BroncoTalk’s week-long Denver Broncos 2008 Season Preview kicks off today. We’ll bring you daily articles to get you ready for the 2008 season. Enjoy.

Head Coach Mike Shanahan closed the 2007 Denver Broncos 7-9 season by publicly pinning the blame on himself. Saying the team had the talent to win 10 games, Shanahan indicated he needed to do a better job preparing his players and a better job coaching to exceed that threshold.

“Well, I’m just going back to me,” Shanahan said in his season-ending press conference in January. “I’m in charge of this thing and I just think if I would have done a decent job coaching, we would have won 10 games or more. And so it goes back to me.”

His actions indicate he didn’t consider himself the only one to blame. Two of the top-decision makers for the 2007 Broncos, Assistant Head Coach/Defense Jim Bates and General Manager Ted Sundquist, were shown the door before April. Bates was offered a position as linebackers coach but ultimately resigned after crafting the worst Broncos defense in several years. Sundquist’s firing was a surprise at first, but the reasoning became clear as the growing dissonance between he and Shanahan became public.

Vocally, Shanahan may look inward for answers for the Broncos’ struggles in 2007, but professionally, he pinned the blame to an even greater extent on these men.

This leaves Shanahan alone at the top. He is solely in control of this team, and the group will only go so far as his coaching can take them. If they fail, only Shanahan is left to blame. If they triumph, Shanahan deserves lofty praise.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

On top of wide receiver Travis Wilson, the Denver Broncos also siged defensive end Ryan McBean and running back P.J. Pope.

Colorado Buffalos fans may remember Ryan McBean, who had a heck of a career playing for the Oklahoma State Cowboys as a defensive tackle. He was drafted in the fourth round in 2007 by the Pittsburgh Steelers, he only made one appearance with the Steelers last season. He has never missed a game in his career due to injury. McBean is very quick off the ball and probably best utilized in the NFL as a 3-4 defensive end.

P.J. Pope was signed by the Chicago Bears as a unsigned free agent in 2006, out of Bowling Green. Pope also spent some time with the Green Bay Packers, before being cut, in August 2007 and re-signed by the Bears.  Pope was nominated for the Doak Walker award in 2004, as a member of the Bowling Green team, in college. Another former Bear, Cedric Benson went on to win the award. Pope has yet to accumulate any stats as a player in the NFL.

Roderick Rogers (photo John Leyba/The Denver Post)

Today the Denver Broncos released sarfety Roderick Rogers to make room for their waiver claim of Calvin Lowry. The Broncos also had a waiver claim on former New Orleans Saints guard Andy Alleman, however, Alleman will be heading to the Miami Dolphins; as they also put a claim on him. Overall six teams including Denver put a claim on Alleman.

Busy day in Denver as the Broncos also signed Travis Wilson a wide receiver to their practice squad. Wilson spent training camp with the Cleveland Browns and was expected to be the third receiver on their depth chart. Wilson was drafted in the third round by the Browns in 2006. He was also one of two players featured in the documentary film Two Days in April which is available via Netflix and several other online outlets.

In former Denver Bronco news, cornerback Deltha O’Neal has signed with the New England Patriots and as one of our posters predicted in this post Ashley Lelie is now an Oakland Raider.

• S Roderick Rogers was waived to make room for Calvin Lowry.  [Rocky Mountain News]
• One more move could be coming… Domonique Foxworth to be traded?  [BroncoTalk]
• Youth movement officially in effect.  [RMN]
• That there’s a lot of linemen and linebackers, that there is.  [Denver Post]
• Brett Kern bareled edged Sam Paulescu for the punting job.  [RMN]
• Louis Green toughened out a neck injury and a thumb dislocation to make this team.  [DPO]
• Darrell Hackney can be activated at a moment’s notice from the practice squad.  [DPO]
• Anthony Alridge‘s wait must feel like a lifetime.  [DPO]
• But overall, the team is happy with where they are.  [RMN]
• “IN-COM-PLETE” is here to stay.  Thank God.  INVESCO crowds were vanilla enough.  [DPO]
• John Lynch didn’t make the Pats’ final roster.  [DPO]
• Bengals cut a few big-name former playmakers.  And Deltha O’Neal.  [Yahoo!]

(Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

Bill Williamson of ESPN reports that Denver Broncos nickel CB Domonique Foxworth is expecting to hear from the team regarding a trade in the near future.  While no information involving potential suitors or compensation is available, the 2005 third round pick is taking the news in stride.

