoffs or not. 

You’ll know however when we enter the final stage of a trade, (the stage of “acceptance”) when “ElwayGuy732” enters the chat board and types:

“Ok, the Broncos had a good year and now all they need is a franchise quarterback…”

Tampa Bay Buccaneers To Cut Brian Griese, Next Stop Denver?

Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez is reporting that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will cut ties with former Denver Broncos’ quarterback Brian Griese by week’s end.

Griese, 34, has not showed for any organized team activities this offseason.

Considered the odd-man out in a quarterback derby that includes Josh McNown and Byron Leftwich, Marvez is speculating that Griese will end up in New England.

New England traded their backup quarterback Matt Cassel to Kansas City in the off season.

My money is on Denver as a possible destination.

If the team can sign 27 running backs, can’t it have three quarterbacks of roughly equal ability?

Plus what would put the Jay Cutler era behinds the Broncos better than signing Griese?

Griese is a Kyle Orton-like 45-38 as starter with 119 touchdowns and 99 interceptions.

Seems like a perfect match for McDaniels.            

Denver Broncos New 3-4: The Danger of ‘Tweeners

On a team that’s defied convention repeatedly, the Broncos took perhaps the biggest chance in the NFL Draft this year by sticking to conventional wisdom and taking the best available athlete with their picks.

At least with their 18th pick, that is.

After the draft, the Denver Broncos got mixed reviews regarding how they used their picks in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Some analysts chastised the Broncos for not doing enough to help their new 3-4 defense. Others praised the Broncos for staying to their “value” board and picking the best available players at their slots.

They point to the selections of Tennessee defensive end Robert Ayers and Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno as a case in point.

Some analysts had Ayers rated as the best defensive end in the draft this year. And by waiting until the 18th pick to take the defensive player from Tennessee, instead of just reaching for a defensive player, the Broncos were able to pick up a running back who many believed was the highest rated pick at that position first.

However, in the final call, the conventional wisdom doesn’t select where these players will play, coaches do.  And coaches have a little conventional wisdom they need to apply as well.

For Moreno, the conventional wisdom is just fine: He upgrades a running back by-committee-system with one nice featured running back, even if fans and analysts didn’t think they needed the upgrade.

With Ayers, the conventional wisdom’s a little more sticky than that.

Because Ayers falls somewhere between a defensive end and a linebacker, he’s known as a “tweener”. Typically, a “tweener” ends up at outside linebacker. But Ayers is not just an ordinary “tweener”. He’s more like a “taint”.

You see, Ayers is too small (at 272 lbs.) to play defensive end in the 3-4 defense and too slow at a 4.9 40-time to play outside linebacker in the 3-4 defense.

He ‘taint no defensive end, and he ‘taint no outside linebacker.

So the Broncos depth chart currently has him listed at inside linebacker behind DJ Williams.

One of the problems with “tweeners” is that because you have to teach them a new position, you don’t really know what you have until they get a chance to play that position.

Plus, by moving Ayers inside, who is used to playing outside in space, you have to teach him a whole new set of techniques and skills, like shedding 300-pound blockers in traffic.

Never mind that so far the rap on Ayers, and the reason why he was available at the 18th pick, has been that he’s resistant to coaching and was only a half season wonder at Tennessee anyway.

Maybe the Broncos will ask Ayers to put on another 20 lbs. of muscle in the next year or two and move him to defensive end. He’s a stout run defender and his penetration skills and ability to rush the passer would be a nice bonus.

Maybe in that way, Denver gets the defensive lineman we’re all bellyaching about.

Or does that sound way too conventional?  

 

Sharpe Added to Denver Broncos Ring of Fame

The Denver Post is reporting that Shannon Sharpe will be inducted into the Denver Broncos’ Ring of Fame during the team’s home game on September 20th, 2009.

“Sharpe, the first tight end to join the Ring of Fame,” reports the Post, “spent 12 seasons in Denver and helped the Broncos win back-to-back Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998.”

Sharpe is second on the all-time Denver Broncos list in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. 

Denver Broncos Personnel Guru: Cutler Has Chance to Be Special

Amongst the various head-scratchers that have come from Dove Valley in the last several months, none has gotten less press than the firing of Jim Goodman, the Broncos’ vice president of football operations/personnel and the promotion of Brian Xanders to general manager.

But perhaps of all the moves (sudden or otherwise) the Broncos have made this offseason, the turnover in the front office is the move that’s most curious.

The firing of Goodman came one month to the day after the Broncos affirmed they would not be hiring a general manager and that Goodman would have final say on personnel matters.

New general manager Xanders then brought in a new personnel team, including Keith Kidd as director of pro personnel, and Matt Russell, director of college scouting to replace Goodman.

