So WTF is Going On?

[Rock Chalk]

I've been busy celebrating a 2008 national championship and working and being a dad and looking for a house and being a husband and in general, hacking up vBulletin message boards to practice up on crashing the 'Mane. (Haha just kidding Taco Juan). No seriously, I have been busy lately. Apparently there was some kind of issue with the orangemane being down?

Whatever. What the hell is going in in Bronco land besides going backwards?

Whats the feel from the real fans who aren't blinded by homerism? Im not overly optimistic about this season. IN fact, so jaded am I by Shanahan's recent incompetence at pretty much every level, that I am having a hard time getting excited about football. That and you know, post championship syndrome still has me checking college basketball news for new recruits and whatnot. Anyway, we are creeping up on training camp and such (or is it here? Told you Ive been busy) and was wondering what the general consensus is?

Too many new faces for me. I like Clady as the LT but I dont like Clady as the LT for 2008. Call me skeptical but rooks on our o-line just have not done well historically. Most cant even crack the starting lineup unless there is an injury.

Not sold on the TE situation with Scheffler made of glass and all. Like the WR situation and Pittman gives our RB corps a lot of depth.

Cutler does have a lot to prove this year. All of his built in excuses get thrown out the window and I think now we can start to evaluate him as an NFL QB without words like "potential". He can do it, but will he? Questions.

Defensively it seems to me we are a complete mess. Too many questions to bother listing.

This is the last year I give Shanahan a pass. If we do not make the playoffs this year he needs to go. 3 years without the playoffs will be the longest draught since pre-Elway, and that is not acceptable no matter who you are or what you did for our team 10 years ago (yes, its been 10 years since we were in the superbowl folks., 10 years. Think about it).

Save your bashing and trolling for another thread. I really just want honest opinions on how YOU think the team is going to do this year based off of what we know NOW. What i dont want is your opinion on my opinion. :) I'll probably get it anyway because most of you won't make it this far down the post before you go half-cocked and hit reply :)

[Kaylore]

We have an easier schedule and the team is better. Are they better enough to make the playoffs? That remains to be seen. We focused on building both the offensive and defensive lines this past couple of years and I like that and suspect it will pay big dividends.

I like almost all the moves outside of Boss Bailey and outside of another year of getting decimated by injuries and player deaths I think we could actually be better than expected. I made an optimistic prediction of 11-5. We'll see how that plays out.

[SonOfLe-loLang]

Technically, last year was the last year you gave shanahan a pass. Since, if the broncos dont make the playoffs, youd want him gone.

[Beantown Bronco]

IN fact, so jaded am I by Shanahan's recent incompetence at pretty much every level, that I am having a hard time getting excited about football.

Why did Alec feel the need to give his logins to telluride?

[Rock Chalk]

Technically, last year was the last year you gave shanahan a pass. Since, if the broncos dont make the playoffs, youd want him gone.

Why did Alec feel the need to give his logins to telluride?
Umm

Save your bashing and trolling for another thread. I really just want honest opinions on how YOU think the team is going to do this year based off of what we know NOW. What i dont want is your opinion on my opinion. I'll probably get it anyway because most of you won't make it this far down the post before you go half-cocked and hit reply

[orinjkrush]

Some Pluses

regression towards the mean....which means 9-7

Bates DC gone

Cutler health under control

Clady....if... Jarvis....if... Royal.....if....BM...if....

Some Minuses

BMs arm

OL Rubiks cube

Strange nepotism in front office

Total revamp of kicking game

My WAG: 10-6, and wild card

[2KBack]

I think it is fair to be a little skeptical. I personally think that the team has made a lot of improvements simply by putting players back where they belong. Defensively the scheme is being molded to fit the players, and not vice versa. All the linebackers are playing their natural positions. I think the desense will be much improved, not great by any means, but not the sieve of this past season. I think it will be a gambling defense in an effort to create turnovers. No more grinding that eats up clock and give Denver's offense one possession per quarter.

Offensively is all a matter of health. The RB and WR situation is cock diesel, if they all stay healthy. I'm waiting for preseason to judge the new look o-line, but I am cautiously excited.

So yeah, skepticism is warranted, due to the "what if''s," but I think the right moves have been made on paper.

[Eldorado]

TE is ok. I think DG is a stud. WR look solid to very good depending on BMarsh. Looks like RB by commitee again. OL is young and will be 1 of the 2 big keys for the season. If they gell, good, if not.....
Dline is the other key, good front 4 will help a reworked LB group put it together. Moss and Thomas make the leap, Dewane pans out, Doom continues his path of destruction and we get solid play from the a couple of others, we'll be ok, if not.....

