Players on the rise, and those going down

[elsid13]

As I was reading the latest issue of ESPN MAG (I know it sucks, but it good red-eye airline fodder). It reviewed all the teams and gave indication of those player that will improve on their 2004 season, and those that will fall. So name a player that will be better then last year, and one who will go down. (Side note for the Broncos, ESPN had Gold, William, Lelie, Nalen, Foster, Lepsis and Hamilton being better, while Pryce, Plummer, Anderson, Lynch, Smith not as good)

Mine are:
On rise
Brian Greise will improve, reason a running game and Clayton will be better target this year.
Mark Brunell, he healthy and throw and running like he did in 2002

Going down:
Chad Pendington, the shoulder will cause problems all year
Eric Moulds, rookie qb enough said

[Jason in LA]

Going down: Joey Harrington. I think this is it for him. He's going to have a long season if he can't pull it together. He's got all the talent around him, so no more excuses. I heard early training camp reports that he was struggling, even though he did look good in the preseason games. He doesn't have to look over his shoulder anymore with Garcia hurt. But that won't mean he'll play better. If he can pull off a Drew Brees the Lions will be set. They'll be one of the surprise teams. But if not that guy is done.

[2KBack]

Originally Posted by elsid13

As I was reading the latest issue of ESPN MAG (I know it sucks, but it good red-eye airline fodder). It reviewed all the teams and gave indication of those player that will improve on their 2004 season, and those that will fall. So name a player that will be better then last year, and one who will go down. (Side note for the Broncos, ESPN had Gold, William, Lelie, Nalen, Foster, Lepsis and Hamilton being better, while Pryce, Plummer, Anderson, Lynch, Smith not as good)

Mine are:
On rise
Brian Greise will improve, reason a running game and Clayton will be better target this year.
Mark Brunell, he healthy and throw and running like he did in 2002

Going down:
Chad Pendington, the shoulder will cause problems all year
Eric Moulds, rookie qb enough said

Anderson isn't going to improve on not playing at all?

[elsid13]

Originally Posted by 2KBack

Anderson isn't going to improve on not playing at all?

I thought the same thing about him and Pryce. But it's ESPN the *AG, didn't mean it any good.

[orange 4 life]

on the rise?

plummer, lelie, watts, williams.

on the decline?

smith, lynch....though both should still play at a VERY high level this year.

[2KBack]

Rising for denver: WRs outside of smith, Putz, Gold, Warren
Decline: Rod (still the man though), lynch, Nalen......and Rice

[Rock Chalk]

Rising: Everyone
Falling: Noone.

Call me a homer.

[Crushaholic]

That shows what this rag knows. Anderson will be our starting RB and Plummer will have a better season this year. Third year! This is it! The magic charm, baby!

[Bronco9798]

Originally Posted by elsid13

As I was reading the latest issue of ESPN MAG (I know it sucks, but it good red-eye airline fodder). It reviewed all the teams and gave indication of those player that will improve on their 2004 season, and those that will fall. So name a player that will be better then last year, and one who will go down. (Side note for the Broncos, ESPN had Gold, William, Lelie, Nalen, Foster, Lepsis and Hamilton being better, while Pryce, Plummer, Anderson, Lynch, Smith not as good)

Mine are:
On rise
Brian Greise will improve, reason a running game and Clayton will be better target this year.
Mark Brunell, he healthy and throw and running like he did in 2002

Going down:
Chad Pendington, the shoulder will cause problems all year
Eric Moulds, rookie qb enough said

Add Trent Green to your going down list. Not because of Boob or because he's a Chief.

I'm serious. I think Green is going to struggle this year. He's missed practice. The offensive line missed huge parts of camp. He has a 2nd year kid starting at WR. His shoulder was bothering him earlier in camp. He had the leg problem. I just think he struggles early this year and loses his confidence along the way.

[Ballhawk]

Originally Posted by Bronco9798

Add Trent Green to your going down list. Not because of Boob or because he's a Chief.

