Karl Mecklenburg on Knowshon and Ayers

[Taco John]

Bronco great, Karl Mecklenberg posted this on his Facebook account tonight... I think it's pretty decent analysis and pretty well agree with it. Thought people here might find it interesting...


Karl Mecklenberg:

Knowshon Moreno and Robert Ayers are no longer Broncos. Their last game with Denver was the Super Bowl and the writing was on the wall at that time. Robert Ayers has had a history of being undisciplined especially when he is supposed to contain. Contain is when you are the end player on the line of scrimmage and you are not supposed to let the ball carrier get outside of you. I counted four big plays in the Super Bowl where Seattle broke contain on his side of the ball. Every time they challenged the perimeter with reverses and bootlegs was towards Ayers.

I love Knowshon Moreno. His physical and mental toughness as well as leadership this past year was tremendous. He ran the ball hard every time he touched it, and was a good pass receiver and blocker. The one thing that Knowshon is not is a game breaker. The longest run in his career is 36 yards. In 845 carries he has yet to break a long one. In the Super Bowl the Seattle Seahawks put 6 in the box and dared the Broncos to run. The Broncos didn’t trust Knowshon in that situation. They needed a game breaker running back to put fear in the secondary and force the defense to respect the run. The Seahawks didn’t believe that Knowshon could do it and neither did the Broncos.

Good luck to both Robert and Knowshon with their new teams.

[IndelibleScribe]

Pulled no punches, told no lies.
The man is as wise as he was great on the field.

I do wonder if we go after Chris Johnson once he is released.

[Flacko]

As much as I loved Knowshon's last year, Meck is absolutely 100% correct. As for Ayers, we knew what we were getting with him in the starting lineup.

Also, I assume CJ signs with St Louis.

[Broncojef]

Pulled no punches, told no lies.
The man is as wise as he was great on the field.

I do wonder if we go after Chris Johnson once he is released.

Wonder what CJ2K will command in salary? RB position is being low-balled...but Moreno got what $3Mill?

[Broncojef]

As much as I loved Knowshon's last year, Meck is absolutely 100% correct. As for Ayers, we knew what we were getting with him in the starting lineup.

Also, I assume CJ signs with St Louis.

I've seen the Jets had interest in him as well.

[DENVERDUI55]

Wonder what CJ2K will command in salary? RB position is being low-balled...but Moreno got what $3Mill?

CJ will get double of slowshon.

[ZONA]

With all due respect, our OL run blocking was game breaking either. Very few guys run like Peterson so it has to be both a great RB and excellent run blocking by the line for big runs to happen often. I've been saying this all offseason so far and I think after what Elway saw in the Superbowl (to the highest scoring offense in history) he realized he needs to get something extra out of our running game. Since there really isn't an AP out there to get, he's gonna have to do it both with a quality RB and much improved OL run blocking. Part of that is gonna have to mean sacrificing some of what PM does best and go to the run more often. Won't be as dynamic as last year but I think it will help is in the long run (get it?).

[BroncoMan4ever]

Pulled no punches, told no lies.
The man is as wise as he was great on the field.

I do wonder if we go after Chris Johnson once he is released.

At this point in his career Johnson is a Tater Bell clone. No need to pay that kind of cash for a one trick pony.

[FireFly]

At this point in his career Johnson is a Tater Bell clone. No need to pay that kind of cash for a one trick pony.

I don't believe that at all. Have you watched the Titans play? The Oline pretty much collapsed on every running play.

Did he take the ball outside more than you'd like last year? Yes. But that had a lot to do with defenders being in the backfield .5 second after the snap.

Were there more negative plays than you'd like last year? Yes. But that had a lot to do with defenders being in the backfield .5 second after the snap.

Was he a great ball catching threat out of the backfield...no. Can't argue with that.

But in all seriousness, I think he would add a dimension to our offence that we didn't have last year: balance. I also think he'd pair better with Ball than Hillman.

Edit: regarding balance, I know we ran the ball pretty well. But I attribute that to Manning and D's sitting back rather than our RB's being particularly outstanding

[chrisp]

The odd thing was that we were running it more as we went through the season and into the playoffs, and doing it with a reasonable level of authority. When we did run it in the superbowl we were moderately successful, but quick as a flash the scoreline had gotten silly and we were in pass pass pass catchup mode.

However I do recall from the NE regular season game where Knowshon got about 200 yards they felt that Manning was too out of it to have gauged the defense come 4th quarter from all that handing off, and they feel that was part of why we lost the game, so I'm not sure it was lack of faith in Knowshon per se. Then again, because he's not a home run threat perhaps that's why opponents are happy to dare us to play that game?

I do agree overall with this take on Knownshon though - I love his heart and tenacity, I love the fact that he can do it all, pass, run and block. But it is true that he just isn't any kind of threat to break a big one, which means he can't really have more than a supporting role in the backfield.

....and to be fair I think that's also what the Broncos felt - if he hadn't had a better offer he'd definitely be back here and contributing next year, just not as starting tailback.

[HorseHead]

Meck nailed it.

CJ2K could end up with Dallas. Don't rule that out. And he does have plenty left in the tank. We are not interested.

This place is going to s-it a brick when Hillman actually turns his career around. Don't laugh..

[TonyR]

With all due respect, our OL run blocking was game breaking either...

Agree. I mostly concur with what Mecklenburg is saying about both players, things that have been said thousands of times here and elsewhere already. But I think he's off base putting the lack of run game in the Super Bowl on Knowshon. Our O-line got destroyed in that game.

[B-Large]

Contact the Bills, ask what it would take to get CJ Spiller to Mile High. Can you imagine that cat, running screens with Manning and out aresenal of receivers.... Jesus, if I were a defense coordinator I'd get hersey squirts just thinking about that.

[HILife]

I agree with everything Meck said. It was spot on, on all of it.

[cutthemdown]

Chris Johnson would be scary in Denver. Also he's a tough guy only missed 1 game and never a season without 1000 yrds. True his last 2-3 yrs haven't been that great but have you watched Titan football? They stink and have struggled since Jeff Fishers last yr their.

Chris Johnson would put the fear into defenses. With our passing attack having to worry about a guy who goes 80 yrds if you give him space wouldn't be fun.

With Moreno you know worst case scenario is he breaks a 30 yrd run once in a blue moon. Ball IMO doesn't look fast either.