Foxworth said the Broncos are handling the situation with class.

“They didn’t have to give me a warning,” Foxworth said. “They are being classy about it. I’m not upset about it at all.”

Williamson goes on to speculate that the Patriots, Redskins, Saints, Rams and Browns could be interested in the services of a cornerback.

A Foxworth trade has been rumored since three days after we drafted him – okay, not that long, but it feels like it. The only thing surprising about this news is the timing – we’re not exactly stacked at depth at cornerback, with only Karl Paymah and rookie Jack Williams filling the depth chart behind starters Bailey and Bly. We’ll keep you posted as this story develops.

Ladainian Tomlinson. (Greg Trott/Getty Images)

Your wittiest, most cleverest captions in the comments.

Yesterday’s winner – Mark:.

“Hey Guys! What do you all think of my Javon Walker impersonation?”

Remember to leave your caption for the top photo. Happy captioning!

Better late than never…

Good news came to fans of quarterback Darrell Hackney, safety Josh Barrett, guard/tackle Mitch Erickson and defensive tackle Steven Harris, the Denver Broncos signed the four to their practice squad.

In other news, the Denver Broncos have also signed safety Calvin Lowry who was waived yesterday from the Tennessee Titans. Lowry is a bruising safety who last year in 16 games for the titans had 58 tackles (43 solo), two interceptions and ten knockdowns. He started 11 games last season with the Titans. Lowry will likely play in Denver as a free safety; he specializes in run support and can also play on special teams.

The Broncos will have to cut one more player to make room for Lowry.

In other news, that you may have heard by now John Lynch was cut today by the New England Patriots.

Nation, who goes? What about Lynch, would you welcome him back? Bang it below and let’s battle it out.

The Denver Broncos cut down their roster to meet the 53 man requirement yesterday afternoon, and there were undoubtedly some surprises. 2008 seventh round selection Josh Barrett was released, but it’s likely the Broncos will attempt to retain and develop him on their practice squad. Virtual unknown Nic Clemons snagged a roster spot, and overall — the Broncos kept five defensive tackles and five defensive ends. Even more surprising is the number of linebackers kept: Eight. After his pre-season performance UDFA Wesley Woodyard earned a spot and sixth-round draft choice Spencer Larsen helped his case with a solid game against the Cardinals and the ability to play both ILB and FB.

Many are left to wonder if the excess numbers kept at the respective positions are a strong indication that the Broncos are pleased with who they have overall, or if it’s an indictment on the lack of quality and opted for quantity. It will probably take the course of the season before any Broncos faithful figure this out. For the time being, we can take a long look down the roster and plan ahead for next year’s NFL Draft – which is what I intend to do right now. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

The Denver Broncos were afforded a very fortunate opportunity Saturday afternoon. Turns out star receiver Brandon Marshall won’t be needing a roster spot this week, matter of fact, he won’t be needing a spot until September 9th. So that’s why the Denver Broncos made 20 roster moves instead of 21.

However, the Broncos march into the season with three running backs, one fullback, three tight ends, four receivers and two quarterbacks. Though not to worry, nine offensive linemen, ten defensive lineman, eight linebackers, five corners and four safeties. Yet, out of all of those players, one must be cut.

Insert lion’s growl sound, we ready for this season or what?

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

The official list is in among them coming courtesy of Adam Zinser at the official site DenverBroncos.com:

The following players were waived:

Quarterback Darrell Hackney
Wide receivers Glenn Martinez, Marquay McDaniel and Clifford Russell
Tight ends Chad Mustard
Offensive linemen P.J. Alexander, Dylan Gandy and Mitch Erickson
Defensive ends Larry Birdine and Paul Carrington
Defensive tackle Steven Harris
Linebacker Jordan Beck
Cornerbacks Wale Dada and Tyrone Poole
Safeties Josh Barrett and Vickiel Vaughn
Punter Sam Paulescu

On the waived/injured list:

Tight end Brett Pierce

On the reserve/injured list:

Fullback Cecil Sapp, with a left quad injury
Running back Anthony Alridge, with a left foot injury

No real surprises here to the people that have been plugged in here at BroncoTalk.net all day. Among the most surprising would have to be Steven Harris, Josh Barrett and Dylan Gandy.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »