2009 Offseason: Be the Coach

All i know is that i want Hillis to be our RB.

so much to do, so little time to do it. the most important step has already been taken in getting rid of Shanahan and most of the staff.

step 1. rebuild the defense!!! cut Dewayne Robertson, Kenny Peterson, Carlton Powell, Nate Webster, Niko Koutouvides. redo Bly and Boss Baileys contract.

sign Terrell Suggs to play OLB in the 3-4, move Dj Williams inside to go with Larsen and move Moss outside to play OLB in the 3-4.

draft BJ Raji in the first round to play NT in the 3-4. draft Patrick Chung to play SS in the second round. draft Senderick Marks to play 3-4 DE in the 3rd round. my starting 3-4 alignment:

DL-Marcus Thomas, BJ Raji and Senderick Marks. (if these two were drafted)

LB- Suggs (if signed) DJ Williams, Larsen and Moss

secondary- Bly, Bailey, Barrett and Chung. (if chung is drafted)

thats just on the defensive side.

offense: teach Cutler the art of the checkdown pass.

keep Hillis as the fulltime RB. he can run as well as block and catch passes. another benefit of Cutler learning the checkdown play.

resign Marshall, Kuper and Harris to new longterm contracts. according to sources we are 30 million under the cap so there is money to go around. also resign Casey Weigmann to a one year deal to mentor Lichtensteiger for another year.

make Eddie Royal JUST the number 2 receiver and turn over all kick return duties to Aldridge when he comes back.

cut Ryan Torain, Hall, Young and Bell.

my starting offensive alignment:

QB- Cutler
RB- Hillis
WR- Marshall, Royal and Stokley
TE- Scheffler and Graham
OL- Clady, Hamilton, Weigmann (if resigned), Kuper and Harris.

ok now i know alot of you will whine about why i dont have Woodyard and Dumervil on my starting 3-4 defense. here is the reason. Dumervil is a situational guy and Woodyard is gonna be a ST teams player this year while coming in on certain situations.

Well we obviously we need to rebuild the defense, so I would say with the 12th pick we should draft Ray Maualuga who would bring leadership and tremendous tackling to the defense. If we can somehow find a way to lure Julius Peppers to Denver Mike nolan can find ways to let him loose. Perhaps even a guy like Derrick Ward can come in and help solidify our RB corps as he would bring experience and big-game mentality to our offense. I say release Dre and use that money for Peppers. We need to target a safety maybe somebody like Nick Collins from Green Bay who can play deep while Barrett plays in the Box. Give jarvis an opportunity as a pass rush specialist in a 3-4. I think Dumervil would be a beast in a 3-4 his skill set and size are very similar to James Harrison’s from the steelers. Thankfully our offense is very solid and very young all around which is absolutely crucial. Remember we were 8-8 with the 30th ranked defense, all we really have to do is maybe move up to the 15th or 16th ranked defense and who knows that could give us a 10-6 record and we can challenge for the division. San Diego is good but they are not that good, they got hot late and we collapsed, we can win the division next year if we can put a couple playmakers on defense on the field and shore up our redzone offense with a solid running back. The biggest key is not to put all the pressure on Jay he cannot and will not do everything for us it is very similar to Elway in his early days when he was a one man show. Then we got TD and the Superbowls came. Honestly Bronco fans we have to try to shape ourselves like the Cardinals, beast offense with weapons all around and not a solid defense but a playmaking defense that causes turnovers and we would be able to beat anyone. The great thing about the NFL is that nobody knows what will happen so keep supporting the Broncos and hope that McDaniels and Co can continue to put a solid team on the field.

BJ Raji has been explosive so far at the senior bowl. I liked Rey M. from usc but we definitely need a nose tackle like BJ. NO RUNNING BACKS PLEASE

I want Ray Malaloga and to sign Suggs with a switch to the 3-4. Lets cut Bly and and sign a FA safety, there are a couple good ones this year.