So the question looms, with Goodman gone, who’s making decisions on the roster? Who has final say?

I don’t know much about Russell, who worked previously as a scout for the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots.

But fortunately, prior to getting the Broncos’ pro-personnel position, Keith Kidd worked as a scout and analyst for ESPN and Scouts, Inc.

Accordingly, there’s a lot of analysis on the record for Kidd.

And the record speaks clearly—Kidd, whose job is to evaluate pro talent, not college talent, loved Jay Cutler.

In a September 2008 Scouts, Inc. piece, Kidd ranked Cutler the second best young quarterback in the league in front of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger, the San Diego Chargers’ Phillip Rivers, and the Dallas Cowboys’ Tony Romo. Only Eli Manning ranked higher to Kidd.

At the time, he commented “Even with significant personnel input from the coaching staff and equal competition at the position, there’s a lot of luck involved in picking the right [quarterback]. Make a mistake at the position, especially early in the draft, and it can set a franchise back for years.”        

On Jan. 16, 2009, Kidd responded to the hiring of McDaniels by saying, “I love the move. I thought it was very aggressive for them to get one of the rising stars in the NFL.  I can’t wait to see this Denver offense under Jay Cutler in this system in the fall. But the Broncos need to address the defensive side, which they will.”

On Feb. 3, 2009, just 20 days before taking the Broncos job, Kidd had this to say about the Cutler-McDaniels team:  “I think you’re going to be amazed at how this offense will be in Denver under Josh McDaniels and how he handles all the moving parts. Jay Cutler has a chance to be special before it’s all said and done.”

These comments are even more curious when one realizes that McDaniels and Kidd both worked in New England together.

Presumably, McDaniels had some input about who was hired, since both Kidd and Russell have roots in the New England scouting system.

Presumably, Kidd understood the system that McDaniels was trying to put together and whether Cutler would fit.

But one thing’s been proved so far this offseason: presumption means nothing when you have no idea who is running the show.

Maybe that’s what Cutler thought, too.   

 

 

King: Denver Broncos As Bad As They Were Before

In today’s Monday Morning Quarterback on Sports Illustrated’s web site, King takes a shot at regime change in Denver, ala Pat Bowlen, by ranking the Broncos 20th amongst 32 NFL franchises. 

“For years,” writes King in his capsule that justifies Denver’s low ranking, “Broncos fans had to sit back and just trust Mike Shanahan, because some of those weird Maurice Clarett-ish decisions he made were so counter-intuitive. So now Pat Bowlen hires boy wonder Josh McDaniels, and the Broncos fans have to think the same thing all over again.”

Yes, there’s some truth in what Kings says.   

But the bigger truth is that Denver fans have a lot of patience. 

The honeymoon with McDaniels will last longer than King thinks.

It’ll probably just make it past the 3:32 mark in the third quarter of the third preseason game.   

 

Denver Broncos: Profiles in Coaching

One message has been clear since Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen opted to rebuild the franchise following last year’s 8-8 season: he believes that coaching matters more than any other factor in winning football games.

So today we’re taking a closer look at the guys who will calls the plays, coach the players, and have final say on the Denver Broncos roster and try to bring a winning team back to Denver.  

Head Coach Josh McDaniels

If new Denver Broncos boss Josh McDaniels comes across as a natural head coach, it’s not surprising. After all, his father, Thom McDaniels has spent 25 years as a high school head coach, amassing a 206-74 record at three schools in football-mad Ohio.

“I always lean on my father for any advice that he can give me,” Josh McDaniels said in a 2008 article in the New York Times. “He is obviously the person I molded myself after, and that hasn’t [changed].

The elder McDaniels coached the younger at Canton McKinley High School where Josh played quarterback from 1991 to 1994. Canton McKinley boasts a 22,500-seat stadium appropriate for Stark County, OH, home to the NFL’s Hall of Fame.

After high school, McDaniels attended Cleveland’s John Carroll University, where he switched positions to wide receiver after failing to win the starter’s job at quarterback.

After graduating from John Carroll with a Bachelor’s in mathematics, McDaniels worked as a graduate assistant at Michigan State University under Nick Saban. He joined the New England Patriots’ staff in 2001 as a personnel assistant.

But McDaniels’ big break came after Charlie Weis left the Patriots for Notre Dame. In 2005, at age 28 he went from being quarterbacks’ coach to de facto offensive coordinator, although the move wasn’t made official until the 2007 season.

“When he got the job, he really took the reins,” center Dan Koppen said in the New York Times piece. “It’s not about age. It’s about respect, and the guys have that for him. He feels the game out for what it is and does what’s working.”

