Denver's Warren likes low-key role

[Ratboy]

Denver's Warren likes low-key role
By Larry Weisman, USA TODAY
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Just one of the guys. What a weird role for Gerard Warren. He's not the face of the franchise. He's not even the Denver Broncos' best-known defensive lineman. Just one of the guys.

Broncos defensive tackle Gerard Warren, bottom, hopes for a fresh start with the Broncos after some rough years in Cleveland.
By Jack Dempsey, AP

After the abuse he took in Cleveland with the struggling Browns, he couldn't be happier in his new surroundings and in relative anonymity.

"I just saw it as a new beginning, having to come somewhere and prove myself again," he says.

The third overall pick in the 2001 draft, Warren, a defensive tackle, never fully lived up to the changing expectations of the expansion Browns. He played well as a rookie and finished the 2004 season with a rush, but in between he bore the brunt of dissatisfaction with the Browns' highs and lows.

The Browns made the playoffs in 2002, then went through a spasm of roster cuts related to the salary cap. They never recovered, Butch Davis departed as coach with five games remaining last season and many reputations were as damaged as the team.

Warren found himself depicted as overweight and unmotivated and was soon moved to the Broncos by the new regime of general manager Phil Savage and coach Romeo Crennel.

"Personally, I felt a lot of fingers were being pointed at me for the failures of Cleveland," Warren says. "They chose to label me as the problem, as what was wrong with Cleveland Browns football."

Warren feels blame should have been more widely distributed.

"Cleveland was a confused team in the four years I was there," he says. "One week we were told we were Super Bowl contenders, and the next week you heard something on TV that the coach is saying that this is still a new franchise.

"So you go from Super Bowl-caliber team to expansion team. We went from being an expansion team to being a playoff team to being an expansion team after we made all those cuts."

He was part of a mass exodus to Denver last spring that included defensive line coach Andre Patterson and three of his linemates, Courtney Brown, Michael Myers and Ebenezer Ekuban. Warren, Brown and Myers are starters, though Brown is still working through an elbow injury suffered early in camp. The lone Bronco holdover is Trevor Pryce.

"He's one of the smartest players I've ever coached," Patterson says of Warren. "He's very, very intelligent. I think he's been a great addition to this team, and I thought he was a good player in Cleveland.

"It used to amaze me. Before games, you would go out there and talk to the visiting coaches and they would say, 'We've got to make sure we get (Warren) blocked.' But our newspapers were bashing the guy."

So what went wrong in Cleveland?

"In Cleveland, the program had just come back. Tim Couch was there. Courtney didn't say much. Gerard came in and was vocal, engaging, and so he became the face of the Cleveland Browns," Patterson says.

"And at that time of his life, in my opinion, he wasn't ready for that. He came out of Florida a year early, and he wasn't ready to be the poster child for that organization. Here he's just another individual."

Denver's rebuilt defense has 12 sacks in its three preseason games, and Warren has showed the ability to push the pocket from the inside. Other than that, he's trying to keep a low profile and duck the attention.

"I just want to be a football player," he says. "That's all they're asking me to be."

Link (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/broncos/2005-09-02-warren-feature_x.htm?csp=34)

[DB-Freak]

I don't think this guy will ever be a truly dominant player.

[DBroncos4life]

I don't think this guy will ever be a truly dominant player.
Oh I thought this was about Warren not MoC.

[Cleo McDowell]

I don't think this guy will ever be a truly dominant player.

that avatar is disturbing.

[orange 4 life]

I don't think this guy will ever be a truly dominant player.

two things.

1) your avatar is very disturbing. unpleasant.

2) we dont need him to be a "truly dominant player".

i know the team has said he has probowl potential (and he probably does), but realistically, we just need him to be a part of the rotation of linemen, and we need him to make an impact.
i think he will do just that. "truly dominant"?

maybe not.

"really good"?

quite possibly, if not likely.

[DB-Freak]

Oh I thought this was about Warren not MoC.
Snap.

True dominance can shine even in the darkest places where as Warren didnt really show that.

With help, he'll vary from good to pro-bowl level, but never true dominance.

[DB-Freak]

two things.

1) your avatar is very disturbing. unpleasant.

2) we dont need him to be a "truly dominant player".

i know the team has said he has probowl potential (and he probably does), but realistically, we just need him to be a part of the rotation of linemen, and we need him to make an impact.
i think he will do just that. "truly dominant"?

maybe not.

"really good"?

quite possibly, if not likely.

No need to defend Warren. Never said he had to be a truly dominant player.

Just saying, the guy just shows that he wont ever be a truly dominant player.

[Ballhawk]

How many truly dominant DTs are there? If Warren rises above average he will help tremendously.

[DBroncos4life]

Snap.

True dominance can shine even in the darkest places where as Warren didnt really show that.

