To many fans of the NFL and the Denver Broncos, it seems like there is a grave loss of a dear friend in the Mile High City this season. Coach Mike Shanahan was replaced immediately following yet another late season collapse by the team he led since 1995.

For the last decade, the threat of competing for a title every season seemed to fall apart for one reason or another. Those threats seemingly no longer exist in their original form.

What the Broncos organization and fan base has is deep remorse over the shortfalls of the last decade. Now in a sort of rebuilding stage from top to bottom, no stone has been left unturned. 

Enter Josh McDaniels, a highly touted head coaching prospect coming into the early 2009 hiring campaign. He came into Dove Valley with the look of a guy who won the lottery—with a fresh haircut and a youthful smile, ready to pick up a check and make a lasting impression. 

Somewhere between his first press conference and the present, something either went awry or almost exactly according to plan. It didn’t take long for Josh McDaniels to start firing and hiring a slew of new talent.

It all seemed so surreal after All-Pro Brian Dawkins was added to the fold. It seemed the Broncos were all about kicking butt in the free agent market and taking names.

It took all of a few moments later for the eventual embarrassment from the Jay Cutler debacle to unfold.

A day later, the full details of a failed attempt to acquire Matt Cassel from the New England Patriots became widely known as Jay Cutler informed a local media outlet of what he had learned. A few weeks later after the dust still had not settled, Jay Cutler was traded to Chicago more or less on a whim.

Moving forward, the Broncos focused intently on the draft and how they would manage games and quarterbacks within the new offensive scheme. While it certainly appears the Denver Broncos are going to be less talented at quarterback, they will be a more physical football team.

The overall team outlook on this team’s season will be saved for last; the following are the breakdowns by position for Denver.

On Offense

Center

The battle at the center position is a typical sort of competition seen on most teams at any position. You have a seasoned veteran who is up against a young, skilled talent with a desire to play in the NFL.

In this case, it’s last year’s free-agent acquisition from the Kansas City Chiefs, Casey Wiegmann, who played for an injured and now retired Tom Nalen all of last season going into his 14th season.

Wiegmann was the starting center for a line that tied the Tennessee Titans for the fewest sacks allowed (12).  There was some talk early on that Casey might not report or instead retire unless the Broncos renegotiated his contract.

Things appear to be somewhat better for Wiegmann as the Broncos have agreed to let him miss the offseason conditioning program. The two sides are also believed to be close to a new deal for the 2009 season.

Realistically, Wiegmann is the guy at center. However, should things not workout in some way or fashion, the Broncos have a young insurance policy to back him up.  

Last year’s fourth round pick Kory Lichtensteiger out of Bowling Green is the biggest of the bunch at 6’ 3” and 295 pounds.  Lichtensteiger may also see some time at the guard position—he did however struggle a bit in the game against the Panthers.

Blake Schlueter out of TCU might just be the best athlete of this bunch. He ran a 4.7 40-yard dash and showed a 35 inch vertical at his TCU Pro Day and was the Broncos’ seventh round selection at this year’s draft.

Guard

Ben Hamilton has started every game in six out of his eight seasons in the NFL. He bounced back in 2008 after suffering a series of concussions that kept him sidelined in 2007. This is the final year of Hamilton’s current deal; providing he can stay healthy, the Broncos would like to retain his leadership on the field.

Chris Kuper struggled in 2007 to fill Ben Hamilton’s shoes at left guard after Hamilton’s season ended early. Those trials eventually paid off as he was the Broncos’ starting left guard last season. He broke his hand against the Carolina Panthers and was replaced momentarily by Kory Lichtensteiger.

Former CU Buffalo Matt McChesney is in camp, having signed as a free agent from the Miami Dolphins. He is heading into his fourth year in the league and has only played in four games—none as a starter—so this is more than likely a make or break year for McChesney to make a greater contribution.

Mitch Ericson and Pat Murray also hope to make an impression at the position.

Seth Olsen is a new era hopeful after being obtained in the fourth round as the Broncos’ seventh overall pick. His size is impressive at 6’ 4” and 306 pounds. He’s said to have good technical skills and the ability to go toe-to-toe, but is not a great athlete.

This impedes his lateral and second-level movements. As with many rookie offensive linemen, he may be a developmental project for the future as he develops more athletically.

Offensive Tackle

The Broncos, on the whole, are a youth movement.

