Peearlity Broncos Blitz'd: . . I mean Blitz . . . er what was that occifer?

Greetings. I am Peerality and this is the first installment of the Peerality Broncos Blitz'd. It has been a long and tumultuous offseason for our Denver Broncos and I know that many of us have been dizzied by the many moves of the young and inexperienced McDx (McDaniels and Xanders). So, before going into any analysis, I will lay out our offseason - in a nutshell. We drafted 10 players, picked up 15 in free agency, cut or didn't re-sign 29 players and, of course, traded away our probowl quarterback. Here is a "brief" look at what we've done:

A. 2009 Draft:

1st round: 12. Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia 5'10" 217 - Best player available, as B.J Raji and T.Jackson (our needs) were gone. This is a good pick-up and you don't draft a RB in the 1st unless he has HOF-type talent. Knowshon is tough, smart, blocks and catches the ball well and is a leader. He's also hilarious and I recomend you check out his Upper Deck and Topps endzone dances. He will truly be a blast for years to come - personality for miles (the horse).

1st round: 18. Robert Ayers, DE, Tennessee 6'3" 272 - High risk. Judging by the senior bowl / Mike Mayock, in Ayers, we drafted the best defensive player in the draft – a steal at 18. If you ask guys like McSheezy, he was a one year wonder at Tennessee (no real production until his senior year) with a checkered past. I like the pick. Look for him to get a look at starting OLB and DE if he puts on some weight. We’ll also look to reduce him inside / play a 5 / 6 technique. He will have his hand on the ground at times and play upright sometimes.

2nd round: 37. Alphonso Smith, CB, Wake Forest 5'9" 195 - Wow. Ok. I love this guy. He set an ACC record w/ 21 interceptions at Wake and is a tough-minded ball-hawk who will see the field immediately as a starting CB or in nickel packages. He is also a stud in the return game. That said, we gave up our #1 pick next year, which could be THE #1 pick or at least a top-five. McD and X said they had him valued “extremely high” and that he was the #1 corner on our board. Whether he was worth it will depend on who was right – the pundits or our front office. If he flourishes / turns into an all-pro, we’ll know McD/Xman are better evaluators than McShay / Kiper.

2nd round: 48. Darcel McBath, FS, Texas Tech 6' 198 - Looks like a solid safety who will play some, contribute hugely to special teams and will likely be a starter w/in a year or two. Also a ball-hawk w/ high character, good speed and good fundamentals.

2nd round: 64. Richard Quinn, TE, North Carolina 6'4" 265 - Another high-character guy. Seems like a Daniel Graham type guy. Great blocker who was underused at North Carolina in the passing game. This move signals a change and shows that we intend do RUN THE BALL - at least more than McD used to, which I like. Again, though, we traded up for him (traded our 2 3rd rounders for a 4th and a 2nd - using the final 2nd on Quinn) so he’d better be truly special.

4th round: 114. David Bruton, FS, Notre Dame 6'2" 219 - Special teams Ace. Could challenge for a starting spot at safety in a year or 2. He was team captain at ND in college - a leader and ANOTHER high-character guy.

4th round: 132. Seth Olsen, G, Iowa 6'5" 306 - Going into the draft I hoped we'd use several picks to fortify our O-line and we did. I love this guy. He is a mauller, big, strong and cornfed. Look for him to start w/in a year or 2 for Ben Hamilton. He and Kupe will be a formidable Guard tandem for years to come. He can also play center.

5th round: 141. Kenny McKinley, WR, South Carolina 6' 189 - Love this pick. This kid put up great numbers w/ Chris Smelley as his QB. He is a polished route runner, creates separation and has great hands and 4.4 speed. He will replace Stokley and be our new slot machine - freeing eddie up to be our #2 (eventually). Great pick.

6th round: 174. Tom Brandstater, QB, Fresno 6'5" 220 - Love it. I told my fellow picklers back in February that I wanted us to get him and we got him. Great size and good arm strength - looks like a young Brady Cassell - type. Good developmental QB. Good Job!!!!

7th round: 225. Blake Schlueter, C, TCU 6'2" 286 - Schluter ran the fastest 40 of any O-lineman (4.6 I think). I like this pick in the 7th. He needs to put on some weight, but he has the makings of a stud – very physical at the point of attack and gets to the second level well.