With help, he'll vary from good to pro-bowl level, but never true dominance.

Will he be a Sapp or Pryce? No but he could be a Seymour for us. As for the MoC talk that will never get old :laugh:

[DB-Freak]

Will he be a Sapp or Pryce? No but he could be a Seymour for us. As for the MoC talk that will never get old :laugh:
I'll always the bear the cross of MoC so it's fine.

No, Seymour is a dominant force. If Warren become like Seymour, then the pick up was a ****ing grand slam.

[DBroncos4life]

I'll always the bear the cross of MoC so it's fine.

No, Seymour is a dominant force. If Warren become like Seymour, then the pick up was a ****ing grand slam.


Come on Seymour's stats are not all that better then Warrens and he played on a much better team.

[Jason in LA]

If Shanny can get out of Warren what he got out of McGlockton, I'll be more than happy. McGlockton gave the Broncos a few good years. Al Wilson loved him playing there. He wasn't dominant, but he served his purpose. That's all Warren has to do.

[DarkHorse30]

that avatar is disturbing.

cheers to the post 'o the day. Not sure what "DemBalls_freak" was thinking but I want NO part of it.

[DB-Freak]

Come on Seymour's stats are not all that better then Warrens and he played on a much better team.
What an insult to Seymour, but looking at your mindset and perspective on football ,your mind is already made up and there is no use for a discussion.

[IHaveALight]

That avatar has to go, please mods do the right thing here.

[DBroncos4life]

What an insult to Seymour, but looking at your mindset and perspective on football ,your mind is already made up and there is no use for a discussion.


Well I didn't know that Seymour was a god or anything. Yes there is more to football then stats but crap Warren has 40 less tackles and 5 less sacks, all while playing for a team that is crap. Best thing we can do is wait to see what each player does this year. Warren has a cast around him that should let him break free from this lable that he has. Also mind you Warren was used in a different way then Seymour which doesn't help him at all.

[IHaveALight]

Seymour is pretty damn close to being Trevor Pryce II.

[DB-Freak]

Well I didn't know that Seymour was a god or anything. Yes there is more to football then stats but crap Warren has 40 less tackles and 5 less sacks, all while playing for a team that is crap. Best thing we can do is wait to see what each player does this year. Warren has a cast around him that should let him break free from this lable that he has. Also mind you Warren was used in a different way then Seymour which doesn't help him at all.

If there are two positions on defense that stats have a real hard time defining a player, they are CB and DT.

Seymour did play on a better team, but I'm not sure that helps him much. It was more like him benefitting the team not vice versa.

Seymour plays as both DE and DT in 4-3 and 3-4 and excels at it. He's not the Rod Coleman type where he will rack sacks at that position, but he will pentrate and defend the run like a monster. Not only that being freakishly strong, it's mandatory the OL doubles on him regularly. Since when has Warren gotten that kind of attention or shown that kind of dominance?
The versatility? Who do you think they gameplan around Seymour or Warren?

And yes 5 sacks and 40 do matter alot, because the position isnt that stat dominant and Warren would need at least one more season to even up with Seymour.

[DB-Freak]

Seymour is pretty damn close to being Trevor Pryce II.
I think he is already. Not as sack savy as Pryce, but stronger and more mauler like presence in the middle.

[listopencil]

I think he is already. Not as sack savy as Pryce, but stronger and more mauler like presence in the middle.




WTF? David Hasselhoff's crotch? Ahhhhhh! Make it stop!

[Pat Bowlen]

That avatar has to go, please mods do the right thing here.
Just pull your eyes away.

[24champ]

That avatar has to go, please mods do the right thing here.

agreed lets vote on it.....

[watermock]

I think all 5 of our pickups will make it. Add in Pryce back from injury. Dorsett Davis looks like he's playing for a job and seems like a new man. That is 7 DL players right there we didn't have last year. And not a rookie in the lot. And most except Pryce are relatively young and should be in their prime. Even Pope is still pretty young. WTF is the deal with some of these "washed up players"? Not only some of the beforementioned, but we have others like Ron Dayne, Mike Anderson, Keith Burns that seem to have actually gotten faster somehow. Then we have some oldies that won't let father time snag them like Pryce, Nalen, Rod Smith, Carswell. I think Carswell makes the cut.

Players that look like they have lost a step...or three...pretty easy. Rice and Lynch.

I may be in homer mode, but our second stringers totally dominated Arizona on their home field, a team supposedly "on the rise" while we are supposedly "on the decline with Teflonahan on the hot seat".

Want to know why ESPN isn't showing Bronco highlights? Take a guess. If the Browncos sucked, they would show it. If Plummer would of thrown 5 picks, they would of shown it. Is a RB ran thru our DL for a 60 yarder, they would of shown it. Hell, they barely showed MA's 93 yarder. I have checked on and off all night for any game highlights, they don't exist. It's hard to see anything when you have your nose up Manning's buttcrack Sean.

