Stop the Rush should be First Priority

[rugbythug]

As I look back on our dissapointing year a couple of things really stick out. First it was our terrible Rush defense. This was a sore spot that started in preseason and stayed with us till week 17. I guess we should not be suprised. This was a problem at the end of the 2006 season too. It is very hard to win any games when you can not prevent a team from rushing. Hard but not impossible.

Another thing that sticks out is the lack of pass protection in our offense. Jay was literally running for his life in many games this season. When he did have adequate time our offense showed the ability to make plays. Our receivers were more than a match for most secondaries and made big play after big play this season.

If you look at our Blow out losses you will see a pattern begin to emerge. While we were never able to stop the run. The games we were blown out in were the games we could not protect the passer. This makes stopping the pass rush our first and formost priority next season. We can win giving up yards on the ground. It is the way we give up ground yards that gives me hope. If a team hits 2,3,3,55 you can still win that game. Yes your average sucks but the mean is still good. You still get those 3 and outs which are vital to winning the game. In contrast when the Broncos can not protect the passer our offense came apart and was unable to even keep the games close.

Stopping the Pass Rush should be our first Priority this offseason. I expect to see a vetern tackle brought into bolster our our tackle position. I also expect to see a tackle taken high in the draft. We have a very good team at the offensive skill positions. Our interior line play improved through out the year. If our OT positions can make the jump to Even above average our offense will be dynamic. This in turn will allow our defense to do what it is best at-Rush the passer and create turnovers.

[Triplelefthook]

i agree - this was a potentially great offense last year that couldn't finish. protect the passer, win the red zone battles, get javon healthy, free up Graham as a passing threat (bring back those 2TE sets again?), watch Henry/Young be the Anderson/Tatum tandem of 2005.

[Atwater His Ass]

Originally Posted by Triplelefthook

i agree - this was a potentially great offense last year that couldn't finish. protect the passer, win the red zone battles, get javon healthy, free up Graham as a passing threat (bring back those 2TE sets again?), watch Henry/Young be the Anderson/Tatum tandem of 2005.

Then we better build an offense that can average 30+ points a game and pray that we don't have to play a Jax type team in the playoffs.

[Bronx33]

Ok fix the OL first then we are stuck with a D that can't stop a runny nose forcing cutler into a shootout every game (more pressure) on our young QB is not a good thing. That leads to cutler forcing plays ect ect ect losing games via turnovers. I would put the DL priority and take some pressure off the secondary who was raped game after game this season. Thus keeping the score down and letting cutler develope instead of forcing him into something we can avoid. Iam sure mike can design a playbook to make up for any OL shortcomings i would just really hate to see cutlers confidence ruined.

[Inkana7]

Jordan Gross? Anyone? Anyone?

[rugbythug]

Originally Posted by Bronx33

Ok fix the OL first then we are stuck with a D that can't stop a runny nose forcing cutler into a shootout every game (more pressure) on our young QB is not a good thing. That leads to cutler forcing plays ect ect ect losing games via turnovers. I would put the DL priority and take some pressure off the secondary who was raped game after game this season. Thus keeping the score down and letting cutler develope instead of forcing him into something we can avoid. Iam sure mike can design a playbook to make up for any OL shortcomings i would just really hate to see cutlers confidence ruined.

The Best way to ruin a QB is letting him look at the sky to much. Fixing the run defense is a compilicated problem that one player is not going to solve. Fixing the Pass Protection would be much simplier and have a greater return on investment. Lets face it it is a QB league, If Jay is as good as we think he is he has to win games for us. Give him the tools at the expense of other parts of our game. Later when we are top 2 or 3 offense we can look at the Rush Defense. But if we are putting up 30 or more our Rush defense will get better just because they will see less rushed.

[elsid13]

It ain't rocket science. Shanahan motto has been "to be good you need to run the ball effectively and stop the run."

[houghtam]

The only team in NFL history that was able to win a Super Bowl without being top 10 in rushing and the ability to stop the run was the 2006 Colts.

Run the ball, stop the run, win the Super Bowl.

[Cito Pelon]

The D has all kinds of problems right now. Stopping the run is only one of them. They also don't have LB's and S's that can intercept the ball and make a good return. They also don't have much of a pass-rush, nor good blitzers. However, if Moss/Crowder/Thomas can make a significant impact this year, that makes a big difference in how far the team will go. I'm not sold on any of them, but I think the team should look to grab LB and S in the draft this year in order to improve the TO differential.

As for the O, I'd like to see OT a top priority. OT is a real big deal, and I'm not sold on Harris, although the brief appearance he made last year he was a bit better than Lepsis. Why Shanny stuck with Lepsis doesn't say much for Shanny's acumen. Showing faith in a vet that Shanny later said "should have retired last year" instead of giving a young guy a chance is very poor coaching, IMO. I won't say "Harris stinks, that's why Shanny didn't start him". Shanny has a history of waiting too long to play rookies, and I think this was an example.

