dragondawg
05-24-2007, 03:26 AM
Cornerbacks with clout
Broncos see terrific tandem in Bly, Bailey
By Mike Klis
Denver Post Staff Writer
Bailey and Bly. Bly and Bailey.
NFL quarterbacks can watch them on film, rewind every play and play it over and over again in hopes of finding a reason the Broncos don't have the league's best cornerback tandem in Champ Bailey and Dré Bly.
Not even eyes shaded in Raiders black and silver are likely to find one. For NFL quarterbacks, these may become the saddest of words: Bailey and Bly. Bly and Bailey.
"I definitely think above and beyond we are the best tandem," Bailey said. "We have to go play, but based on what we've done to this point ... "
Whether evaluating through the naked eye, a subjective scout's gut or substantive data, the biggest question may not be whether Bailey and Bly, Bly and Bailey make up the No. 1 set of cornerbacks in 2007, but could they be the best in the past decade or two?
"I would say I'm up on NFL history of the last 20 years," Bly said. "I know statistics are what we've done in the past, but one guy (Bailey) has 39 picks, the other guy has 33 picks. We came out the same year, and I don't think there's been any other tandem who intercepted that many balls in their first eight years."
In more ways than one, Bly is an excellent student of the game. A little more than 20 years ago, the Dallas Cowboys had the cornerback duo of Everson Walls and Dennis Thurman, who had 80 combined interceptions through their first eight years. Going back to the 1960s, the Detroit Lions had Hall of Famer Lem Barney and Dick LeBeau, who combined for 100 career interceptions, 78 after their first eight seasons.
The careers of those notable tandems, though, were staggered, with Thurman breaking in before Walls and LeBeau well before Barney.
Bailey and Bly broke in with the 1999 draft - Bailey in the first round to Washington, Bly in the second round to the St. Louis Rams.
Their connection grew the past three years, when Bly was a teammate in
Detroit of linebacker Boss Bailey, Champ's younger brother.
"Champ would come to Detroit during the offseason and I would be invited over for a picnic, cookouts," Bly said. "We went fishing a couple times."
Covering all bases
No active NFL cornerback tandem exceeded the combined eight-year total of 72 interceptions by Bailey and Bly, although Kansas City's Ty Law and Patrick Surtain matched it. Law broke in three years earlier than Surtain, though, and they will play the 2007 season at 33 and 31 years old, respectively.
Bly didn't turn 30 until Tuesday, and Bailey will play this season at 29.
"I don't see why they wouldn't be the league's best tandem," said Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, who has been throwing against Bailey and Bly every day in mini-camp. "First of all, Champ's the best, period. And now you put a guy like Dré Bly over on the other side - I can't imagine any tandem we face that can match their caliber."
Was it really just three years ago that Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning picked apart Denver's secondary for five touchdown passes, two of them to Brandon Stokley, in a 41-10 playoff rout of the Broncos?
"That's one of the reasons why we made some trades," said Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. "It gives you a chance to have a great defense if you have those corners. If you don't, normally you're going to struggle."
When the Broncos fell short of their stated goal of winning the Super Bowl last season by failing to even make the playoffs, Shanahan's first of many moves was to replace defensive coaching boss Larry Coyer with Jim Bates. Once Bates settled in, the consensus was the greatest needs on defense were a better pass rush and a bigger interior, and those issues were eventually addressed.
The first player move of the offseason, though, was to acquire Bly, who like most "cover" corners is a ballhawk first, tackler second.
Pass the pressure
With all apologies to Cutler and new running back Travis Henry, it might not be unfair to state the Broncos' quest for Super Bowl XLII begins with Bailey and Bly, and ends with Bly and Bailey.
"If you have the bookend corners, it frees us up to call more pressure," Bates said. "The biggest positive with these two corners is both Dré and Champ get their hands on a lot of balls. Some guys have the ability, but don't have the knack for getting their hands on the ball. These guys do."
