SoCalBronco
05-01-2007, 01:40 AM
Broncos upfront about picks
Bates hopes draft choices solidify the defensive line
By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News
April 29, 2007
Jim Bates has been provided the gifted athletic prospects he coveted along the front four.
Now, the Broncos assistant head coach/defense is among those charged with melding the three defensive line newcomers, taken during the weekend among four draft picks, with the veteran holdovers to form a functional group that can pressure quarterbacks and stuff ball carriers with equal consistency.
"We're very comfortable," Bates said after Denver's selections of ends Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder and tackle Marcus Thomas. "We've got the numbers we want in spots going into camp, and now it's going to be a wide-open competition to see how they fit into the scheme, how they take on blocks. There's a lot of things that fill our evaluation, and it'll be a long process. We have a lot of work to do in teaching the fundamentals we'll be using and we'll just see how it turns out."
The emphasis on buttressing the trenches was similar to the way Denver approached a thin defensive backfield in the draft two years ago, when it added three cornerbacks in one day.
It took the club two days to pluck Moss, Crowder and Thomas, and it necessitated two trades that cost Denver two third-rounders (including one next season), two sixth-rounders and a seventh-rounder to get them all.
"Hopefully, we'll have some starters maybe out of this group," Bates said. "They'll be competing with everybody else who we have in the organization, but we're very positive now that it's been a good two days."
The 17th pick Denver used to select Moss in the first round was the highest pick on a defensive lineman under coach Mike Shanahan. Trevor Pryce was the only other No. 1 pick, and he reached four straight Pro Bowls beginning in 2000 season.
But Denver's other first-day picks up front the past dozen seasons have been spotty. Reggie Hayward, a 2001 third-rounder, and Montae Reagor, a 1999 second-rounder, left as free agents. Mark Campbell (1996), Paul Toviessi (2001) and Dorsett Davis (2002) never panned out. The fates of the seven other second- day picks since 1995 yielded mainly lackluster results, with Elvis Dumervil, the team leader in sacks last season, a potential exception.
The failures to "hit" at the position often have sent Denver to try stopgap measures in free agency and via trade, also with mixed results and few, if any, star turns.
Asked whether the bill came due for that spotty track record, Shanahan disagreed.
"No, it was just our priority," he said, defending the team's recent front four picks, particularly on the draft's first day, but also admitting that linemen on both sides of the ball "are usually the hardest to find."
Denver now has youth added to the mix. The contracts of Ebenezer Ekuban and John Engelberger expire next season, and Kenard Lang reaches his 33rd birthday, so there's protection there.
"It's really incredible," Moss said of Denver's picks up front. "I feel that real soon it will start opening up people's eyes as to how good a group we have."
Bates maintained Moss needs to gain weight and strength but has "special abilities" as a pass rusher, while Crowder might be slightly better between the two as a run stopper. Thomas is strong to hold at the point of attack and has excellent quickness, he added.
"I think it's going to be dynamic," Crowder said. "You've got three guys who are all hungry, and you don't have one that's a slacker. I'm just excited to get on the field. And I'm glad they brought two more linemen in because we're going to push the (heck) out of each other to make each other better."
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5512690,00.html
Bates hopes draft choices solidify the defensive line
By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News
April 29, 2007
Jim Bates has been provided the gifted athletic prospects he coveted along the front four.
Now, the Broncos assistant head coach/defense is among those charged with melding the three defensive line newcomers, taken during the weekend among four draft picks, with the veteran holdovers to form a functional group that can pressure quarterbacks and stuff ball carriers with equal consistency.
"We're very comfortable," Bates said after Denver's selections of ends Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder and tackle Marcus Thomas. "We've got the numbers we want in spots going into camp, and now it's going to be a wide-open competition to see how they fit into the scheme, how they take on blocks. There's a lot of things that fill our evaluation, and it'll be a long process. We have a lot of work to do in teaching the fundamentals we'll be using and we'll just see how it turns out."
The emphasis on buttressing the trenches was similar to the way Denver approached a thin defensive backfield in the draft two years ago, when it added three cornerbacks in one day.
It took the club two days to pluck Moss, Crowder and Thomas, and it necessitated two trades that cost Denver two third-rounders (including one next season), two sixth-rounders and a seventh-rounder to get them all.
"Hopefully, we'll have some starters maybe out of this group," Bates said. "They'll be competing with everybody else who we have in the organization, but we're very positive now that it's been a good two days."
The 17th pick Denver used to select Moss in the first round was the highest pick on a defensive lineman under coach Mike Shanahan. Trevor Pryce was the only other No. 1 pick, and he reached four straight Pro Bowls beginning in 2000 season.
But Denver's other first-day picks up front the past dozen seasons have been spotty. Reggie Hayward, a 2001 third-rounder, and Montae Reagor, a 1999 second-rounder, left as free agents. Mark Campbell (1996), Paul Toviessi (2001) and Dorsett Davis (2002) never panned out. The fates of the seven other second- day picks since 1995 yielded mainly lackluster results, with Elvis Dumervil, the team leader in sacks last season, a potential exception.
The failures to "hit" at the position often have sent Denver to try stopgap measures in free agency and via trade, also with mixed results and few, if any, star turns.
Asked whether the bill came due for that spotty track record, Shanahan disagreed.
"No, it was just our priority," he said, defending the team's recent front four picks, particularly on the draft's first day, but also admitting that linemen on both sides of the ball "are usually the hardest to find."
Denver now has youth added to the mix. The contracts of Ebenezer Ekuban and John Engelberger expire next season, and Kenard Lang reaches his 33rd birthday, so there's protection there.
"It's really incredible," Moss said of Denver's picks up front. "I feel that real soon it will start opening up people's eyes as to how good a group we have."
Bates maintained Moss needs to gain weight and strength but has "special abilities" as a pass rusher, while Crowder might be slightly better between the two as a run stopper. Thomas is strong to hold at the point of attack and has excellent quickness, he added.
"I think it's going to be dynamic," Crowder said. "You've got three guys who are all hungry, and you don't have one that's a slacker. I'm just excited to get on the field. And I'm glad they brought two more linemen in because we're going to push the (heck) out of each other to make each other better."
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5512690,00.html