McDaniels backs Kyle Orton's performance - The Orange Mane

Bronco Rob · 08-08-2009, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Peyton Manning has said it, Mike Shanahan has said it, plenty of defensive coordinators have said it, and Friday afternoon Broncos coach Josh McDaniels joined the chorus.

"Brandon Stokley is one of the toughest slot receivers I've coached against; (he is) everything I thought he was when I came here," McDaniels said, adding that Stokley "just has a knack of how to get open. That's an invaluable skill for a wide receiver, particularly on third down."

And with the Broncos positioning themselves to play in three-wide-receiver sets plenty in McDaniels' offense, Stokley once again finds himself in high demand in the slot.

With Brandon Marshall out with a hip injury and having stayed away from the team's offseason workouts, the Broncos have lined up with Eddie Royal and Jabar Gaffney in the two outside spots, with Stokley as the third receiver when they go to the three-wide look.

McDaniels' offense favors a three-wide look, with the quarterback in the shotgun and a single running back in many mid- to long-yardage situations.

"We'll play Brandon probably more than they did last year just because of the way we were going to be in three-receiver offense as much as we may end up being in it," McDaniels said.

Stokley, who has iced his knee some after practices in this training camp as a precaution, finished the 2008 season with 49 catches, the second-highest total of his career after his 68-catch, 1,077-yard season for the Colts in 2004

Back him up.

After reviewing the video from Thursday night's scrimmage at Invesco Field at Mile High, McDaniels continued to back quarterback Kyle Orton's performance overall.

Orton threw two interceptions in the scrimmage — wide receiver Brandon Lloyd fell down on one of them — had a pass batted down by cornerback Alphonso Smith and underthrew a long ball on a play that drew a particularly hostile reaction from the crowd.

"Kyle did fine," McDaniels said. "There are a couple plays he wishes he could have had back. He made no more mistakes than anybody else did.

"(I'm) not disappointed in anybody's performance. A lot of them can get better; certainly Kyle's in that group."

Backup Chris Simms, who took some snaps with the starting offense Thursday night, also took some plays with the starters on Friday afternoon in a light practice.

Most of Simms' work with the starters Friday did come in a practice period geared for the defense.

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci...527?source=rss

Inkana7 · 08-08-2009, 05:40 AM

Go Orton!

footstepsfrom#27 · 08-08-2009, 06:53 AM

"He made no more mistakes than anybody else did."

What a glowing recommendation. I can see why it warranted a thread of its own.

TheDave · 08-08-2009, 06:55 AM

McDaniels and Orton are bound at the hip... He's going to back him no matter what, at least for this season.

defenseman · 08-08-2009, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDave

McDaniels and Orton are bound at the hip... He's going to back him no matter what, at least for this season.

Yep, he lives and dies on Orton's performance. That said, I'm thinking the HC is not going to be smelling like roses this year, toss orton in that briar patch with him...dman

RMT · 08-08-2009, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDave

McDaniels and Orton are bound at the hip... He's going to back him no matter what, at least for this season.

they are bound at the hip in the same way that Shanahan the Coach was to Shanahan the Man in Charge of Personnel.

TonyR · 08-08-2009, 07:16 AM

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Originally Posted by defenseman

...he lives and dies on Orton's performance.

I'd suggest that he "lives and dies" with the team's performance, but that's just me. And either way he "lives" because he will be the head coach again next season.

defenseman · 08-08-2009, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyR

I'd suggest that he "lives and dies" with the team's performance, but that's just me. And either way he "lives" because he will be the head coach again next season.

Perhaps, I'm guessing though, based on the "other" qb's are on the bronco roster, this season anyway, he'll be hanging his hat or Orton...dman

*I wouldn't be taking for granted any job provided by an employer these days. The economy can and will be headed south, again I might add, sometime just prior or after halloween.

missingnumber7 · 08-08-2009, 07:36 AM

Does he have a choice

? Gee he could not support Orton, and then he could be stuck with what? Trying to get Vick? Simms ain't a starter, wasn't before he had spleen issues either. I'm guessing at somepoint in the season Bowlen said to McD that you were the one that got rid of Cutler, you deal with what you got, if you can't win with that then its on you.

tsiguy96 · 08-08-2009, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by missingnumber7

Does he have a choice

? Gee he could not support Orton, and then he could be stuck with what? Trying to get Vick? Simms ain't a starter, wasn't before he had spleen issues either. I'm guessing at somepoint in the season Bowlen said to McD that you were the one that got rid of Cutler, you deal with what you got, if you can't win with that then its on you.

i dont know if you realized, it was bowlen who ordered the trade for cutler, not mcdaniels. so why then would mcdaniels be forced to "deal with what you got"?