What’s worked for McDaniels in the past has been a football philosophy impressed on him by working with Bill Belichick. And just like the influence his father has had upon him, McDaniel plans to stick with what he knows.

“My demeanor, the way I am with people, how I go about my daily business? That’s all totally me,” said McDaniels recently on ESPN.com. “And my philosophy on how to win? Why would I want to change from what I learned and was taught? It was so successful.”

Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan

If McDaniels’ football pedigree is a purebred, then new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan’s is a champion’s.

The son of former San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints coach Dick Nolan, Nolan was hired in 2005 by the 49ers to coach the team his father once ran. He said at the time, “I realized that growing up around these guys and the way they played the game, that was the reason I loved it.”

Nolan played safety at the University of Oregon as a three-year starter.

After college he joined the football staff at Stanford in 1982 and served as linebackers coach at Rice and LSU before moving on to the NFL in 1987 as linebackers coach for the Denver Broncos.

After five seasons with the Broncos he served at defensive coordinator with the Giants, Redskins, Jets, and Ravens. He’s well-known for coaching high-intensity defenses that put a premium on takeaways.

Nolan also proved he had a knack of improving defenses quickly, helping turn around defenses in his first year with San Francisco and the Jets and helping the Giants post 12.8-points-allowed-per-game mark in 1993, his first year as defensive coordinator.

“It’s been proven again and again in this league that you can turn around programs very fast,” Nolan said in 2005 when hired by the 49ers. “It’s reasonable to think we can turn things around very quickly.”   

 

Offensive Coordinator Mike McCoy

McCoy’s background is at the quarterback position.

He played quarterback under George Allen at Long Beach State and for two years at the University of Utah, where he says, “the most physically and emotionally draining game I’ve been involved in,” was the 1994 victory of Utah against Colorado State.

After a journeyman career in the NFL and Canadian league, including stops with the Denver Broncos (where he was signed as an undrafted free agent in 1995) and the Amsterdam Admirals, McCoy joined the staff of the Carolina Panthers in 2000.

In 2001 he worked as wide receivers’ coach for the Panthers before moving back to quarterbacks’ coach in 2002.

McCoy tries to improve touch and accuracy by having his quarterbacks “drop their passes into a stack of tires, or sometimes a barrel.”   

Under McCoy, Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme has been sometimes criticized for throwing too many interceptions and lacking touch on his passes.    

 

Oakland Raiders’ NFL Columnist: “Orton not a threat”

Raiders Columnist Cam Inman recently wrote a wrap up of NFL quarterbacks and had plenty to say about AFC West throwers.

Inman wrote that Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is the “ace” of the division.

It’s hard to argue about that judgment on Rivers.

But he also wrote that the Raiders would start to find some answers to bona fide questions about second year quarterback JaMarcus Russell during recently held minicamps.

Based on reports out of minicamp, the only thing Russell appears ready to answer is the dinner bell.

“Russell, as least with the Raiders,” said NFL writer Jerry McDonald in his wrap from Raiders camp, “has not been a well-cut athlete and his body-type looks more like some of the offensive linemen than a quarterback.”

Inman also criticized the deal that sent Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel to Kansas City from the Patriots, calling it “amazingly friendly.”

That characterization sounds amazingly jealous, but probably mirrors how people outside of Kansas City and Boston feel.

On the Broncos quarterbacks, Inman said that while first year coach Josh McDaniels is high on Orton, “Orton doesn’t make the Broncos a menacing threat. Neither does backup Chris Simms.”

So basically he’s saying that McDaniels is just plain high.

20 Questions for Chris Simms

Can you give us an update on your health?

How has that affected your career so far?

So a lot has changed in Denver since you first signed. There will be an open competition at quarterback. Did you have some inkling that Denver was dissatisfied with Jay Cutler?

Now that the Cutler trade has happened, people are looking at Kyle Orton as the de facto starter; do you feel like the forgotten man?

What do you think the odds are that you’ll start?

How much did the coaching staff here in Denver figure into your decision to sign?

How do you think Coach McDaniels’ offense fits you as a quarterback?

What other teams were interested in signing you?

Let’s talk a little bit about Tampa Bay. Do you feel like you got a fair shot there?

Talk about your relationship with Coach Gruden. What went wrong there?

Now that Coach Gruden is gone would you consider going back to Tampa Bay?

How was your relationship with Coach Fisher in Tennessee?

What are your goals for the upcoming season?

Some have questioned your ability to perform in big games. How would you respond to that criticism?

Is your family here in Denver?

At what age did you realize that your dad was kind of a big deal?

Have you been throwing to Eddie Royal or Brandon Marshall on a regular basis?

Are you spending more time studying or working out?

Where do you think you’ll be in three years?

Is there one thing about Denver that has surprised you?

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