I think Torian deserves a shot to compete in training camp and being in a two RB league he will make a great tandem with Hillis.

i think the starting RB should be peyton hillis, or Torain. Then I would like to draft either Ray Maulauga, or James Laurinitis(MLB Ohio State), or if Malcolm Jenkins somehow slips into our hands(CB Ohio State)

In the draft I skip on Rey Maualuga and trade down to about 20th. At that point we take Clint Sintim as an inside linebacker , even though some people are projecting him as a Sam in a 4-3 D. With our now first 2nd round choice we take tyson Jackson a 6’5″ 290 DE from LSU.
Our Second 2nd rounder is Ron Brace NT 6’3″ 325 from Boston College. Our third round choice is James Davis RB Clemson 5’11” 210.

Haven’t figured out what to do in the 4th or beyond yet but one kid from Iowa has treaked my curiousity. His name is Mitch King a 6’3″ 280 DE who was big time productive for the Hawkeyes and started out as a LB. Reviews I’ve read about him compare him to Aaron Kampman and Jason Babineau. Could be a real terror as a pass rush LB. Definitely a big time depth guy for the front 7.

As far as free agency goes, one name that would help us would be Dunta Robinson CB Houston Texans. For about the same money, we can get younger, stonger, and most importantly we can GET RID OF BLY.

Our Dline becomes RDE the kid from LSU, NT Brace from BC, and LDE whomever survives at training camp(We got Ryan McBean 6’5″ 290 DE from OK St, that didn’t make it as a draft choice of the Steelers could be the guy). Our Linebackers become DJ and Winborn on the outside, with Larson and Sintim in the middle. Hell, even if we aren’t any better than last year we are at least much yonger,and bigger. What about safety? Josh Barrett for depth at Strong, Wesley Woodyard to start there, and a FA pickup and a rookie to be determined at Free.

Players to S*** Can are:

Engleberger – no place in a 3-4 and Nolan cut him once already.
Webster – let him walk in FA.
Boss Bailey – why did we sign him exactly? Big salary, no production
Karl Pamah – just another failed Shanahan CB.
Louis Greene – what has he done since he’s been here?
Dre Bly – because he’s expensive and he STINKS.
Niko – Certainly a monster Mike Backer. NOT!
Dewayne Robertson – He’s not worth the 4 mill bonus to stay.
Marquand Manual – doesn’t know where to stand in the mens romm or on the field
Marlon McCree – SD let him go for a reason. We should too.
Andre Hall – no place for him at the Inn.
Selvin Young – 2000 yard and all, pulled a Hammy on news of his release.
Nate Jackson – we now have Putzier back, and he can’t block either.

I was watching the senior bowl practice yesterday and was blown away by Evander Hood. In a drill meant to showcase DL’s he was one of the best. Raji ended up on the ground more than a couple of times. I am not sold on Raji. In the clip that I watched of him he seemed inconsistant at times, and worse yet, his heart has been called in to question many times by various scouts.

I would rather take Hood in RD 2. At 298 he plays with a fire and constant motor. Trade down in 1 and take someone like Aaron Maybin from Penn State or Micheal Johnson from Georgia Tech. i am also looking at Nic Harris from OU in rd 3.

Either way, I am not sure we want to field someone with character or commitment issues on a rebuilding defense.

Who do we draft? Rey Maualuga!!!!!!
Free Agency? Julius Peppers!!!!!!
Starting Lineups? Since we are moving to the 4-3 I want Woodyard to be that 4th Linebacker. Other than that I might want to see Josh Bell get the start at CB over Bly to spice things up a bit.
Kick to the Curb? Webster, and McCree!!!!
Running Back? I say we give it to Hillis and let him run with it.
Defense? Let’s shore it up in the draft, get some key players out there in the first and second rounds.

i agree with kerry 99.7% i wouldn’t cut tatum bell kenny petterson or carlton powell. Tatum bell was the only back that lasted without injury and isnt a horrible back. by no means i say we give a starting job just keep him around as a security back. kenny petterson would be a perfect DE in the 3-4 D. and we should cut carlton powell if we dont know what he brings to the table.

But kerry’s on que with everything else.

And cut Ryan “Glass” Torrain and Patrick Ramsey.

Give Carlton Powell and chance to find a place on the roster in training camp.

I also sign Luke McCown or Kyle Boller, in that order, to compete with Hackney for the backup QB spot.