Walker has to go, trade him for a five or six if that's all you can get. Cut him outright if you have to, no way you pay him a roster bonus. The team will have to grab a WR at some point in the draft. The interior line I think is ok for starters, but there is no depth, and the depth is what makes your ST's better.

So the team has a little ways to go to get up to Title status. If Moss/Crowder/Thomas don't make an impact, then the team has long way to go to get up to Title status.

[yavoon]

Originally Posted by houghtam

The only team in NFL history that was able to win a Super Bowl without being top 10 in rushing and the ability to stop the run was the 2006 Colts.

Run the ball, stop the run, win the Super Bowl.

cliche idiocy. winning teams run more, thus they get more running yards. winning teams also get passed on more, thus fewer yards run against.

a far better cliche would be "lead most of the game."

[ScottXray]

Our two top priorities should OT and DT and the order doesn't matter.
you win the game in the trenches, and the rest will follow. Protect the QB, run the ball and stop the run...

There are additional holes on Defense that also need to be addressed..LB and safety in particular, but the Lines are what has to come first. Maybe Shanahan has finally seen that light...build with the draft and not so much FA, and good things will come.

We have to have a defensive coordinator that lasts more than 1-2 years to get there, also.

[cutthemdown]

I sort of still like Rush, there songs are dated but they don't need to be stopped.

[Atlas]

Stop the rush? What like this?


Or like this


Or maybe like this?


Hmmmmmmm.. Who can Denver draft that can do all that


\

[Bronx33]

I need more hints...

[Triplelefthook]

Originally Posted by ScottXray

Our two top priorities should OT and DT and the order doesn't matter.
you win the game in the trenches, and the rest will follow. Protect the QB, run the ball and stop the run...

There are additional holes on Defense that also need to be addressed..LB and safety in particular, but the Lines are what has to come first. Maybe Shanahan has finally seen that light...build with the draft and not so much FA, and good things will come.

We have to have a defensive coordinator that lasts more than 1-2 years to get there, also.

Absolutely agree. these need to be our top 2 priorities. i personally would like to go OT then DT, but the order doesnt matter. best players available to draft in the first two rounds at those positions and see who we can bring in through FA (Jordan Gross, Sean Locklear, Corey Wlliams, Kris Jenkins).

isnt it pretty certain that Boss Bailey is coming over? that improves the SAM position. i would like to get rid of Gold and see what Winborn can do.

[Cito Pelon]

Originally Posted by Triplelefthook

Absolutely agree. these need to be our top 2 priorities. i personally would like to go OT then DT, but the order doesnt matter. best players available to draft in the first two rounds at those positions and see who we can bring in through FA (Jordan Gross, Sean Locklear, Corey Wlliams, Kris Jenkins).

isnt it pretty certain that Boss Bailey is coming over? that improves the SAM position. i would like to get rid of Gold and see what Winborn can do.

You don't like Thomas? One DT is all it takes to make the pass rush and the run D look better. Thomas isn't the guy?

[TheChamp24]

I'm personally hoping that we draft Clady in the 1st and Okam in the 2nd.

[Triplelefthook]

Originally Posted by Cito Pelon

You don't like Thomas? One DT is all it takes to make the pass rush and the run D look better. Thomas isn't the guy?

first off that's hogwash. second, getting our defense to look better is not good enough. we need them to be substantially better in both areas. we are not set at DT with Thomas and then call it a day.

[Triplelefthook]

Originally Posted by jth1331

I'm personally hoping that we draft Clady in the 1st and Okam in the 2nd.

i agree

[iforgotmypassword]

bring in the man from boise

[s0phr0syne]

I've seen a lot of talk regarding Boss coming to Denver from some posters here, and even if that were to happen, how much would it really help our LB corps? I mean, yes it'd be nice to have a SAM making tackles near the line of scrimmage, but isn't the Will left on the field for Nickel situations? If so, then do you really think Winborn is the one you want on the field instead of a FA that probably gets paid way more? Seems like we'd get more bang for our buck bringing in a FA Will instead of a FA Sam.

And, to make my post a bit more on topic, throw my name in with the others who want OT first and foremost this offseason (either FA or draft)

[Cito Pelon]

Originally Posted by Triplelefthook

first off that's hogwash. second, getting our defense to look better is not good enough. we need them to be substantially better in both areas. we are not set at DT with Thomas and then call it a day.

I was thinking stand pat on the D line and improve the skill D positions in order to get more TO's.

[Drek]

Originally Posted by Cito Pelon

I was thinking stand pat on the D line and improve the skill D positions in order to get more TO's.

Stand pat on the DL? Who plays DT next to Thomas then?

We can stand pat at DE, but the biggest gapping hole on this team is DT. We can at least maintain the delusion that Pears and Harris are a good OT tandem, and that Winborn and Webster are going to be solid. Unless you're using some serious chemical assistance I don't see how you can convince yourself that Thomas and McKinley are the only two DTs we have who even belong in the league, and neither one of them is a safe bet to be an every down starter in '08.