The thing I keep coming back to is we need to see flashes like we did last year against pitt and GB. Good solid games against good solid teams, with no Detroit/SD type melt downs. Throw in a couple of beat down, puttin' it in 5th gear, send in the national guard type wins and I'll feel like we got something special brewing. The last 3 drafts have me excited about the young core and the direction were headed. Im pumped, basically. I think its gonna be alot of fun.

[theAPAOps5]

I think Clady will be fine with Dan Graham as a training wheel. Graham is a superb blocker and will help the rook out. But its still an If.

The rest of line depends on health. Will Hamilton make it back, can Nalen recover? No one knows.

Brandon Marshall is recovering well but even if he regains physicaly what about mentally.

Cutler will be the one I expect the most from. Can he eliminate those DOH! moments.

The defense, well, its 9 question marks. The only 2 I am not worried about are Champ Bailey and DJ Williams. I think DJ will be pro-bowler type back at the Weak side.

But with all the ifs and buts I am saying 9-7. But that has a margin of error of +/- 2

[Eldorado]

I think Clady will be fine with Dan Graham as a training wheel. Graham is a superb blocker and will help the rook out. But its still an If.

The rest of line depends on health. Will Hamilton make it back, can Nalen recover? No one knows.

Brandon Marshall is recovering well but even if he regains physicaly what about mentally.

Cutler will be the one I expect the most from. Can he eliminate those DOH! moments.

The defense, well, its 9 question marks. The only 2 I am not worried about are Champ Bailey and DJ Williams. I think DJ will be pro-bowler type back at the Weak side.

But with all the ifs and buts I am saying 9-7. But that has a margin of error of +/- 2

7-9 to 11-5, really going out on a limb there aren't ya? jk Im with ya. I think we'll have a pretty good idea whats coming at the end of pre season.

[ColoradoDarin]

I don't get why you think Shanahan did a poor job last year? I think he did a pretty good job to end up 7-9 with all the things we had to deal with last year, including:
1. Cutler with undiagnosed diabetes losing 35 pounds and most of his throwing strength over the year.
2. Starting center and guard out for the year and LT not returning to form after his previous injury.
3. Starting RB hampered by injuries most of the year.
4. #1 WR out for most of the year (Javon was #1 going into the season)

[Hotrod]

I'm to hung-over/lazy to do my full write up.

I love the direction the team is heading but were still 2 years from making a SB run.

[Atlas]

I don't get why you think Shanahan did a poor job last year? I think he did a pretty good job to end up 7-9 with all the things we had to deal with last year, including:
1. Cutler with undiagnosed diabetes losing 35 pounds and most of his throwing strength over the year.
2. Starting center and guard out for the year and LT not returning to form after his previous injury.
3. Starting RB hampered by injuries most of the year.
4. #1 WR out for most of the year (Javon was #1 going into the season)

I thought Shanny did a good jobcoaching last year if you want to fault him for something it's the definite lack of insight he had in hiring Bates. WTF. Bates ran his system for 1/2 a year then Shanny took over. That was a bad hire and a bad fit.

[DarkHorse30]

Shanahan does more with less than any coach in the NFL. This should be a good year, especially with Bates gone (who I'm blaming on Sundquist, BTW), and all the young, cheap talent that Denver has amassed. No team will want to play Denver next year.

[TerrElway]

We have an easier schedule and the team is better. Are they better enough to make the playoffs? That remains to be seen. We focused on building both the offensive and defensive lines this past couple of years and I like that and suspect it will pay big dividends.

I like almost all the moves outside of Boss Bailey and outside of another year of getting decimated by injuries and player deaths I think we could actually be better than expected. I made an optimistic prediction of 11-5. We'll see how that plays out.

Even if Bailey is so-so it's an upgrade to last year. He CAN'T be worse than Nate "Wave as they run by" Webster and now weakside is significantly better with DJ there. The question is at MLB and how stout Koutivides is. He would have to be TERRIBLE to make this LB corps worse than it was last year.

[Beantown Bronco]

Even if Bailey is so-so it's an upgrade to last year. He CAN'T be worse than Nate "Wave as they run by" Webster

I just hope Bailey's helmet fits better than Webster's. Anything additional performance-wise is just gravy.

[broncosteven]

I'm to hung-over/lazy to do my full write up.

I love the direction the team is heading but were still 2 years from making a SB run.

I am with him.

Supporting my team but not expecting any kind of shows of on field Dominance this year.

[Eldorado]

I am with him.

Supporting my team but not expecting any kind of shows of on field Dominance this year.

Oh, its coming. There may not be 10, or 8, or even 6, but mark my words, there will be 2-3 straight up "here's your ass and there's the door" beat downs handed out by this team this year.

[broncosteven]

Oh, its coming. There may not be 10, or 8, or even 6, but mark my words, there will be 2-3 straight up "here's your ass and there's the door" beat downs handed out by this team this year.

We do play KFC twice...

[labronx]

I've been busy celebrating a 2008 national championship and working and being a dad and looking for a house and being a husband and in general, hacking up vBulletin message boards to practice up on crashing the 'Mane. (Haha just kidding Taco Juan). No seriously, I have been busy lately. Apparently there was some kind of issue with the orangemane being down?

Whatever. What the hell is going in in Bronco land besides going backwards?

Whats the feel from the real fans who aren't blinded by homerism? Im not overly optimistic about this season. IN fact, so jaded am I by Shanahan's recent incompetence at pretty much every level, that I am having a hard time getting excited about football. That and you know, post championship syndrome still has me checking college basketball news for new recruits and whatnot. Anyway, we are creeping up on training camp and such (or is it here? Told you Ive been busy) and was wondering what the general consensus is?

Too many new faces for me. I like Clady as the LT but I dont like Clady as the LT for 2008. Call me skeptical but rooks on our o-line just have not done well historically. Most cant even crack the starting lineup unless there is an injury.

Not sold on the TE situation with Scheffler made of glass and all. Like the WR situation and Pittman gives our RB corps a lot of depth.

Cutler does have a lot to prove this year. All of his built in excuses get thrown out the window and I think now we can start to evaluate him as an NFL QB without words like "potential". He can do it, but will he? Questions.

Defensively it seems to me we are a complete mess. Too many questions to bother listing.

This is the last year I give Shanahan a pass. If we do not make the playoffs this year he needs to go. 3 years without the playoffs will be the longest draught since pre-Elway, and that is not acceptable no matter who you are or what you did for our team 10 years ago (yes, its been 10 years since we were in the superbowl folks., 10 years. Think about it).

Save your bashing and trolling for another thread. I really just want honest opinions on how YOU think the team is going to do this year based off of what we know NOW. What i dont want is your opinion on my opinion. :) I'll probably get it anyway because most of you won't make it this far down the post before you go half-cocked and hit reply :)

Hey will you be posting torrents. I cant handle Sunday Ticket in this economy...

[broncosteven]

Anyone else put 2 and 2 together? Alec is back and there is UFO news....


Hmmmmmmm......

[Orange_Beard]

How's your kid? Has it been a year?

[cmhargrove]

1. We're going to have an exciting years with lots of young talent, new blood, and great competition. The work we do this year could set us up for a great run the next five years.

2. The Broncos are going to kick some mother ****in' ass this year! (just trying out the filters).

If you are still confused, see # 2.

It will be a very fun year (with some growing pains). By the end of the year, the Broncos hype machine will be in full effect.

[FADERPROOF]

I leave for awhile and come back to find that Alec is not posting anymore, then I find out he has a kid....yes I have been living under a rock.

How you been Alec? In a total non-football related topic how is fatherhood? My baby boy is turning 1 year on July 6th and it's a pain in the ass but the best pain the ass that Ive ever dealt with by far.

and congrats on Kansas, I'm sure you enjoyed Roy Williams watching it from the stands in the KU shirt and I know Ive given them the business a few times on here but was hoping that they'd beat Memphis in that game.

[colonelbeef]

LB is improved. DJ back to his natural position, Niko and Boss are superior to the garbage we had last year.

DB has better depth, McCree may start, and I love the Jack Williams/Josh Barret Additions.

OL will be improved, with Nalen Back, Clady at LT, Hamilton back, and the kids having gained experience from last year.

QB should see improvement, with Cutler entering his 3rd year.

WR has good depth, and Marshall should break out.

TE is deep, Sheffler/Graham complement each other well.

RB is a question, I like Selvin Young as the primary back with Pittman the goaline and 3rd down banger. Torain is a sleeper. Should see more production by default, as the OL improves.

DL is improved with the addition of Robertson, the return of Moss, plus a year of experience for Thomas and Crowder, who both appear to be players, to go with Ekuban and Dumervil.

P/K take a hit, nice to get rid of Sauerbrun and his baggage though. coverage and return teams should improve, as both units are now younger, and Royal should be an improvement returning kicks.

imo.

