Dissecting Jeremy Green’s ESPN Article

After reading the morning Broncos news, Kyle and I have decided that Jeremy Green’s article entitled Broncos Heading in the Wrong Direction came off, well, elementary at best. With that, below is a discourse of our take on Mr. Greens evaluation.

Kyle: This piece was part of a series of articles meant to explore each team’s needs and who they would likely choose come draft day. You know what I find insanely funny? The word ‘draft’ was never mentioned in the article. Not once. Neither was the word ’round,’ as in ‘first round’, except for one instance where he talks about Chris Myers leaving for a 6th rounder. The fact of the matter is simple – Jeremy Green completely loses focus and decides to bash the Broncos at every turn. There’s no objectivity whatsoever, and he fails to back up nearly every point with any sort of logic.

1st Issue: The Sundquist Relationship

“This is a team and a franchise going in the wrong direction. The Broncos now have their third defensive coordinator in three seasons, and GM Ted Sundquist, who seldom was used in personnel decisions despite his expertise in that area, was fired.”

Kyle: Ted Sundquist wasn’t involved in personnel decisions? Are you serious? I can’t even comment on that.

Josh: The Denver Sports media has argued that Sundquist, while definitely not the end all be all in personnel decisions, certainly was moving and shaking the roster. Shanahan and Bowlen also have/had a large say so who comes and goes. This Rocky Mountain News article quotes Bowlen eluding to the case that Sundquist was behind the bulk of the large name signings during the 2007 off-season.

In this section Green also makes points that Shanahan has not made good personnel decisions and he will continue to do so until the Broncos hire a GM who will hold the reins with authority. These points are all highly debatable and opinions not fact. We don’t have a clear cut answer to who has made which personnel decision in the past few seasons, the more realistic scenario is they were run by committee like most organizations.

2nd Issue: Contradictions

Kyle: He repeatedly tells the reader that the Broncos moves this off season were insignificant, yet contradicts himself every time by not backing up his points. Boss Bailey is our best addition, yet we didn’t add one talented young player?

“Denver did not add one proven young player or a veteran who is not clearly on the downside of his career.” …

“Boss Bailey is the best free agent Denver added, but he has not played up to expectations.”

Josh: Boss Bailey has not played up to expectations? What expectations, the Lions’? We haven’t seen him play in our system yet, and I think the only expectations Denver and it’s fans are holding for Boss is that he is a marked improvement over Ian Gold and Nate Webster on the outside.

“The team cut OLB Ian Gold, whose production dropped off last season. It’s understandable why they let him go, but who takes over for him?”

Josh: Does this guy not even know how to read a depth chart? Anybody with at least a basic knowledge of the Broncos state this off season could easily tell you that D.J is moving back over to weak side to fill this role. But it seems Green does know this, he would just rather contradict himself again.

“MLB Niko Koutouvides was a backup in Seattle. He was signed in an effort to get get D.J. Williams back to WLB, where he is a better fit, but it seems like Koutouvides is a reach there.”

Kyle: I think you just answered your own question, Mr. Green. Did you seriously just ask who takes over for Ian Gold one minute before reminding the reader that D.J. moved to Will?

3rd Issue: Offensive Line Blatant Inaccuracies

“LOT Matt Lepsis, the last remaining piece of what seemed like a pretty dominant offensive line only a few years ago, has retired.”

Kyle: Matt Lepsis was the last piece of a dominant offensive line a few years ago? What happened to Tom Nalen and Ben Hamilton?

Josh: Agreed Kyle, I can’t really add much to that statement other than I think most would agree with me that Hamilton was/is one of the league’s most proven and versatile up and coming guards until he was sidelined all of last season with a concussion, but has been deemed ready to play this year. I also wouldn’t add Wiegmann to the “key additions” if anything Casey was more of a signing to build depth on the line in place of the Myers trade which Green also got wrong.

“C Casey Wiegmann, signed from Kansas City, is set to begin his 13th NFL season, but he struggled last season. How much he has left in the tank remains to be seen.”

“The team traded C Chris Myers to Houston for a sixth-round pick, even though a young Myers is a better starter than an aging Wiegmann.”

4th Issue: What analysis?

Josh: While I can’t argue with Green’s assessments that Denver is shallow at wide receiver and Keary Colbert might not have been the best pickup to fill the need, or that our defensive line is still rebuilding. (even though he doesn’t mention the potential we drafted at DE last year) It’s arguable that the safety position is still a “sore spot”. It wasn’t until last week that I knew Denver was looking at Miami’s Kenny Phillips in the draft. Niko is unproven at MLB, but we can’t say if he’s a bust yet, some Seattle insiders think we got a steal. We still have to take this article to task for a few more issues.

“S Marlon McCree is limited, and nobody should know this better than Denver, which tried to attack him twice every season when he was in San Diego.” “S Marquand Manuel parlayed one good season in Seattle into a free-agent deal with Green Bay. Denver is now his third team in four years and fourth in his six-year career.”

Josh: So safety is a weakness for the team even though they added McCree who was arguably one of the top safeties available in free agency? Again, I wouldn’t put Manuel in the “key additions”, more of a depth builder at safety, where we “sorely” needed it.

“They re-signed DEs Ebenezer Ekuban, who is 31 and coming off a torn Achilles tendon, and John Engelberger, who had 41 tackles and a sack as a backup. Engelberger is a good worker, but this team needs some players on a shaky front four.”

Josh: I don’t think this guy knows what run stopping depth at a good value is. It’s not like we went and busted the cap to re-sign these two.

“The biggest loss will be PK Jason Elam (Falcons), who has been Mr. Clutch. Denver, for the first time in more than a decade, now will learn what it feels like to hold your breath every time the kicking team walks out onto the field.”

Josh: But rather than cover what the team will do in the draft to try and fill the giant hole left by Elam, we would just rather bash the Broncos some more.

Kyle: Honestly, this may be his only valid point of the entire article. No Elam does have me quaking in my boots a bit. Too bad he missed that opportunity to provide some insight and just bash some more, as you said.

Closing Statements:

Kyle: Mr. Green appeared to have done a once-over on the Denver depth chart last year and decided to proclaim himself an expert on what the Broncos need to do this off season. Josh reminded me that sports writers need to be held accountable, and it’s blogs like these that can represent the fans and call BS when it’s clearly presented. It’s called homework, Mr. Green. Do it.

Josh: I couldn’t say it any better myself. ESPN is trying to do this series to cover all the teams and their needs before the draft. But rather than get any insight on how Denver is going to proceed, Jeremy Green would rather insult the team and the Broncos fans. Do they not employ editors over at ESPiN these days?  We put together this piece (as Kyle posted right above) to hold journalists accountable, especially when it’s the team we cover so fervently.  A writer should do some better background writing before throwing something up on the national stage.