Depth Chart Quandaries

Denver released their first ‘official’ depth chart on Monday, which has poised more questions than it answered. Let’s take a look?

OFFENSE:
WR: 14 Brandon Stokley – 15 Brandon Marshall – 12 Domenik Hixon
LT: 78 Matt Lepsis – 74 Ryan Harris (injured)
LG: 50 Ben Hamilton (injured) – 62 Chris Myers
C: 66 Tom Nalen
RG: 77 Chris Kuper – 70 Montrae Holland
RT: 64 Erik Pears – 75 Adam Meadows (injured)
TE: 89 Daniel Graham – 82 Stephen Alexander – 88 Tony Scheffler – 81 Nate Jackson
WR: 84 Javon Walker – 86 Brian Clark
QB: 6 Jay Cutler – 8 Patrick Ramsey
RB: 20 Travis Henry – 37 Cecil Sapp – 30 Mike Bell – 23 Andre Hall – 35 Selvin Young
FB: 26 Paul Smith

WIDEOUTS:
For the first time in his professional career Brandon Stokley will start as the 2nd WR. He will start directly across from Javon Walker. Brandon Marshall and Brian Clark are listed as 3rd and 4th respectively, with Domenik Hixon rounding out the group (although Hixon will get plenty of touches in the returning game). This leaves us a man short of our average six wideouts (we’ve had either 6-7 since 2002). I guess, my boy Nate Jackson could fill in if necessary. He has played WR before converting to TE. And then there’s Rod Smith, who might be back by mid-season. Either way, I feel very comfortable about this unit heading into the season.

QUARTERBACKS:
No brainer here. Cutler followed by Ramsey. Hackney has landed on the PS.

RUNNING BACKS:
Ok, this one’s strange… five running backs and one fullback (who hasn’t started at FB before). I think what we have here is a Mike Shanahan Special. Meaning, he can keep his official starting order a secret longer by mudding the waters by listing all these guys as RB’s.

Travis Henry is obviously the starter. Cecil Sapp ran with the 2nd Team at RB, but has been a solid FB. Mike Bell has been told he’s going to be converted to a FB (although that will probably take a bit of time for him to adjust). Since Paul Smith hasn’t been in our system very long, I would imagine our starting line up will see Travis Henry at RB with Cecil Sapp at FB. That might be a very frightening thing for opposing team defenses, really!

My fan favorite, Andre Hall, must have proven enough to not only stick around but to be listed over Selvin Young on this list. Now, I know that probably doesn’t mean much, but I think Hall works best as a change of pace back to Henry.

Here is what I would assume (read: like) to see on Sunday:

RB: Travis Henry, Andre Hall*, Selvin Young (not activated)
FB: Cecil Sapp, Mike Bell*, Paul Smith* (although you might switch Bell and Smith if you want).

*special teams players.

TIGHTENDS:
Again, I think we have some Shananigans going on in this line up. Yes, Daniel Graham will be an almost every down TE, but Tony Scheffler will obviously be getting more playing time than Stephen Alexander. Also, I must note, that Nate Jackson has started all four preseason games (and done well). I know that Tony was injured for some of those, but I can’t imagine Jackson not having the edge on Alexander.

O-LINE:
Nothing much surprising here, except Kuper getting listed ahead of Montrae Holland. Kyle has mentioned his man-love for Holland, and having looked at the tape I have to agree that he’s a stud. However, we don’t get to see the daily practices, which Shanahan always says weights heavily into the final starting roster. Like, Nate Jackson, Montrae has been listed low, but started high this preseason… maybe that will continue in the regular season.

The issue I have with this unit is depth. With the newly released info on Hamilton’s injury keeping him out for at least another two weeks and the continuing injuries of Ryan Harris and Adam Meadows, we have only one man beyond our starting six players – that’s scary!