This position in particular may have the most youth, boasting five of seven tackles being in their rookie or second year in the league. Add third year pro Ryan Harris to the mix and that makes six out of seven with less than three seasons in the NFL. Don’t let that statistic fool you with this group.

In only his second NFL season, Ryan Clady has already become an elder statesman at his position. The left tackle position has to be solid there because that is where the backdoor blitzes and various forms of pressure generally originate against right handed gun slingers.

Clady proved he could handle his own and then some last year as the Broncos number one pick in the 2008 draft, taking over for Matt Lepsis who retired. He finished last season third in the voting for the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award behind Atlanta quarterback sensation Matt Ryan and Titan running back Chris Johnson.

If you check his statistics, it’s not a misprint that he surrendered zero sacks last year. Probably the only reason he wasn’t the rookie of the year is because he’s not a quarterback or running back. Clady will be a force with many years to come.

Ryan Harris comes into this season with one season as the starting right tackle under his belt. He has compiled a total of 27 games at the position over two seasons. He should be the starter going into this season at right tackle.

Brandon Gorin comes to Denver as a journeyman offensive tackle who has played for the likes of San Diego, New England, Arizona, and St. Louis. He has compiled 26 starts over six seasons. At 6’ 6” and 308 pounds he could make an impact at the position. He will contend to make the roster while adding valuable experience to the team.

Local sensation and CU Buff standout Tyler Polumbus is the largest tackle in the bunch at 6’ 5” and 310 pounds. He did see action in all of the Broncos’ games last season and has shown promise, primarily on special teams.

Clint Oldenburg is a second year tackle out of Colorado State. He saw action in two games for the Jets during his rookie campaign last season. He’s probably an outside shot to make the team,  but he does have good size at 6’ 5” and 300 pounds.

The Broncos also signed Stanley Bryant who could add depth at the left tackle position.  He is the lightest lineman coming into camp weighing 282 pounds for his 6’ 5” frame and is said to be a good character to have around.

Marcus Gordon was also signed as a free agent out of Kentucky State where he transferred to from Penn State.

Tight End

This position will carry out the Broncos’ current ideology to be a more physical version of a balanced attack. With the advent of the Pittsburgh Steelers physical attack, double tight end sets are becoming vogue once again.

Tight end Tony Scheffler was rumored to be on the trading block early in the offseason.  As the Jay Cutler situation prevailed, Scheffler was said to be considering a holdout. To date, none of those reports have transpired even though he might remain silently on the trading block.

Scheffler is one of five fighting for a roster spot in this position. He probably has the best hands of the bunch and the best transitional skills as well. It’s hard to say the Broncos would retain all five tight ends; however four is not entirely out of the question with a physical run game in the mix.

Daniel Graham is already in his eighth season out of Colorado. He has already played a majority of his career with the New England Patriots and is a near can’t miss in coach McDaniels’ new system.

Graham was primarily used as a blocker in coach Shanahan’s system to help compensate for a less aggressive approach up front. With some of that mindset changing a bit, some of that pressure could be taken off of Graham which could open him up for more receptions.

Former Bronco, Texan, and Seahawk Jeb Putzier found his way back on the Broncos roster after being released by Seattle. He appeared in six games for Seattle and two for Denver but did not have a single reception. His best years in the league came in Denver in 2004-05 when he had 36 and 37 receptions, respectively, that totaled over 1,000 yards during that period.

One of the Broncos’ most controversial picks came in selecting North Carolina’s Richard Quinn in this year’s draft. He was projected to go between the fifth and seventh rounds, which caused a stir.

This is one pick not to be overlooked, however. Quinn is the biggest tight end at 6’ 5” and 260 pounds—a great blocker who has the potential to do something special at the position.

An additional bookend was picked up in Marquez Branson out of Central Arkansas. He is probably more of a true H-back adding a developmental guy at the position.

Wide Out

The wide receiver position boasts of having the most roster spots going into camp with a whopping eleven receivers getting a look at the position.

Brandon Marshall has been “the guy” in Denver at wideout, but it is also obvious his on- and off-the-field antics have fallen under review. Marshall may have to miss as many as eight games for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy again.

With that in mind, Jay Cutler’s favorite target no longer has his quarterback. Brandon also noted that there was no fallout between the two even though there was obvious discord at the end of the last game blowout in San Diego.

How Marshall is used may well depend on how devoted to the team concept he is, as well as his off-the-field conduct.  If he doesn’t buy into the new system, another blockbuster trade may be in the works.