B. College Free Agents (16 - they already cut 1 - Jack Schweiger)

Braxton Kelley ILB Kentucky
Chris Baker NT - like it
Marquez Branson TE Central Arkansas
Stanley Bryant OT East Carolina
Tony Carter CB Florida State
Britton Colquitt Punter, Tennessee - love it (Dustin Colquitt's little bro)
Marcus Gordon OT Kentucky State
DJ Johnson CB Jackson State
Rulon Davis, OLB Cal - Like it
David Grimes - WR Notre Dame
Dominique Johnson - RB Florida
Everette Pedescleaux - OLB Northern IA - Really like it
Lee Robinson LB Alcorn State
Travis Shelton WR Temple
Lucas Taylor - WR Tennessee
Nate Swift - WR Nebraska

C. 2009 Pro Free Agent Signings (so far)

1. Andre Goodman CB - will start or at least will play a lot situationally depending on how fast A.Smith progresses

2. Brian Dawkins SS - Weapon X will lead our D. He's lost a step, but he'll do what Lynch did for us.

3. Andra Davis ILB - Older, kind of slow but knows the D and is a solid veteran presence at a position of need. Either way, he'll be a huge upgrade over Webster.

4. Correll Buckhalter RB - will help take some of the load off Knowshon, should get a number of looks on 3rd down / in the passing game.

5. Lamont Jordan RB - eh, not sure we need him w/ Hillis in the stable

6. Jabaar Gafney WR - good move, this guy knows our new system / can help the young receivers understand it better.

7. Ronald Fields NT - will likely start at NT. Nolan worked w/ him in SF, so . . . . His rise / fall could largely dictate how good our D is as the NT is KEY in a 3-4 scheme.

8. Chris Simms QB - we'll see. I'm still not sold on the Spleen (maybe I just hate his dad too much).

9. Nick Greisen LB - Koutevides w/out the big contract. Not expecting much here.

10. Brandon Gorin OL - eh

11. Darrell Reid OLB / DT (played DE in 4-3) - We will convert him to rush linebacker. He was considered one of the best special teams players in the league while with Indy.

12. Renaldo Hill FS - Solid guy, ballhawk, should start at FS unless McBath comes out of nowhere with some bubbles.

13. Darius Walker RB - eh, good RB for the Texans, but at this point I'm kind of RB'd out

14. J'Vonne Parker DL - eh

C. Guys we let go:

1. Ebenezer Ekuban, DE. Age: 33 - Peace out Weezy
2. Tatum Bell, RB. Age: 28 - Tatum, Tatum, Tatum - all the best wishes in the world
3. Marquand Manuel, SS. Age: 30. Signed with Lions - the worst SS in history, there's the door
4. Kenny Peterson, DE/DT. Age: 30. Re-signed with Broncos (3 years) A valuable reserve defensive lineman who can play both the 4-3 and 3-4, Kenny Peterson will find a home in Denver's new scheme. - I have my doubts about this Cat, but, we'll see
5. Marlon McCree, S. Age: 32. Signed with Jaguars - Good riddance
6. Nate Webster, ILB. Age: 31. - HA! Worst LB ever allowed in the NFL.
7. Dewayne Robertson, DT. Age: 27 - BUST!
8. J.J. Arrington, RB. Age: 26. J.J. Feel bad for the kid - could've been huge for us in the return game. Good Luck AJ, come see us again when you get the wheel fixed.
9. Selvin Young, RB. Age: 25 - this is what happens when you predict that you'll gain 2000 yards and gain 200.
10. P.J. Pope, RB. Age: 25 - take the pajamas off, the dream is over. If you don't knowshon, you'd better aks somebody.
11. Erik Pears (RFA), OT. Age: 27. - Signed with Raiders - the first O-lineman I've ever hated.
12. Dre Bly, CB. Age: 32. - Signed with 49ers - no comment
13. Anthony Alridge, RB. Age: 25. - Signed with Redskins
14. Karl Paymah, CB. Age: 26. - Signed with Vikings - Hot carl? Eh, not so hot.
15. Michael Pittman, RB. Age: 34. I guess the guns got in his way.
16. Darrell Jackson, WR. Age: 30. Wow, what a disappointment.
17. Jamie Winborn, OLB. Age: 30. Gotta love a guy who does dances after every tackle when you're getting blown out at home by the Raiders - NOT. Good riddance.
18. Glenn Martinez, WR. Age: 27. No comment.
19. Niko Koutouvides, ILB. Age: 28. - Signed with Buccaneers - He can lick on koutouvideeznuts.
20. Nate Jackson, TE. Age: 30. - Good luck w/ the Music career, Jacknasty. Try not to strain a vocal chord.
21. John Engelberger, DE. Age: 32. - good guy - too old and was NEVER starting caliber
22. Chad Mustard, TE. Age: 31. - Announced retirement - RIP CM, now we won't be able to cut you, sign you, cut you, sign you and then cut you again - only to resign you in '10.
23. Patrick Ramsey, QB. Age: 30. - Signed with Titans - brutal, he was the least talented NFL QB I've ever seen
24. Josh Shaw, DT. Age: 29. Not sure why we cut this guy and kept K.Pete (other than McD went to Highschool with K.Pete). Ok, I guess I know why we cut this guy and kept K.Pete.
25. Darrell Hackney, QB. Age: 26. - We'll miss you hack - you should've backed up JC, not Ramsey.
26. Cliff Russell, WR. Age: 30. No comment
27. Jeb Putzier, TE. Age: 30. - Re-signed with Broncos - Class guy, glad we resigned him.
28. Cory Boyd, RB. Age: 24. No Cory, you're not back. You're like cooked crack, but you're not back.
29. Andrew Pinnock, FB. Age: 29 - Eh, whatevs