[theAPAOps5]

7-9 to 11-5, really going out on a limb there aren't ya? jk Im with ya. I think we'll have a pretty good idea whats coming at the end of pre season.

Thats just it. I wouldn't say they are great as 12 to 13 wins but I wouldn't say they are terrible or anything below 7-9. But I can't really put a number of wins and losses just yet.

[Taco John]

I'm to hung-over/lazy to do my full write up.

I love the direction the team is heading but were still 2 years from making a SB run.



Same here... I think that we're headed for a 9-7 season that is actually going to be a lot of fun to watch at times, and really frustrating at other times.

[gunns]

Im not overly optimistic about this season. IN fact, so jaded am I by Shanahan's recent incompetence at pretty much every level,

I'm feeling the same way and especially with him giving Dennison any more to do on the offense. I'm sure you appreciate that statement Alec ;D but everything that guy touches turns to **** and you can make all the excuses you want for him but special teams sucked when he was the coach, the OL has also and now he has more to do with the offense? Scary.

Too many new faces for me. I like Clady as the LT but I dont like Clady as the LT for 2008. Call me skeptical but rooks on our o-line just have not done well historically. Most cant even crack the starting lineup unless there is an injury.

Not sold on the TE situation with Scheffler made of glass and all. Like the WR situation and Pittman gives our RB corps a lot of depth.


Agree with the TE situation, do not like the Darrell Jackson move and think Pittman gives us some depth. I am very excited to see what our new FB can do but doubt we'll see anything spectacular this year as with Clady.

This is the last year I give Shanahan a pass. If we do not make the playoffs this year he needs to go. 3 years without the playoffs will be the longest draught since pre-Elway, and that is not acceptable no matter who you are or what you did for our team 10 years ago (yes, its been 10 years since we were in the superbowl folks., 10 years. Think about it).


:thumbsup: I remember people saying that Reeves had taken us to 3 SB's, why would we get rid of him. There comes a time you've done all you can and things begin to deteriorate. Time to cut your losses. Hell, Al Davis was once one of the greats as far as his team was concerned. Things have definitely deteriorated there. I don't want that level of humiliation to happen to the Broncos or Shanahan.

I'm always hopeful, but very leery at what the year may turn out to be.

[Hogan11]

I'll go on record with these three things:

1) The d-Line will be better than everyone thinks

2) Cutler will have a career year and make the Pro-Bowl

3) They will not lose any games because of Elam's departure.

[Drek]

Too many new faces for me. I like Clady as the LT but I dont like Clady as the LT for 2008. Call me skeptical but rooks on our o-line just have not done well historically. Most cant even crack the starting lineup unless there is an injury.
Clady was also picked about 70 spots over our average OL addition and he's coming from a team that had him doing a lot of zone blocking. I don't think he'll step in and be a stud immediately, but expecting him to do better than a severely hobbled Lepsis did last year isn't asking much.

Not sold on the TE situation with Scheffler made of glass and all.
Graham is the #1 TE and will remain that way. I don't see much chance that the Kuper/Harris competition produces an RT as bad as Pears was last year, so Graham should get to play a bigger role in the passing game instead of babysitting Pears.

Like the WR situation and Pittman gives our RB corps a lot of depth.
I'm liking where our WRs stand now as well. Good depth, the only guy we desperately need to stay healthy is Marshall, because he's such a difference maker. I like the Pittman signing too, but I doubt he makes it on the regular season roster. However, he'll know our system and will probably end up being on call a la Danny Kanell a few years back.

Cutler does have a lot to prove this year. All of his built in excuses get thrown out the window and I think now we can start to evaluate him as an NFL QB without words like "potential". He can do it, but will he? Questions.
An 88.5 QB rating in his second year, with an obvious late season swoon (which we now know the cause of), was better than just showing potential. Cutler has what it takes to be a quality NFL QB. The remaining question is if he's got what it takes to be a star and team leader, but he'll be at the minimum an above average QB for a long time.

Defensively it seems to me we are a complete mess. Too many questions to bother listing.
I'd say one season removed from being a mess. We've done some nice things to clean it up this off-season.

Last season Shanahan went looking for that quick fix, bringing in Bates and throwing all our draft picks into a handful of players in order to quickly patch the DL. Spent a bunch of money on FAs to patch the rest of the team. I don't know how much of that was him and how much was Sundquist, Bowlen, etc., but it obviously blew up in our faces.

This season we've taken an entirely different attitude, and it corresponds with what I've been preaching for three seasons now.

Over the last three years we've built our team on three types of players.

