Shanahan Says a Mouthful at Owner’s Meetings

Mike Shanahan has broken his offseason silence of three months, announcing the reasons behind several moves this offseason while giving fans a glimpse of what they can expect from their team’s lineup in 2008. In a quick discussion at the Owner’s Meetings, Shanahan talked about the future of the team’s linebackers, wide receivers, and offensive line, among others:

• First, Shanny said firing Ted Sundquist was “a very tough decision.” He felt it was necessary for the team to move on after two poor seasons.
• No surprise here, but Brandon Marshall should be good to go.
• As many speculated (sorry Jonathan), D.J. Williams will slide back to his weak side linebacker spot. Niko Koutouvides will fill in at Mike, and Boss Bailey will play Sam.
• Shanahan said that newly acquired WR Keary Colbert reminds him of Ed McCaffrey, and expects him to start in the Broncos offense. “I like the type of person he is, you could see the way he played in the running game and the passing game, that’s what we look for in a player.” 
• If the Broncos were to play a game today, the offensive line wouldn’t line up as you would expect. Chris Kuper would get the nod at LT, the interior would read Ben Hamilton, Tom Nalen, and Montrae Holland at LG, C, and RG respectively, and Eric Pears would hold RT. “It will depend on how we go through (offseason workouts), but Kuper would probably get the nod over (Ryan) Harris because of how he played last year.”

No surprise with the linebackers. Shanahan’s endorsement of Colbert was a bit of a surprise… I know he signed the guy, but to speak that highly of him off the bat caught me a little off guard.

The big news is the offensive line, where Chris Kuper has trumped Ryan Harris on the early, early depth chart. This sounds like a typical fire-lighting under Harris’ ass, for which Shanahan is well known. I had heard rumors that Kuper might get a chance to play at LT… it’s very surprising to hear that he’s the guy this early, though. Everything I had heard up to this point was that the Broncos were glowing with Ryan Harris.

Good job, Shanahan! If you intended to throw out mixed pre-draft signals to throw everyone off, you’ve done a helluva job!

In the end, though, I’m convinced that the Broncos have to use their opportunity this April to draft a top tier offensive tackle.

Shanahan: Marshall to be Ready; Williams to Switch [Rocky Mountain News]