I'm serious. I think Green is going to struggle this year. He's missed practice. The offensive line missed huge parts of camp. He has a 2nd year kid starting at WR. His shoulder was bothering him earlier in camp. He had the leg problem. I just think he struggles early this year and loses his confidence along the way.

Add to that Priest is going to have a Faulk like year, in that the better RB will be backing him up. Dick will let loyalty get in the way of what's best for the team and start Priest over LJ, just like Martz should have benched Faulk and started Jackson last year.

[broncos love]

Originally Posted by elsid13

As I was reading the latest issue of ESPN MAG (I know it sucks, but it good red-eye airline fodder). It reviewed all the teams and gave indication of those player that will improve on their 2004 season, and those that will fall. So name a player that will be better then last year, and one who will go down. (Side note for the Broncos, ESPN had Gold, William, Lelie, Nalen, Foster, Lepsis and Hamilton being better, while Pryce, Plummer, Anderson, Lynch, Smith not as good)

Mine are:
On rise
Brian Greise will improve, reason a running game and Clayton will be better target this year.
Mark Brunell, he healthy and throw and running like he did in 2002

Going down:
Chad Pendington, the shoulder will cause problems all year
Eric Moulds, rookie qb enough said

Griese improving

[TotallyScrewed]

I think that Rod is going to have a great year. Why?? Because very soon it will be evident that Ashley is THE rising star and the doubles that Smith attracted in 2004 will be sent more towards Ashley, leaving Smith to beat just one man. I think it's going to be very hard for defenses to concentrate on taking away Smith and succeeding at stopping Denver.

[Ballhawk]

Originally Posted by TotallyScrewed

I think that Rod is going to have a great year. Why?? Because very soon it will be evident that Ashley is THE rising star and the doubles that Smith attracted in 2004 will be sent more towards Ashley, leaving Smith to beat just one man. I think it's going to be very hard for defenses to concentrate on taking away Smith and succeeding at stopping Denver.

If we can get Alexander and Putz to act as a double TE threat it will be hard for teams to double either. It would mean single backfield, but I expect to see that formation quite a bit.

[TotallyScrewed]

Yeah, I agree Ballhawk, the 2-TE set may become Denver's base formation. They could pull Alexander back into the lead blocker position or run the stretch or run dump offs to either side. There are a number of possibilities that disguise whether it's a running or passing formation. And don't forget how well Denvers' receivers block downfield. It *could* be an exciting year on offense too.

Jake is the difference maker. Is he the wildcard or the joker? I'm optimistic, we'll see.

[Ballhawk]

Having the 2 TE as a base would explain the 4 TEs we kept (excluding House and Leach).

[labronco]

Rising: Pryce, Warren

Falling: Lynch

[Jetmeck]

Originally Posted by Bronco9798

Add Trent Green to your going down list. Not because of Boob or because he's a Chief.

I'm serious. I think Green is going to struggle this year. He's missed practice. The offensive line missed huge parts of camp. He has a 2nd year kid starting at WR. His shoulder was bothering him earlier in camp. He had the leg problem. I just think he struggles early this year and loses his confidence along the way.

That and the fact that week three our (vastly) improved
D line should plant Green on his butt a few times agitating
those injuries and the rest of their backups are injured too.

[Jetmeck]

Originally Posted by TotallyScrewed

I think that Rod is going to have a great year. Why?? Because very soon it will be evident that Ashley is THE rising star and the doubles that Smith attracted in 2004 will be sent more towards Ashley, leaving Smith to beat just one man. I think it's going to be very hard for defenses to concentrate on taking away Smith and succeeding at stopping Denver.

Very good point, Rod beats double teams alot. If ASH becomes a mid level, short yardage threat ROD will be like a 30 year old again.

[Bob's your Information Minister]

I'm definitely worried about Green.

But he's had plenty of reps in practice and our WRs have been really healthy, unlike last year. That alone will make a huge difference. I think Samie Parker is going to surprise some people.