GreatBronco16 · 08-08-2009, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by missingnumber7

I'm guessing at somepoint in the season Bowlen said to McD that you were the one that got rid of Cutler, you deal with what you got, if you can't win with that then its on you.

And you would be guessing wrong, being that Bowlen is the one that got rid of Cutler.

I take that back, actually Jay was the one that got rid of Cutler.

defenseman · 08-08-2009, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsiguy96

i dont know if you realized, it was bowlen who ordered the trade for cutler, not mcdaniels. so why then would mcdaniels be forced to "deal with what you got"?

No matter how it was played, they get paid to Win, not lose. If Mcdaniels can't get them to win, he's got a problem. That's why Bowlen hired him, Mini-Belicek........he needs to win...dman

tsiguy96 · 08-08-2009, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by defenseman

No matter how it was played, they get paid to Win, not lose. If Mcdaniels can't get them to win, he's got a problem. That's why Bowlen hired him, Mini-Belicek........he needs to win...dman

i agree, bowlen most definitely holds coaches responsible, and has a really good history at picking them. mcdaniels needs atleast 2 years to show if this team is making progress and buying into the system, like wade got, and hopefully work the entire contract so he has time to get his guys in and get the d-help that we cannot get in one year.

snowspot66 · 08-08-2009, 07:51 AM

Yeah he needs to win. That's his job. But he's under no more pressure than any other coach. In Pat's history as owner we've had four Head Coaches. One when he came in, Wade as place holder, Shanahan, and now McDaniels. As long as Bowlen owns the team McDaniels isn't going anywhere for at least three years and the only way he'll get fired after three years is if the team completely tanks, gets worse, and puts up a couple of 2-14 seasons.

colonelbeef · 08-08-2009, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsiguy96

i agree, bowlen most definitely holds coaches responsible, and has a really good history at picking them. mcdaniels needs atleast 2 years to show if this team is making progress and buying into the system, like wade got, and hopefully work the entire contract so he has time to get his guys in and get the d-help that we cannot get in one year.

the whole "buying into the system" is totally overrated, if not an outright load of crap.

Either his schemes work and he is able to properly motivate and manage the team or he fails. He put himself into a position where he not only is competing with a hall of fame coach, he is also competing with Jay Cutler in Chicago.

A smarter man would have never of rocked the QB boat when it was set for the next decade like that, he would have focused on things that needed fixing. The fans are already on him, and rightly so, because of the mismanagement that took place this offseason. He essentially shortened the leash all on his own, and he has no one to blame but himself.

As I have been saying all along, if he starts 0-3, this will be a ****show unlike anything I've ever seen in pro sports.

TonyR · 08-08-2009, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by defenseman

*I wouldn't be taking for granted any job provided by an employer these days. The economy can and will be headed south, again I might add, sometime just prior or after halloween.

Actually, if anything the economy gives McD more job security instead of less. Bowlen is already paying salaries to people no longer working for him, and I doubt he's in a hurry to add more people to his dead money payroll.

Lev Vyvanse · 08-08-2009, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsiguy96

i agree, bowlen most definitely holds coaches responsible, and has a really good history at picking them.

He has only picked two other coaches and one of them sucked balls.

tsiguy96 · 08-08-2009, 08:08 AM

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Originally Posted by TheTrueOne

He has only picked two other coaches and one of them sucked balls.

lets count reeves, as he decided to keep him on as coach instead of bringing in someone else

TonyR · 08-08-2009, 08:09 AM

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Originally Posted by colonelbeef

Either his schemes work and he is able to properly motivate and manage the team or he fails.

His schemes do work, this has already been proven. The bigger challenges will be getting enough talent to build a competitive defense and, if necessary, finding a QB to effectively manage the offense.

TheDave · 08-08-2009, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyR

His schemes do work, this has already been proven. The bigger challenges will be getting enough talent to build a competitive defense and, if necessary, finding a QB to effectively manage the offense.

The scheme works with Tom Brady... lets hope it works with Kyle Orton.

TonyR · 08-08-2009, 08:15 AM

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Originally Posted by TheDave

The scheme works with Tom Brady...

And Matt Cassel.

Lev Vyvanse · 08-08-2009, 08:19 AM

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Originally Posted by tsiguy96

lets count reeves, as he decided to keep him on as coach instead of bringing in someone else

The Broncos had made the playoffs the year before and he bought the team over the summer so I don't really think he had a choice.