Until we stop the run it doesn't matter how good our OL is. It'll be immaterial as every time we face a good team we'll never have the ball. We either need to get some DTs with some run stopping abilities as well as at least one better linebacker and a rotational run stopping DE or get used to watching games like the Jacksonville beating of last season. 10 minute drives and all.

[rastaman]

Stopping the rush in 2008 should not be a higher priority than improving upon where Denver is already has the most talent, and thats on offense!

Face it, the NFL rules changes over the last 10 years has made the game a scoring QB and WR intensive league. Impactive DE's and DT's are not only hard to come by....they are in short supply anyway b/c teams drafting 1-10 covet these guys.

Denver just so happens to have the most talent and franchise future on offense side of the ball with players such as Marshall, Stokely (when healthy) Scheffler, and Cutler. Get this nucleus of players the right/tweaked offensive parts and additions, and Denver's offense has the ability to put up 30-35 per game.

Teams won't be rushing the ball against Denver's porous talent deficient and inexperienced D line and line backers, if they're constantly playing from behind, those teams will be passing the ball to get back into the game.

Denver's philosophy in 08 should be score early and often in the first, second, and third QTR, and put the game away in the 4th QTR by running the ball. That's how you hide and protect a weak and inexperienced Defense, you keep the D off the field in the 4th as much as possible by running the ball. You take the opposing teams rushing attack away by making those teams pass! b/c they need to catch up!

Also, I believe Denver has the right D line personnel to at least be competitive "IF" they are allowed to just "ATTACK" and just play helmet-to-helmet football. Slowick needs to scrap the unproductive "GAP" scheme defensive game plan. UNLEASH THE DOGS!!!

Now that Cutler has some experience under his belt, he needs a stud RB he can tandem with. Cutler needs a RB that can take it to the HOUSE, or rip of 50-65 yard runs. My choice RB that fits this mold is "RASHARD MENDENHALL". Mendenhall best fits Denver's zone blocking scheme. Give Mendenhall a lead blocking FB to run behind, Denver's running attack returns to its glory years when TD and Griffin were tearing up the league.

Cutler needs proven veteran talent and experience on the O Line RIGHT NOW. Get Cutler a proven veteran OT and Guard thru FA, and think outside the box in this years draft with the 12th pick and land the stud impact RB with the 1st pick!!! Then on the second day, Denver needs to select one of the stud lead blocking athletic FB's in this years draft.

Owen Schmitt
Class: Sr.
Hometown: Fairfax, Va.
Height: 6-3
Weight: 260
Position: FB

Physical fullback who ranks among the nation’s best ... powerful blocker with tremendous ball skills ... tough guy who loves to practice and work out ... spent some time this spring at tight end and adjusted well to blocking up front ... makes the difficult catch look easy ... a great team leader

Jehuu Caulcrick
Born: August 6, 1983
Hometown: , Liberia
Height: 6-0
Weight: 255 lbs. Age: 24
Pos: RB
Class: Senior

Jerome Bettis-type running back figures to earn his share of carries in 2007 . ranked as the nation's third-best fullback by Phil Steele's College Football Preview preseason honorable mention All-America selection by Street & Smith's . . . has deceptive speed for a back his size . . . three-year letterman has rushed for 1,523 career yards (4.9 avg.) and 18 TDs .
2007 STATS:
ATT 222 | YDS 872 | TD 21

Mike Cox

Height / Weight:
6-1 / 260
Position:
Fullback
Birthdate:
07/11/1985

AT GEORGIA TECH: One of the best-blocking backs in college football... a major reason teammate Tashard Choice was able to accumulate 1,000 yards rushing in both 2006 and 2007... a big, bruising fullback... has shown the ability to catch passes out of the backfield... known by most as "Bull".

These type of FB's can help open holes in the RED ZONE for our RB's. Imagine one of these big behemoths lead blocking once our zone blocking O-Linemen open a seam!! These FB's are athletic enough to pick up the difficult 3rd and short yardage in the 4th Qtr or once again, provide the key block to keep the chains moving. No more trick plays and mis-directions inside the 20 like we saw last season.

We have QB with howitzer arm and who can make all the throws, he already has a stud WR in Marshall, and a stude TE in Scheffler......now Shanahan only needs to upgrade the O line and upgrade the running attack using more lead FB run-blocking schemes and a Stud Rb who's a threat to take it to the HOUSE, and the 2008 Broncos will do some damage this season.

[2KBack]

Originally Posted by rastaman

Teams won't be rushing the ball against Denver's porous talent deficient and inexperienced D line and line backers, if they're constantly playing from behind, those teams will be passing the ball to get back into the game.

Denver's philosophy in 08 should be score early and often in the first, second, and third QTR, and put the game away in the 4th QTR by running the ball. That's how you hide and protect a weak and inexperienced Defense, you keep the D off the field in the 4th as much as possible by running the ball. You take the opposing teams rushing attack away by making those teams pass! b/c they need to catch up!

That doesn't work if the offense only gets 1 possession a quarter because the defense allows loooong drives