Our DL and LB corp is wicked deep to the point some players are going to be claimed this year. We are wicked deep and haven't gotten C. Brown, and Bailey back yet. Our RB's are also deep. Cecil Sapp blew open some holes last night from what people said. He can also carry the rock. He timed 4.55 out of CSU. and is a bull. BVP looks like a player that might actually be able to come in and rally the team. Special teams look improved. Burnsie will get special team coverage improved by sheer will. He's very popular, unlike a certain Rookie RB that shall remained forgotten in Denver, but remembered forever in the ECM.

Saurkraut hasn't got picked up, yet, and has kicked off perfectly fine. Elam looks steady.

Looks like two of the three corners have hit, with DWill looking like a here and now impact corner. He hasn't shown much in returns, but honestly, our blocking for him has sucked. He hasn't muffed, which is the first thing. You catch the ball.

D.J. Williams can only improve at Sam, a position he hadn't played. How can't he improve each week? Gold has looked better than I expected. His body looks a little more muscular and mature now. Pryce ran a back down from the backside last week. I couldn't believe it.

The Claw made two tough catches, and DEVO had a few big plays, and missed on a team clincher, but I think he sticks.

People have mentioned that Plummer is looking confident and has "gotten it". Alexander at TE just plain took the job from Putz. I like the idea of having 3 TE, Ax, Putz and Jackson, with Carswell as a goal line tackle eligible. The double TE with players that can also run against safeties is a great way to combat a 3/4 and still get at least 3-4 into the pattern. I still don't quite understand why we don't use Dayne as a reciever instead of going empty. If they want to put 8 in the box, you go double TE with Rod and Lelie, Ax and Putz, Dayne in there, and just try to catch Plummer's mobility. They can send a full blitz and we can pick that up. I hate 5 wide. The funny thing is, now we have two QB's that are mobile. Compare that with the possible combo of SOB and Danno K.

[Cleo McDowell]

that avatar went from disturbing to extremely annoying to the point i have to cover that portion of the screen with my hand. clearly a distraction to the quality that the mane provides. please keep your infatuation with hasslehoffs crotch under wraps for the love of God.

[Cito Pelon]

Mock had a pretty good critique. The pieces are in place, the team has to decide whether they want it, or not. I think the team cut some guys that can't go for 60 minutes. There's still some guys that IMO would rather see themselves on the Jumbotron looking at their last good play, than get ready for the next play, no matter how crucial the next play was. There's not many left, and I won't get into names since the roster is set now.

Whatever, it is now time for the Broncos to chump everybody, and chump them good. Chump them so good, the next time they meet, the opponent can be as angry as they want to be at the first chumping, but at the back of their minds, they know they're in for another chumping.

Speaking for myself only, I'm getting really, really tired of seeing only one or two games each year where the Broncos totally dominate. The organization needs to start kicking the living daylights out of teams for 60 minutes, no more of this gentlemanly relaxing after gaining a lead. Teams aren't as scared of the Broncos as they used to be. They still love to beat the Broncos. Sorry, Broncos, you aren't sneaking up on anybody this year. You're a marked team, Broncos. Basically, the Broncos better bring their A game every game, because that is what the opposition is going to bring.

We'll see if the coaching staff can get the team to bring an A effort to every game.

[DB-Freak]

Mock had a pretty good critique. The pieces are in place, the team has to decide whether they want it, or not. I think the team cut some guys that can't go for 60 minutes. There's still some guys that IMO would rather see themselves on the Jumbotron looking at their last good play, than get ready for the next play, no matter how crucial the next play was. There's not many left, and I won't get into names since the roster is set now.

Whatever, it is now time for the Broncos to chump everybody, and chump them good. Chump them so good, the next time they meet, the opponent can be as angry as they want to be at the first chumping, but at the back of their minds, they know they're in for another chumping.

Speaking for myself only, I'm getting really, really tired of seeing only one or two games each year where the Broncos totally dominate. The organization needs to start kicking the living daylights out of teams for 60 minutes, no more of this gentlemanly relaxing after gaining a lead. Teams aren't as scared of the Broncos as they used to be. They still love to beat the Broncos. Sorry, Broncos, you aren't sneaking up on anybody this year. You're a marked team, Broncos. Basically, the Broncos better bring their A game every game, because that is what the opposition is going to bring.

We'll see if the coaching staff can get the team to bring an A effort to every game.
That was because we lacked players of dominance,clutchness, and consistency in the game.

It'll be the same this year if they dont step it up.

[Rohirrim]

I like Warren a lot. He looks reborn in Orange and Blue. Plus, he makes one mean ass blocking FB. ;D

[Pat Bowlen]

Analysis...
Wicked!