dragondawg
08-11-2008, 03:26 AM
By FRANK SCHWAB
THE GAZETTE
ENGLEWOOD • Denver Broncos rookie left tackle Ryan Clady received a quick welcome to the NFL.
On the Broncos' first drive in Saturday's preseason opener, Texans end Mario Williams beat him and tackled running back Selvin Young for a loss. Later, Williams pushed Clady into the backfield and again tackled Young.
Clady, a first-round pick, has been very good in training camp but he admitted Williams surprised him.
"Yeah, a little bit," said Clady, who added that he has to come off the ball harder and play more physical. "Not too bad though."
Clady is typical of the Broncos' revamped line. There's talent, but there will be some growing pains.
Clady is a rookie. Right tackle Ryan Harris is in his second season, his first as a starter, and missed a lot of time last year with a back injury. His inexperience showed Saturday when he took four penalties in the first half.
Center Casey Wiegmann is a veteran, but is new to Denver's scheme. He's filling in for Tom Nalen, who has a sore knee.
Left guard Ben Hamilton missed all of last season with concussion symptoms. Chris Kuper started at left guard last year, moved to left tackle early in the offseason, moved to right tackle after Clady was drafted and then to right guard before training camp.
There's a lot of learning ahead for the unit. That's why when the rest of Denver's starters departed after two series Saturday, the starting line stayed for the rest of the first half.
"We have a whole new offensive line up there right now, with two young guys on the tackles," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "We're going to have to grow with them and they're going to have to learn game-by-game and make mistakes rookies make. We'll work with them."
There could still be some moves on the line. If Nalen is healthy, he would be a starter. Montrae Holland, a starting right guard last year who will resume practice this week after showing up to camp overweight, could reclaim a starting spot. Then Kuper and Harris could compete at right tackle.
Harris, a third-round pick last year, started the preseason poorly. He took an illegal formation penalty that negated a long play by Young. Later he had a false-start penalty, and then he took two holding penalties on Denver's last drive of the half, which cost the Broncos a chance at a field goal.
Harris said he never had a game that disappointing, at any level.
"This is not how I wanted to come out, but I'll learn from that and go on," Harris said. "There are no excuses for stuff like that. I didn't play very well."
The Broncos' new offensive line has about another month to learn more lessons and get some cohesion before the regular season.
"There's definitely some things we need to improve on," said Clady, who will be tested by Dallas' two-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware when the Cowboys practice and play against the Broncos this week.
http://www.gazette.com/sports/progress_39181___article.html/work_broncos.html
THE GAZETTE
ENGLEWOOD • Denver Broncos rookie left tackle Ryan Clady received a quick welcome to the NFL.
On the Broncos' first drive in Saturday's preseason opener, Texans end Mario Williams beat him and tackled running back Selvin Young for a loss. Later, Williams pushed Clady into the backfield and again tackled Young.
Clady, a first-round pick, has been very good in training camp but he admitted Williams surprised him.
"Yeah, a little bit," said Clady, who added that he has to come off the ball harder and play more physical. "Not too bad though."
Clady is typical of the Broncos' revamped line. There's talent, but there will be some growing pains.
Clady is a rookie. Right tackle Ryan Harris is in his second season, his first as a starter, and missed a lot of time last year with a back injury. His inexperience showed Saturday when he took four penalties in the first half.
Center Casey Wiegmann is a veteran, but is new to Denver's scheme. He's filling in for Tom Nalen, who has a sore knee.
Left guard Ben Hamilton missed all of last season with concussion symptoms. Chris Kuper started at left guard last year, moved to left tackle early in the offseason, moved to right tackle after Clady was drafted and then to right guard before training camp.
There's a lot of learning ahead for the unit. That's why when the rest of Denver's starters departed after two series Saturday, the starting line stayed for the rest of the first half.
"We have a whole new offensive line up there right now, with two young guys on the tackles," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "We're going to have to grow with them and they're going to have to learn game-by-game and make mistakes rookies make. We'll work with them."
There could still be some moves on the line. If Nalen is healthy, he would be a starter. Montrae Holland, a starting right guard last year who will resume practice this week after showing up to camp overweight, could reclaim a starting spot. Then Kuper and Harris could compete at right tackle.
Harris, a third-round pick last year, started the preseason poorly. He took an illegal formation penalty that negated a long play by Young. Later he had a false-start penalty, and then he took two holding penalties on Denver's last drive of the half, which cost the Broncos a chance at a field goal.
Harris said he never had a game that disappointing, at any level.
"This is not how I wanted to come out, but I'll learn from that and go on," Harris said. "There are no excuses for stuff like that. I didn't play very well."
The Broncos' new offensive line has about another month to learn more lessons and get some cohesion before the regular season.
"There's definitely some things we need to improve on," said Clady, who will be tested by Dallas' two-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware when the Cowboys practice and play against the Broncos this week.
http://www.gazette.com/sports/progress_39181___article.html/work_broncos.html