DEFENSE:
LE: 60 John Engelberger – 96 Tim Crowder
LT: 95 Sam Adams – 93 Antwon Burton
RT: 63 Amon Gordon – 79 Marcus Thomas – 99 Alvin McKinley
RE: 92 Elvis Dumervil – 94 Jarvis Moss
WLB: 52 Ian Gold – 51 Wesly Mallard
MLB: 55 D.J. Williams – 54 D.D. Lewis
SLB: 58 Nate Webster – 53 Louis Green
LCB: 24 Champ Bailey – 41 Karl Paymah – 28 Jeff Shoate
RCB: 32 Dr̩ Bly Р22 Domonique Foxworth
SS: 25 Nick Ferguson – 40 Curome Cox
FS: 47 John Lynch – 21 Hamza Abdullah

LINEBACKERS:
If this list is to be taken as final, Nate Webster has been awarded the starting nod at SAM LB. Throughout Camp and the preseason SAM saw everyone on the LB roster rotate in and out. That may have played into the lack of productivity from our LB group, but now that Webster has the start maybe our defense can begin building some chemistry.

With Webster getting the start at SAM, that leaves D.D. Lewis to back up D.J. Williams. Webster has been our backup MIKE LB and would be natural choice should Williams go down. However, with his own starting position secured, Lewis gets the backup MIKE slot with Mallard and Green covering the others (both contribute heavily to Special Teams).

CORNER BACKS:
Champ Bailey and Dre Bly will start – surprise! :)

Ok, there’s no big surprise in this area. Domonique Foxworth will be our nickel back (replacing Sam Brandon), with Karl Paymah and Jeff Shoate backing up any of those three starters.

SAFETIES:
Again, no surprises here. John Lynch and Nick Ferguson are rock solid with Curome Cox and Hamza Abdullah both coming off GREAT preseasons – no concerns here.

D-LINE:
Well, I would have said that between John Engelberger and Elvis Dumervil, we have a good starting pair of DE’s. However, we just signed Simeon Rice and he will likely work his way into the starting lineup. That means one of these two won’t be starting. Engelberger has been a force during camp and the preseason, and Dumervil has proven time and time again his ability to outplay his size. It will be a difficult choice for the coaches, but great for the depth at DE (especially with the rookies Crowder and Moss learning all they can from Rice).

Now, about the DT’s… Oddly, out of this group I’ve been most impressed by Amon Gordon this preseason. That’s not saying much as the DT’s in Jim Bate’s system are not a glamorous position people often notice. Add to that the fact that our D-line has looked like cheese-cloth and there’s not much positive to say here.

We’re often told that Bate’s Tackles are supposed to occupy the O-linemen so the backs and ends can make a play. However, I also understand that this ‘zero gap’ system is very fluid and sometimes the DT’s need to disengage in order to make a tackle vs the run. In that case, Gordon seemed to do well while Adams just looked like a massive blue blob. Unfortunately, even though he’s HUGE, Adams seems to be moved out of position too easily. I just haven’t been all that impressed with our Tackles to date.

Behind the two starters (and part of what will be a heavy rotation of linemen) are Antwon Burton, Marcus Thomas and Alvin McKinley.

SPECIAL TEAMS:
P: 10 Todd Sauerbrun
K: 1 Jason Elam
KO: 10 Todd Sauerbrun
PR: 12 Domenik Hixon – 28 Jeff Shoate
KR: 12 Domenik Hixon – 23 Andre Hall – 86 Brian Clark – 30 Mike Bell
PC: 83 Mike Leach – 62 Chris Myers – 77 Chris Kuper
KC 83 Mike Leach – 77 Chris Kuper – 62 Chris Myers
H 10 Todd Sauerbrun – 6 Jay Cutler – 8 Patrick Ramsey

KICKERS:
Todd Sauerbrun and Jason Elam are set as starters. Let’s just hope Sauerbrun can improve on his preseason performances.

RETURNERS:
Domenik Hixon will get chances to return both kick-offs and punts according to this depth chart. Andre Hall is an interesting backup to Hixon on kick-offs, as I would imagine his skills better suited for punt work. Either way, he’s listed behind Hixon on kick-offs while Jeff Shoate backs up Hixon on punts. Brian Clark and FB Mike Bell also make the depth chart under kick-off returners.