BroncoTalk Offseason Award – Best Offseason

Finishing out the 2007 BroncoTalk Offseason Awards today, and the Best Offseason award will be given. There was a list of nominees last week, but to be honest it really came down to just New England and Denver. Both teams made a ton of moves this offseason – improving both offensively and defensively, making trades and signing free agents to improve the team. While New England probably had some of the flashiest moves of the entire offseason (trading for Randy Moss, signing Adalius Thomas), the Broncos had a bunch of smaller, under-the-radar signings for just about every position across the board. Think about it – they made at least one move involving quarterback, runningback, tight end, offensive guard, offensive tackle, wide receiver, defensive tackle, defensive end, SAM backer, WILL backer, MIKE backer, and cornerback. They also signed a rookie free agent and have proposed a trade at safety. What’s left… center?

All that being said, it came down to the wire, but ultimately the winner of the award couldn’t be argued. Vegas’ favorite come away with the First Annual BroncoTalk Offseason Award for Best Offseason.

The BroncoTalk Offseason Award for Best Offseason goes to…

The New England Patriots

Tom Brady has more weapons than ever. Photo Courtesy

The Patriots have the most improved offense in the NFL. Hands down. Their offense could be the most explosive it’s ever been behind Tom Brady. Laurence Maroney, when healthy, showed plenty of flashes. He could be a real star in this league next year, and the team cut Corey Dillon in favor of former Dolphin Sammy Morris to back him up. Meanwhile, they bounced back from the release of Daniel Graham by signing fellow block-specializing tight end Kyle Brady. Add the laundry list of other receivers (Donte Stallworth, Wes Welker, etc.) to the mix and it’s easy to see why the Pats’ offense will be all the more improved.

Then, defensively, the Patriots made probably the biggest single signing on that side of the ball by getting versatile linebacker Adalius Thomas, who has the smarts and athleticism that coach Bill Bellichick loves. They kept rising star Asante Samuel through the franchise tag, who, despite his talk of holdouts, will likely show up for training camp to continues his success.

When you consider all the moves the Patriots made, a few months after they were one game away from the Super Bowl… it’s not difficult to see why they are Vegas’ favorite to win it all.

Why the Broncos didn’t win it

We made moves all across the board. Hopefully all of these new players will be able to gel together – but that isn’t even the reason why the Broncos ended up as runner-up to the award. While both of these teams had to go through tragedies this year (Darrent Williams, Damien Nash, Marquise Hill, all 1982-2007), the Broncos lost a rising star and team leader in Williams. Fans will remember that when we were in the depths of our 4-game losing streak, it was the young Williams who was outspoken to the media, calling out his teammates and encouraging them to not give up. Our cornerback situation FINALLY looked to be set for the long term with Williams until he was tragically taken from us on New Years Day. Nash, too, was expected to have a bigger impact on the team this year as a big, bruising runningback we were missing. Losing these players hurt the team in many more ways than on the field.

Add the release of defensive captain Al Wilson, and it isn’t difficult to see how the Broncos were hurt this year. Sure, we made a ton of moves, but can you really justify saying you have the “Best Offseason” in the league when you release your best player since John Elway? More than anything, losing Wilson cast a giant shadow on our defense – now 2/3 of our linebackers are new to their position or team. Add the injury status of Rod Smith and the questions keep rising.

All the improvements without the losses would have made us the clear cut #1, but I had to take the losses of these players into account and judge accordingly. The Patriots had as good of moves, without the cuts, so they take away the award.

Well, these awards have been fun… tiring, grueling, and tedious… but fun. I’m glad they’re over, mainly because this means we’re THAT MUCH CLOSER TO SOME REAL FOOTBALL!! IT CAN’T COME SOON ENOUGH!

Next week, I’ll start breaking down the roster battles that should go down in Broncos Training Camp, replacing the BOAs on my Feed Your Fix schedule. See ya then.