1. Raw athletes who need some real coaching just to play their position, are real boom/bust, and have very little ST applications.

2. Aging vets past their prime. Often given too much guaranteed money, and typically with some health concerns. Most couldn't stay on the field. The ones that did were obviously no longer physically capable of making a difference like they used to.

3. UDFA guys filling out the roster. Most guys go UDFA because they aren't athletic enough. Sadly our STs are mostly made up with these guys.

End result? Our starting lineup is a combination of young draftees who are still developing and learning to play and veterans who're in decline or often playing with injuries. Our special teams are made up with even lower tier veterans on decline and UDFAs.

So we get no consistency on offense or defense and our special teams are athletically inferior to every other team we face. You can see it on the field. Our special teams guys look like they're moving in molasses against other teams. Teams can also always find a weakness to pick at us with. Attack that young inexperienced CB? Sure. Attack that vet TE or OL who can't really hold up when matched against a faster, stronger 3-4 rush OLB or 4-3 DE? Yep. The problems have been basically the same year after year.

The sad part is that Shanahan's offensive scheming is good enough to have covered up his many personnel faux pas for years and let us sit in the solidly average to playoff dark horse range consistently as long as we don't get hit with a wave of injuries (like we did last year).

I see a better day on the horizon however. First off, we didn't go throw money at aging vets for multi-year deals. Instead we got a lot of 20 somethings on reasonable deals who've got a few peak years left and some fight for a starting job in them. Our older vet signings were one year deals. So we aren't killing our cap and betting on hard ridden horses to carry us.

Second, Cutler appears to be stepping forward as a team leader. The QB needs to lead his football team, and not just by example. Plummer was a solid football player (when not rattled), but he is a rather eclectic guy and that doesn't lend itself well to being a team leader. Cutler is already stepping into that role.

Third, and most important to me, the Goodmans seem to have a heavy hand in our draft strategies, and it looks like it'll be bearing some significant fruits. Instead of getting those raw athletes of previous years we went out and got ourselves a haul of rookies who're fundamentally sound compared to their peers but did so without sacrificing any athletic talent. Lot of guys added, especially in the later round, who at worst should be very good special teams contributors. Guys like Jack Williams, Josh Barrett, Peyton Hillis, and Spencer Larsen might turn into something as a position player but will almost surely find a niche as reliable special teamers for a long time.

Its nice to see our team finally building its depth from within. We need to keep it up so that our backups are young guys we've been grooming into our system, not just some 7 year vet we're plugging in as a stop gap before the next vet stop gap comes in.

So overall I have some faith. Good off-season in my opinion, we were 7-9 last season despite a fairly difficult schedule and a rash of injuries. If we can stay mostly healthy I wouldn't be surprised if we ride our easy schedule to a 10 win season. But we could also hang in the 7-9 win range if we have a few key injuries or if the team is slow to mature.

[sixtimeseight]

Not sold on the TE situation with Scheffler made of glass and all.

Good thing our other TE is one of the best in the league.

[Rock Chalk]

Concerning the TE.
Graham showed me one thing last year. He is a blocking TE and nothing more. We need a Pass catching TE not made of glass that can be Cutler's outlet when he gets in troulbe (and he undoubtably will with the new faces on the line and a rook protecting his blind side). Graham cannot be trusted with the ball though.

Im not back (to the dismay of some and delight of others).

For those querying about the family: www.adamwooden.com/family/ (thumbnails take a few seconds to load. i particularly like #21, #83 and #49)

I gotta go take a **** now so, with that I will leave you all to your addiction.

[Drek]

Concerning the TE.
Graham showed me one thing last year. He is a blocking TE and nothing more. We need a Pass catching TE not made of glass that can be Cutler's outlet when he gets in troulbe (and he undoubtably will with the new faces on the line and a rook protecting his blind side). Graham cannot be trusted with the ball though.

We gave him fewer opportunities than New England ever did and they admittedly underutilized his pass catching in favor of Ben Watson. I don't see how last year proved anything about him other than his excellent blocking skills, since he basically carried Pears through the season at RT.

Is he going to be a 1K yard reciever? I really doubt it. But I think a 50 catch, 600 yard, 8 touchdown season could be very much in his grasp.

Fixing the RT spot will open the door for that. In an ideal world we'll see a move towards that this year, Marshall should still remain the #1 target and get his ~100 catches and 1300 yards, but at the same time we should all hope to see about four other guys get involved with 400+ yard seasons. That is what we'll need for this team to take a big step forward on Cutler's shoulders, for all these other weapons we have around him to live up to their abilities and produce.