With the flanks secure, Bates can bring linebackers Ian Gold and D.J. Williams and safety John Lynch in on blitzes and let the team's young pass-rushing specialists, Jarvis Moss and Elvis Dumervil, sprint directly at the quarterback without worry of inside containment. Bailey and Bly also should prevent the Broncos' 30-something safeties, Lynch and Nick Ferguson, from worrying about wide receivers running fly routes.
In Bly and Bailey, the Broncos have a defense built from the outside in. In Bailey and Bly, the Broncos on paper may have the best set of cornerbacks in the NFL's free-agent era.
"I remember when I was kid, there was Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes," Lynch said of the Los Angeles Raiders' mid-1980s duo. "I was a young kid and I didn't know a whole lot about football, but it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see those guys were dominant. I tell you what, Champ and Dré, it's going to be fun to play with these guys."
Footnotes
Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall was a bystander in sweats during the workout Wednesday. He walked off with a noticeable limp but didn't reveal his injury. "There's nothing wrong. I'm fine," he said. ... Steve Cargile, a third-year safety who had four special-teams tackles in three games last year, has been working out at outside linebacker. "He has to put on a little weight, but he has the size," Bates said of Cargile, whom the team lists at 6-feet-2 and 210 pounds. "We feel looking at him at both positions gives him the best opportunity of making the ballclub."
Corner 2
The Broncos' Champ Bailey and Dré Bly could be among the NFL's best cornerback tandems since the teaming of the Raiders' Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes or the Cowboys' Everson Walls and Dennis Thurman during the mid-1980s. NFL reporter Mike Klis lists his top seven cornerback tandems for 2007, with their combined career interceptions:
Rk. Tandem Team Int.
1. Champ Bailey & Dré Bly Broncos 72
2. Chris McAlister & Samari Rolle Ravens 49
3. Charles Woodson & Al Harris Packers 42
4. Nate Clements & Walt Harris 49ers 51
5. Patrick Surtain & Ty Law Chiefs 84
6. Nathan Vasher & Charles Tillman Bears 30
7. N. Asomugha & F. Washington Raiders 12
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_5971510
Broncos see terrific tandem in Bly, Bailey
By Mike Klis
Denver Post Staff Writer
Bailey and Bly. Bly and Bailey.
NFL quarterbacks can watch them on film, rewind every play and play it over and over again in hopes of finding a reason the Broncos don't have the league's best cornerback tandem in Champ Bailey and Dré Bly.
Not even eyes shaded in Raiders black and silver are likely to find one. For NFL quarterbacks, these may become the saddest of words: Bailey and Bly. Bly and Bailey.
"I definitely think above and beyond we are the best tandem," Bailey said. "We have to go play, but based on what we've done to this point ... "
Whether evaluating through the naked eye, a subjective scout's gut or substantive data, the biggest question may not be whether Bailey and Bly, Bly and Bailey make up the No. 1 set of cornerbacks in 2007, but could they be the best in the past decade or two?
"I would say I'm up on NFL history of the last 20 years," Bly said. "I know statistics are what we've done in the past, but one guy (Bailey) has 39 picks, the other guy has 33 picks. We came out the same year, and I don't think there's been any other tandem who intercepted that many balls in their first eight years."
In more ways than one, Bly is an excellent student of the game. A little more than 20 years ago, the Dallas Cowboys had the cornerback duo of Everson Walls and Dennis Thurman, who had 80 combined interceptions through their first eight years. Going back to the 1960s, the Detroit Lions had Hall of Famer Lem Barney and Dick LeBeau, who combined for 100 career interceptions, 78 after their first eight seasons.
The careers of those notable tandems, though, were staggered, with Thurman breaking in before Walls and LeBeau well before Barney.
Bailey and Bly broke in with the 1999 draft - Bailey in the first round to Washington, Bly in the second round to the St. Louis Rams.
Their connection grew the past three years, when Bly was a teammate in
Detroit of linebacker Boss Bailey, Champ's younger brother.
"Champ would come to Detroit during the offseason and I would be invited over for a picnic, cookouts," Bly said. "We went fishing a couple times."