Roy
Todd Mcshay had this to say about Bj Raji
“On Monday, we said that Boston College DT B.J. Raji is the clear frontrunner to emerge as the top lineman, defensive or offensive, prospect in his class by the time we leave Mobile. After this morning’s practice, we now feel that he is one of the top two or three prospects here regardless of position. Raji continues to showcase his rare blend of size, burst and agility and he manhandled highly-touted Oregon C Max Unger on more than one occasion. In fact, he got under Unger’s pads, drove him back and then put him on his back on one snap during one-on-one pass rushing drills.

from seeing raji in person this year… he’s pretty good. i’d be ok taking him at 12 if we are going to go to a 3-4 and looking for lb help later in the draft.

i’d get rid of bell, chances are if we needed him we could sign him out of the aurora mall again. especially if we do use a draft pick on a rb… i would think he goes, and maybe young too. we ‘should’ be ok with torain, hillis, hall, alridge and a draft pick rb…. but who knows.

someone mentioned getting rid of graham, i’d be ok with that… we gave him a bunch of money and he really cant catch… sure he had some good td catches late in the season, but he had a heck of a lot of dropped balls. NE let him walk because he couldnt catch in a passing offense, we have plenty of tight ends who can catch better than him- in fact i think that they all can.

playing a 3-4 usually needs you have better athletes at the LB position, that being said I want them to draft Rey M … Raji will be gone I think by 12 … Rey and DJ in the middle? Terrell Suggs and Woodyard on the outside … thats an improvement … Boss Bailey could work out stilll somehow

flbronc Getting rid of graham would be a big mistake. Graham’s pass catching is very good, but his blocking is superior. We don’t have any other blocking tight ends. Putzier’s blocking is fair at best and sheffler’s blocking is non existant, Nate’s blocking, makes shef look good.. Did we pay too much for his services, maybe, maybe not. By the way the Patriots didn’t let him go as much as we outbid them for his services.

dee Think of Rey M in the middle with Spenser Larson, keep DJ outside, it’s where he belongs.

I agree with Richard. Graham left NE because he is from Denver and wanted to play for his home team. He was not ousted. He is also the BEST blocking TE in the league, and that is why he was signed. Anything else that we get from him above and beyond that is a bonus.

Richard … that might be good, but where does that leave Woodyard? FREE SAFETY?

Woodyard is not a starter, yet. Maybe as a situational ILB on passing downs.

“trade xxxx”, “trade YYY”, “trade zzz” . Ya’ll think other teams are enamored about denver players, even though denver isn’t? C’mon! If they’re late in their careers, you CUT them! Nobody is going to trade for a longlipped CB!

Unger has looked horrible at the Senior Bowl practices, so don’t use him as a ‘gauge’. A Mack is looking much better.

Matthews Jr. is turning heads.

Ray M doesn’t sound like he’s very good in coverage.

Holati Ngota’s cuz is making waves. (Moala)

There’s a 6’1″ 235# rb that’s turning heads, small school-can’t remember his name. Jennings, from Liberty?

Brown or Orapko would be nice as OLB’s, if the 3-4 is finalized.
Brace or Raji would be nice as Dlinemen.
Duke Robinson for Oline.
Nic Harris will definitely put a hurt on a wr, but I’m not sure of his cover skills.

Another name out there is Connor Barwin, 6’3″ 250#, Cincinnati. He’s an athlete, avgd. 16/10 with the basketball team. He’s listed as a TE, but played DE last year and led the team in sacks with 11. He could easily be a 3-4 OLB, play #3TE, ST’s and DE in a 4-3. Keep his name handy. You heard it here.

One thing I hope people remember, is for the most part, NE usually drafted unsung players that were multi-dimensional. Overperformers that fit well in today’s cap. Don’t be alarmed if they don’t grab many big names.

Amen Brian.

Brian Couldn’t agree more about the passion. Passonless D is 29th ranked D. Leadreship has been a problem for us ever since Al Wilason was taken off the field on a stretcher in 2006. Accountability has been in short supply since Lynch was shown the door. And intensity has been missing for the last 5 years.

Rcsodak the guy from cinci, Connor Barwin, where do you see him getting drafted? 2nd day? 5th,6th round? I agree with your assessment of older players getting cut. Too many of us Broncophiles overvalue some of the players that aren’t cutting it here. Foxworth to Atlanta comes to mind. Of course I would like it if they resign him so we can get a 6th instead of a 7th. Then we can pick up your DE from cinci.