On Monday, Denver Broncos guard Zane Beadles and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas were added to the Pro Bowl roster as first alternates.

Beadles and Thomas will be replacing New England’s Logan Mankins and Wes Welker, who both withdrew from the game with injuries.  The Broncos’ Ryan Clady also withdrew from the game last week with a shoulder injury.

Beadles and Thomas will both be making their Pro Bowl debuts, joining Denver’s coaching staff, quarterback Peyton Manning, cornerback Champ Bailey, outside linebacker Von Miller, and defensive end Elvis Dumervil.  A total of six Broncos are expected to participate in the game.

The Pro Bowl will kickoff next Sunday (January 27th) at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.

New Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp.

Greg Knapp‘s exit out of the AFC West didn’t last long.

Two weeks after he was fired as offensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders, Knapp has been tapped to coach quarterbacks for the Denver Broncos, likely completing their coaching moves this offseason. The role of QB Coach was opened after Adam Gase was promoted from that position to offensive coordinator. The previous Broncos offensive coordinator, Mike McCoy, accepted the San Diego Chargers‘ head coaching position.

Clearly this division likes to keep its coaching trees all in the family.

“Greg is a proven, experienced coach with a very impressive background working with quarterbacks,” head coach John Fox said in a statement. “He’s had success with Pro Bowlers and established players while also being instrumental in the development of younger quarterbacks. I’ve coached against him for a number of years and have a lot of respect for him. We are pleased to add someone of his caliber to our coaching staff.”

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(Cartoon courtesy of DrewLitton.com)

The Denver Broncos 2013 coaching staff is almost completely assembled.

The Broncos lost former offensive coordinator Mike McCoy to San Diego, replaced him with quarterbacks coach Adam Gase (shortly thereafter, Ken Whisenhunt, one of Denver’s OC candidates also signed with San Diego), blocked the Chargers from hiring Matt Russell as their next general manager, let secondary coach Ron Milus go and replaced him with defensive quality control coach Cory Undlin.

Conclusions:  San Diego really likes Denver’s coaching staff and the Broncos still need a quarterbacks coach.  Want to bet San Diego will hire whichever QB coach Denver targets and makes him their own offensive consultant?

In all seriousness, the Broncos do need a QB coach and Gase is going to help them find one.

“We’ll bring somebody in,” said Gase.  “We’ll talk to some guys.  Coach (John) Fox, John Elway and myself, we’ll talk to some guys and figure out who the best fit for us is.”

The coaching carousel should be ending soon for the Broncos.  Frankly, it will be nice to not have to worry about who-will-replace-who anymore.

(Photo: Steve Nehf/The Denver Post)

After the Denver Broncos promoted quarterbacks coach Adam Gase to offensive coordinator on Thursday morning, Gase told reports he wants Denver’s offense to put the “pedal to the metal” with quarterback Peyton Manning in 2013.

Obviously, that is something fans in Denver love to hear.  Not only does it excite the fans, but also a player that the Broncos will not want to lose this offseason.

Offensive tackle Ryan Clady allowed just one sack this season, and to keep himself healthy going into free agency, he has opted to skip the 2013 Pro Bowl.  In the final year of his contract, Clady will want big money to stay in Denver, but was excited to see Gase’s quote, re-tweeting PFT’s story simply stating: “Nice.”

Nice enough to convince him to stay in Denver?  Probably.  Nice enough to cause him to not force Denver to use their franchise tag on him this summer?  Probably not.

But the fact is, Clady performed well with Manning as his quarterback in 2012. And with the offense primed to be faster paced in 2013, Clady has no reason to leave.

Per the team, here’s a look at the players that spent time on a practice squad last season that are guaranteed to receive an invitation to Denver’s training camp this summer:

DENVER BRONCOS 2013 FUTURE CONTRACT SIGNEES:

G Justin Boren

WR Gerell Robinson

T Paul Cornick

DT Ben Garland

S Duke Ihenacho

RB Jeremiah Johnson

G Quentin Saulsberry

S Blake Gideon

Robinson and Garland are the two most notable players on the list, both fan favorites that performed well in the preseason last fall.  These players are not household names, but they’re all working hard to make themselves known, to their teammates and coaches first, and the rest of the NFL second.

Adam Gase and Peyton Manning during Denver Broncos training camp in 2012. (REUTERS/Mark Leffingwell)

New Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase has made the promise most fans want to hear: unleash the offense.

Gase: “We’re looking to go pedal to the metal, play as fast as possible, be aggressive & score as many points as possible every game.”

— Gray Caldwell (@GrayCaldwell) January 17, 2013

Gase continued: “(We are looking to) put Peyton Manning in a position to play as fast as he can play.”

That’s pretty fast. With another year on this squad under his belt, and possibly even further recovery from his multiple neck surgeries, that could be even faster.

Fast enough to, say, drive 50 yards in 31 seconds with two timeouts.

This horse died a few days ago, but we are going to beat it some more.

The game is over, the refs made the calls that they made, and Broncos players can only use the game as motivation moving forward.  After watching the video above, though, it is shocking to realize that not only did Dan Dierdorf play in the NFL for 13 seasons, he was a six-time Pro Bowl selection.

Apparently, linemen do not know all too much about the rules of football, or in Dierdorf’s case, any.

As we reported earlier, the Denver Broncos have promoted Adam Gase to offensive coordinator, replacing Mike McCoy. They’ve now officially announced the move, and the press release was full of enough interesting nuggets that we thought we’d pass it along to you.

Check it after the jump.

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Peyton Manning talks with his position coach Adam Gase during 2012 training camp. (Andrew Mason/MaxDenver.com)

The Denver Broncos have filled the hole left by Mike McCoy‘s hiring as head coach of the San Diego Chargers, promoting Adam Gase to offensive coordinator, the Denver Post reports.

Gase, 34, has spent the past four years with the Broncos, first as a wide receivers coach for two years, then as QB coach the past two years. Gase also had stints in Detroit and San Francisco, boasting over eight years of NFL coaching experience.

Gase won over other candidates the Broncos were considering, including Ken Whisenhunt. He is expected to call plays, while the team will be looking for a QB coach.

In other news, Peyton Manning is still Broncos offensive coordinator…

(Photo: Indianapolis Star)

For background information on all of the candidates to replace Mike McCoy in Denver, see our Ultimate Offensive Coordinator Fan Guide.

On Tuesday, the Broncos lost offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, who signed with the Chargers to become their next head coach.  Denver must now seek McCoy’s replacement.

One reporter, CBS‘ Vic Lombardi, says he was told it could take up to two weeks for the Broncos to name an offensive coordinator, which means it could happen tomorrow.  Among the candidates to get the job is former Colts offensive coordinator Tom Moore, who was an offensive consultant for the Titans last season.

Moore told Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (via PFT) that he will not be returning to Tennessee and wants to be an offensive coordinator again.

“I’d like to get a job as an offensive coordinator in the National Football League,” said Moore.  “I don’t know if that is going to transpire or if that is going to happen, but that’s what I want to do. I don’t want it to be a deep, dark secret.  If it doesn’t, I certainly haven’t been cheated, but that is what I would like to do.  Anyone that’s open, I’m interested.”

Well, let’s see, who has an offensive coordinator position opening and an offense that Moore could run?  Oh!  Click here to read the rest of this entry »