Covering all bases
No active NFL cornerback tandem exceeded the combined eight-year total of 72 interceptions by Bailey and Bly, although Kansas City's Ty Law and Patrick Surtain matched it. Law broke in three years earlier than Surtain, though, and they will play the 2007 season at 33 and 31 years old, respectively.
Bly didn't turn 30 until Tuesday, and Bailey will play this season at 29.
"I don't see why they wouldn't be the league's best tandem," said Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, who has been throwing against Bailey and Bly every day in mini-camp. "First of all, Champ's the best, period. And now you put a guy like Dré Bly over on the other side - I can't imagine any tandem we face that can match their caliber."
Was it really just three years ago that Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning picked apart Denver's secondary for five touchdown passes, two of them to Brandon Stokley, in a 41-10 playoff rout of the Broncos?
"That's one of the reasons why we made some trades," said Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. "It gives you a chance to have a great defense if you have those corners. If you don't, normally you're going to struggle."
When the Broncos fell short of their stated goal of winning the Super Bowl last season by failing to even make the playoffs, Shanahan's first of many moves was to replace defensive coaching boss Larry Coyer with Jim Bates. Once Bates settled in, the consensus was the greatest needs on defense were a better pass rush and a bigger interior, and those issues were eventually addressed.
The first player move of the offseason, though, was to acquire Bly, who like most "cover" corners is a ballhawk first, tackler second.
Pass the pressure
With all apologies to Cutler and new running back Travis Henry, it might not be unfair to state the Broncos' quest for Super Bowl XLII begins with Bailey and Bly, and ends with Bly and Bailey.
"If you have the bookend corners, it frees us up to call more pressure," Bates said. "The biggest positive with these two corners is both Dré and Champ get their hands on a lot of balls. Some guys have the ability, but don't have the knack for getting their hands on the ball. These guys do."
With the flanks secure, Bates can bring linebackers Ian Gold and D.J. Williams and safety John Lynch in on blitzes and let the team's young pass-rushing specialists, Jarvis Moss and Elvis Dumervil, sprint directly at the quarterback without worry of inside containment. Bailey and Bly also should prevent the Broncos' 30-something safeties, Lynch and Nick Ferguson, from worrying about wide receivers running fly routes.
In Bly and Bailey, the Broncos have a defense built from the outside in. In Bailey and Bly, the Broncos on paper may have the best set of cornerbacks in the NFL's free-agent era.
"I remember when I was kid, there was Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes," Lynch said of the Los Angeles Raiders' mid-1980s duo. "I was a young kid and I didn't know a whole lot about football, but it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see those guys were dominant. I tell you what, Champ and Dré, it's going to be fun to play with these guys."
Footnotes
Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall was a bystander in sweats during the workout Wednesday. He walked off with a noticeable limp but didn't reveal his injury. "There's nothing wrong. I'm fine," he said. ... Steve Cargile, a third-year safety who had four special-teams tackles in three games last year, has been working out at outside linebacker. "He has to put on a little weight, but he has the size," Bates said of Cargile, whom the team lists at 6-feet-2 and 210 pounds. "We feel looking at him at both positions gives him the best opportunity of making the ballclub."
Corner 2
The Broncos' Champ Bailey and Dré Bly could be among the NFL's best cornerback tandems since the teaming of the Raiders' Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes or the Cowboys' Everson Walls and Dennis Thurman during the mid-1980s. NFL reporter Mike Klis lists his top seven cornerback tandems for 2007, with their combined career interceptions:
Rk. Tandem Team Int.
1. Champ Bailey & Dré Bly Broncos 72
2. Chris McAlister & Samari Rolle Ravens 49
3. Charles Woodson & Al Harris Packers 42
4. Nate Clements & Walt Harris 49ers 51
5. Patrick Surtain & Ty Law Chiefs 84
6. Nathan Vasher & Charles Tillman Bears 30
7. N. Asomugha & F. Washington Raiders 12
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_5971510