Last year’s sensation Eddie Royal has already shown he could be the greatest slot receiver in the league this season. What’s just as valuable is Royal’s locker room presence—a true character guy who worked hard from day one and found himself as the starter on the outside.

Realistically, Eddie’s best position on the field is on the inside where he can create automatic mismatches with much slower safeties and linebackers.

Jabar Gaffney was signed away from New England and may have been the final straw or parting shot that lead coach Belichick to foil Matt Cassel’s trade to Denver.

Gaffney is a serviceable receiver who has an astounding 12.0 yards per reception. This is not an overwhelming number, for a journeyman-type of receiver, that is. By comparison, Terrell Owens has averaged 14.8 yards per catch and Brandon Marshall has averaged 12.8 yards per catch.

The Broncos also have depth in the slot with Brandon Stokley who is entering his third year with the team and eleventh in the league. He’s a staple receiver with great hands and a knack for getting open but may be in a dog fight to keep his job.

As Denver continues to search for solid size and speed at the outside receiver position, the team drafted Kenny McKinley out of South Carolina and later signed Travis Shelton (Temple), David Grimes (Notre Dame), Lucas Taylor (Tennessee), and Nate Swift (Nebraska) to complement last year’s acquisitions of Chad Jackson (Florida) and Matt Willis (UCLA) to battle for the remaining roster spots.

 

Running back

Coach McDaniels took the draft by surprise (along with much of the Broncos’ following) when he selected Knowshon Moreno (Georgia) with the twelfth pick in this year’s draft. 

Moreno actually made one of YouTube’s greatest highlight video’s last season as he hurdled a Central Michigan defender 25 yards down field on his way to a big gain. While not officially the starter, he is projected to become the starter sometime soon. 

Unlike many of the other positions, the running back position is fairly well mapped out.    With Moreno the projected starter, Correll Buckhalter would be the second string tailback. J.J. Arrington would be the solid third down back while LaMont Jordan is the short yardage specialist, with the addition of last year’s surprise sensations Peyton Hillis and Spencer Larsen at fullback.

That said, the Broncos are also taking a look at Kestahn Moore (Florida), Ryan Torain, who was injured early in his return to the team last year, and Darius Walker a recent free agent signing from the Houston Texans.

 

Quarterback

This position will no doubt look very different with the absence of Jay Cutler. With coach McDaniels running his new system with marginal quarterback talent, the template is set to be a ball control, physical, running offense with the ability to choose their spots on the field to throw the ball. 

While both Kyle Orton and Chris Simms appear destined to be the upbeat number one and two, forgive the fans if they seem less than excited. The quarterback position, much like coach McDaniels, will have to produce points and victories in order to win the fan base after this tumultuous and overly dramatic offseason.

Kyle Orton may not be the next coming Broncos fans have hoped for, but he may just become the game manager they desperately need with a nod to the offensive scheme. 

In fact, Orton may remind Broncos fans more of Craig Morton or Charlie Johnson than any other quarterback in recent memory.  He’s not the best athlete, but his numbers were very respectable last season and fell only a shade behind Jay Cutler’s statistics.

The mere fact that Chris Simms is still alive and able to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL speaks volumes about his drive to live and to compete. Simms never panned out as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers future starter but could become a serious threat to Orton if things start to go his way.

Denver also picked up a gunslinger in Tom Brandstater out of Fresno State in the sixth round of this years draft.  He’s tall, rangy, and fairly solid as he could be a contender as the future starter at the position. 

He threw for over 2,600 yards each of his last two years in college. He also finished with quarterback ratings over 140 and 129 points respectively for each of those last two seasons.

 

Kicker

Currently Matt Prater is the only kicker listed on the roster. Don’t expect that to hold if Matt shows any further signs of being inconsistent during the mini-camps and pre-season as he struggled late in 2008. 

On the up side, Matt Prater impressed early last season with some of his long field goals, his furthest coming from 56 yards out.

To be continued tomorrow when we review the defense.

Sponsored Links

Buy Denver Broncos Tickets, NFL Tickets, Football Tickets and Sports Tickets at StubPass.com.

BroncosZone Latest

• The Denver Broncos Must Face Their New Reality
• Denver Broncos: The Beginning of a New Era, Or The Beginning of the End?
• Hey Denver, Where’s the Love for Josh McDaniels?
• Josh McDaniels Is the Poster Boy for “Too Much, Too Soon”
• Denver Wide Receiver Brandon Marshall: “I Love Being a Bronco”