Top 10 Breakout Performances in Denver 2007

Jay Cutler could have the biggest breakout performance leaguewide. Photo Courtesy

Jay Cutler‘s first year at the helm of the Broncos offense has all of Colorado (and beyond) thinking Super Bowl. Rod Smith‘s recent injury has left a door open for new talent to emerge. The defensive line is completely revamped, and the right side of our offensive line the past 2 years are no longer Colorado citizens.

OK – where are my Broncos, and what have you done with them?

The pressure is on our younger players to have big performances this year, and there are a lot of names for Broncos fans to get excited about. Some of them have been on the squad for a few years and have shown “flashes,” – some are going through a career-changing position switch – some are rookies and just older. These are players who have yet to “break out” on the Broncos squad who I expect will have big games this year and impact our season in a big way.

10) Marcus Thomas – DT

Much like Elvis Dumervil last year, I expect 4th-round pick Marcus Thomas to make his impact on passing downs this season. He’s an athletic freak – 300 lbs. and doing back flips. He has the athletic tools to become one of the greatest to ever play his position – but let me slow myself down and remind myself, “He’s just a rookie DT.” Defensive Tackles are statistically one of the least common rookies to make an impact in their first season, so it’s hard to hope Thomas will change our team by himself this year. But like Doomy last year, he can wreak havoc on third downs, and I expect a solid 5 sacks from this beefy freak.

9) Kyle Johnson – FB

Riddled with injury last year, I expect big things from a healthy Kyle Johnson in 2007. You could almost consider 2005 his breakout year – 6 touchdowns, nearly all from the red zone, where Mike Shanahan‘s creativity was showing how he could utilize every player on the field. After being hurt most of last year, he only scored once, but I expect Johnson to come back better than ever. We have playmakers all over our offense now, and our offense should be more explosive than ever. Johnson will be blocking for his first 1500 yard back in Travis Henry, but even with the added playmakers, I still expect 6 or 7 TDs and upwards of 300 receiving yards if Johnson stays healthy.

8) Domenik Hixon – WR, PR/KR

Last year, Domenik Hixon wasn’t healthy enough to see the field for the Broncos, but quotes from Mike Shanahan indicate that he is excited to see what Hixon can do. Last year, our punt and kickoff returns (hell, our special teams in general) ranked near the bottom of the league – but the growth of Hixon hopes to change that. Assuming he’s healthy, look for Hixon to be our star returner, and complement his special teams contributions with big plays on offense as well.

7) Tim Crowder – DE

I must have said it a hundred times by now – I expect Tim Crowder to have a bigger immediate impact than Jarvis Moss. So, at least for 2007, T-Crow makes the list where Moss does not. He was more productive than Moss and he wasn’t as big a liability in run support, and I expect him to crack the starting lineup by midseason. Our defensive line is completely revamped with cuts, additions, and draft picks – Crowder shows the most promise among the new guys on the block.

6) Domonique Foxworth – DB

Domonique Foxworth has showed flashes of brilliance his entire career in Denver. He’s also been beat quite a few times, leaving him room to improve. I would still insist that Foxworth is better than half the #2 corners in the league, but he’ll need to be in this defense. Think about it – with Champ Bailey covering John Doe #1, and Dre Bly all over Doe #2, quarterbacks will be looking toward John Doe #3 more often than they would for other teams. This makes Foxworth the most important nickelback in the NFL. Can he live up to that sort of pressure – I think he can, given his flashes and even his willingness to fill in at safety when we were decimated by injuries last season.

5) Tony Scheffler – TE

Shannon Sharpe. Tony Gonzalez. Antonio Gates. The best tight ends in the NFL have resided in the AFC West, and the Broncos haven’t seen a truly versatile tight end since Sharpe called it a career years ago. With 4 touchdowns in the last 4 games of the year, Tony Scheffler exploded to make a rookie passer-to-receiver tandem that had all of Denver blowing up with excitement. He was the leading receiver through most of the preseason, and I expect big things from him in 2007.

4) Chris Kuper – OG

Denver fans have been hearing good things about guard Chris Kuper for over a year now, and it looks like the late round pick from last year is finally going to get his shot. The right side of our offensive line is my biggest concern on our team, but Kuper looks like he could at least spare us the worry on the right side.

3) D.J. Williams – MLB

Talk about pressure – imagine being asked to fill in Al Wilson‘s shoes. D.J. Williams has already broken out at Weakside linebacker his rookie year – his production fell since Ian Gold returned, and Williams switched, but he’s athletic enough where Jim Bates wanted to get him on the field as much as possible. As the new middle linebacker of the Broncos, Williams will be asked to move sideline-to-sideline, and he will stay on nickel packages to help Domonique Foxworth handle the rest of the opposing offense. He could be a household name by the time we win Super Bowl XLII in February (yeah I said it).

2) Brandon Marshall – WR

With Terrell Owens-like talent and abilities, and Rod Smith temporarily out of the picture, will Brandon Marshall explode the way most hardcore fans believe he will? We’ve seen glimpses of his ability in the Seattle game – but can he be the #2 we’ve been missing since Ed McCaffrey left? Marshall fell in the 2006 draft, seemingly inconceivably, and the Broncos snatched him early on Day 2. We’ll know exactly what kind of player we got as he starts opposite Javon Walker this season.

1) Jay Cutler – QB

And then there was Jay. I don’t even know where to begin with Cutler – he seems to rank at the top of these lists twice a month. Everything they say COULD happen in Denver this year all depends on the success and growth of our strong-armed quarterback. I expect big things this year.

Just off the list players include Jarvis Moss and Mike Bell, but I like this edition of Top Ten Tuesdays just the way it is. We have a lot of on-the-cusp players that could break out this year; influenced by your votes, I ranked the likelihood and potential impact for you here. Next week it’s the BroncoTalk Bye Week – my week away from a computer… and while every other segment will be taking the week off, I’ve found a way to schedule a future post, and so Top Ten Tuesdays will roll on as scheduled!