Analysis:
Boys, our Donkeys made a great many moves this offseason. We kicked it off by being the most active team in free agency. We continued by driving away our pro bowl quarterback. We then traded up 3 times in the draft to take players nobody else seemed too jazzed about, but wound up with what I feel are 10 solid prospects. Overall, I like what we’ve done and I think we are a better team than we were before (except for JC).


Defense: Secondary is much improved, but D-line will tell the tale
On defense, we are moving to a hybrid 3-4 / 4-3 scheme with Mike Nolan at the controls. Our front 7 is our weakness despite the fact that we drafted Ayers at 18 – who I think will be an all-pro (so does Mike Mayock). I believe we wanted to fix our D-line in the draft, but that the talent wasn’t there when we picked.
We did, however, fix our secondary which also needed a facelift. For those of you who forgot, at one point last year we were starting Josh Bell, Dre Bly, Vernon Fox and Marquand Manual - the worst secondary I’ve ever seen in the NFL. We now have Champ, Andre Goodman or Alphonso Smith, Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill – HUGE upgrade. Plus we picked up Bruton and McBath for the future – kudos McX.
I believe we will go to work on the front 7 in next year’s draft – which is heralded as being much deeper in D-line talent. For now, the success of our D will rest on the ingenuity of Mike Nolan and the effectiveness of our relatively unknown D-line: Ryan McBean, Ronald Fields, and Kenny Petersen.

Offense: 6 was the future, now 8 is the present
On O, we will look much different, obviously. We will be high-octane but you’d better believe that we will feature Knowshon and the running game. Our O-line is the strength of our team and McDaniels system – the Amoeba – is famous for using the strengths of it’s players. Focusing on the running game should also serve to hide our D-line and allow our D to not be overextended.
While we will feature Knowshon, look for Hillis to get some looks at Tailback / Fullback / and at H-back in the passing game – a la Howard Griffith. McD has alluded to this in recent days. We will run some 3 tight end sets w/ Graham, Sheffler and Quinn and I fully expect Knowshon to be offensive rookie of the year – he will be a monster.
Orton, along w/ our unproven D-line, is the key to our season. And yes, I know there is a QB competition, but there really isn’t. Kyle’s our guy and whether we end up 13-3 or 3-13 will, in large part, depend on his ability to step in, learn the offense and lead us down the field. I think we will run the ball a lot, but Kyle will need to keep defenses honest.

Players to watch:
Kyle Orton and our D-line – they are unknown quantities at key positions on an otherwise stellar team. If both units step-up we will be very good. If neither does, it will be a long, long season.
The development of players like Wesley Woodyard (AKA Mr. Atomic), Spencer Larsen and Peyton Hillis will also be a key. If these guys step-up big, that will definitely allow us to be a deeper and more consistent team.
One guy to watch for is a Free agent rookie named Chris Baker. The guy is 6’2” 330 and is really our only true Nose tackle prospect. He is a stud that had some off the field / maturity issues. On the field, he can dominate. I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes the team and sees time by the middle of the year.


No predictions yet, boys. This inaugural post was merely to inform you of the goings on, w/ more prognostication / editorial flare to follow. So, until next time, keep your reality on the fritz and your Peerality on the blitz.

Peace