TheDave · 08-08-2009, 08:22 AM

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Originally Posted by TonyR

And Matt Cassel.

I wouldn't get too worked up over the performance of Cassel... A 16-0 team managed to go 11-5 and miss the playoffs under Cassel.

McDaniels did a very good job of getting an unknown player to fit into things... I'll give him that. But lets not forget this team was a couple plays away from having the greatest single season EVER in 2007. The 2008 offense wasn't anywhere near that level.

Drek · 08-08-2009, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDave

I wouldn't get too worked up over the performance of Cassel... A 16-0 team managed to go 11-5 and miss the playoffs under Cassel.

McDaniels did a very good job of getting an unknown player to fit into things... I'll give him that. But lets not forget this team was a couple plays away from having the greatest single season EVER in 2007. The 2008 offense wasn't anywhere near that level.

He still took a total unknown who never started a single game of D1 college football, the same guy many in New England where speculating wouldn't make it through the final rounds of cuts based on his pre-season play, and got an 89.4 QB rating and a 63% completion percentage out of him.

Assuming Marshall plays this year you can make a very compelling argument that we've got a better supporting cast than what NE had to offer Cassel last year as well. Moss is very good but a healthy and committed Marshall is at least comparable. Royal and Welker have nearly identical skill sets, both know how to use them very well. We have the very same #3 in Gaffney, and beyond that we've got Stokley who is better than the #4 (and probably the #3) that NE had last year.

At TE we have Scheffler (very comparable to Ben Watson) and Dan Graham (better than any blocking TE NE has had since Graham himself left).

For running backs we have Lamont Jordan from NE, Correl Buckhalter who is very similar in skill set and career production to Kevin Faulk, Peyton Hillis who is in pretty much every way looking like a superior power back to Lawrence Maroney, and the #12 overall pick, first RB off the board this year, Knowshon Moreno as an added perk.

Our line as a whole is at least on par, arguably better as well, and with less history of injury.

We compare extremely well to the very same unit in which McDaniels took an absolute nobody in Matt Cassel and made him into one of the highest paid QBs in the NFL. Why should we immediately rule out any chances that he could potentially do the same with Orton, a guy who has already won football games in this league, who looked like a stud for the first half of last season, and who has played in a similar spread offense previously in his collegiate career?

Like I said previously, most NE fans thought there was a good chance Cassel wasn't going to make the team at the end of last pre-season. McDaniels made something out of him. And Tom Brady came into this league with one of the weakest arms ever allowed to take a snap behind center in the NFL, but since McDaniels became his QB coach he's gotten better on deep balls each and every season, culminating in a dominant 2007 season.

TonyR · 08-08-2009, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDave

I wouldn't get too worked up over the performance of Cassel... A 16-0 team managed to go 11-5 and miss the playoffs under Cassel.

I'm not "worked up". But Cassel played very well in that scheme, and that offense was very good--5th in yards, 8th in scoring.

08-08-2009, 07:36 AM	#9
missingnumber7 Vote Joe Mays to Pro Bowl Joe 4 Pro Bowl ST's Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Bismarck Posts: 4,760 Adopt-a-Bronco: Joe Mays	Does he have a choice? Gee he could not support Orton, and then he could be stuck with what? Trying to get Vick? Simms ain't a starter, wasn't before he had spleen issues either. I'm guessing at somepoint in the season Bowlen said to McD that you were the one that got rid of Cutler, you deal with what you got, if you can't win with that then its on you.

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08-08-2009, 05:40 AM	#2
Inkana7 Ring of Famer Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 8,229 Adopt-a-Bronco: Derek Wolfe	Go Orton!

08-08-2009, 06:53 AM	#3
footstepsfrom#27 helmet to helmet hitter Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Arlington, TX Posts: 16,116 Adopt-a-Bronco: Joe Mays	"He made no more mistakes than anybody else did." What a glowing recommendation. I can see why it warranted a thread of its own.

08-08-2009, 06:55 AM	#4
TheDave Sauced... Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 15,120	McDaniels and Orton are bound at the hip... He's going to back him no matter what, at least for this season.

08-08-2009, 07:51 AM	#14
snowspot66 Ring of Famer Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 4,642	Yeah he needs to win. That's his job. But he's under no more pressure than any other coach. In Pat's history as owner we've had four Head Coaches. One when he came in, Wade as place holder, Shanahan, and now McDaniels. As long as Bowlen owns the team McDaniels isn't going anywhere for at least three years and the only way he'll get fired after three years is if the team completely tanks, gets worse, and puts up a couple of 2-14 seasons.