Will Special Teams be Special This Year?

The Denver Broncos were one of the busiest teams in the NFL this offseason. They added several pieces on offense at different places across the roster, and they made trades and move all over the defensive side of the ball as well. But it’s rarely mentioned all of the moves the Broncos made to improve the third, but often just as important, area of the team – Special Teams.

Last year, the Broncos’ unit was worst in the league when it came to field position. We ranked 32nd – dead last – in our average start position at the 27.0-yard line. And our opponents averaged a starting position at the 33.5-yard line – a ranking of 31st in the league. It was a huge drop-off from the year before, where the Broncos consistently won the field position battle. When you consider that we were giving our opponents an average of a 6 1/2 yard advantage EVERY SINGLE SET OF DOWNS… it’s really amazing that we went 9-7 at all.

To really hit this home, consider the San Diego Chargers Sunday Night game from last year, where the Broncos saw their 24-7 3rd Quarter lead vanish in a virtual blink of an eye. Yeah, Ladainian Tomlinson lit it up, but don’t forget that Michael Turner was running all over us on Special Teams. On three of the Chargers’ last four posessions, the Chargers started with field position at their 40-yard line or better. For the game the Charger’s average starting position was the 36-yard line. The Broncos’ was the 21.

Obviously this wouldn’t be tolerated in Denver, and Mike Shanahan made several moves to make our Special Teams… well, special.

Making Moves

Scott O’Brien. Photo Courtesy

The first move the Broncos made was with the coaching staff, hiring Scott O’Brien, who is widely considered as much of a guru on Special Teams as Shanahan is to offense or new Assistant Coach Jim Bates is to the defense. He has been coaching football at the collegiate and professional level for 25 years, and he’s been head of NFL Special Teams across the league for 18 years. In 1994, he was voted by his peers as Special Teams Coach of the Year. During his six-year stint in Carolina, the Panthers scored a league-high 11 touchdowns from punt and kick returns.

Needless to say, O’Brien’s resume is impressive. But that wasn’t enough for the Broncos – filling in a need at linebacker depth, the club also signed Warrick Holdman and D.D. Lewis. Both have a knack for Special Teams, with Lewis reportedly being very impressive in that area in his years in Seattle. Then, perhaps the coup de grace, they picked up backup fullback Paul Smith from the Rams, who will make the teams on Special Teams alone. After stints in San Francisco, Detroit, and St. Louis, Smith will be expected to make the big blocks on Special Teams to help us get out of the gutter of field position.

Add the health of Domenik Hixon, our fourth round pick from last year, is definitely exciting as well. While the early, mid-season pickup of Quincy Morgan looked promising, it didn’t have the impact we were hoping it would. Give them a full training camp to compete with the likes of Brian Clark and David Kircus and we could see a real improvement in our return game.

Then, of course, there are the guys who kick the ball. Jason Elam is a future Ring of Famer, one of the best kickers in NFL history. He’s aging, but he’s still got it when it comes to field goals. Meanwhile, a camp battle is ensuing between Punters Paul Ernster and Todd Sauerbrun – many fans believe Sauerbrun has the edge, and this is probably true, but I wouldn’t count Ernster out. In the two games Sauerbrun kicked at the end of last year, Ernster actually did better in both gross and net yardage in his punts. I’m excited to see who wins out in Training Camp for starting punt duties.

A lot of moves were made this offseason in Special Teams, and hopefully the Broncos’ dreadful squad from last year will be all the better because of it.