• The draft class of 2007 are all on the second team base defense.  [Denver Post]
• Javon Walker talks about trying to get in shape and overcoming his knee injury.  [ESPN]
• Now that Travis Henry is gone, there might still be bongs around the Broncos (yeah, hopefully not), but at least there won’t be “engraved #20 Reebok authentic bongs.”  [House of Georges]
• Can’t stop laughing at the title of this article.  [My Fox Colorado]
• SD: Chargers sign veteran C Jeremy Newberry to a one-year deal in a depth-adding move.  [San Diego Union Tribune]
• MLB: Rockies 2, Dodgers 1.  [Yahoo! Sports]

Name: Elvis Dumervil Height, Weight: 5’11”, 260 Position: Defensive End Age, Experience: 24, 3 College: Louisville

Elvis Dumervil is only small in height. His five foot eleven inch frame is loaded with 260 pounds of pure muscle – the guy’s a monster. In 2007, he was able to translate his fierce physical presence into 12.5 sacks and 56 tackles in 16 starts. Dumervil started at right defensive end all year last year, squaring up against left tackles, and still tallied the most sacks by a Bronco since Trevor Pryce‘s 13 in 1999.

The Good: Getting after the quarterback is Dumervil’s specialty, and he does it well. What’s really impressive is that Dumervil is still so young, yet productive – tallying 21 sacks in his first two seasons, by far the most in the first two seasons of any Bronco in the last decade (Pryce had 10). He tied for the AFC lead in forced fumbles last season as well.

The Bad: His small frame makes him a liability against the run – the Broncos’ defense main weakness last season. The right side of the defense was picked on all year long.

Status: Incumbent starter. Signed through 2009. Dumervil started by default last year after Ebenezer Ekuban went down with his torn Achilles. Now Ekuban is back, along with 2007 first round choice Jarvis Moss, and Dumervil has no guarantees on his starting job. He’ll have to continue to work hard and improve his game in run defense to ensure he starts this year.

As always, we invite you, the readers, to partake. Are you happy with Elvis as a pass rush specialist, or do you want a more full-time player?

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Those all-knowing experts at ESPN and Scouts Inc. have come up with a list ranking the league’s running backs 1-64. Ladainian Tomlinson tops the list… I have no beef with that. Next is Adrian Peterson… I think there’s a lot more hype than real substance behind AP, but I’ll let it slide. Marshawn Lynch by no means belongs in the Top 10 – put Fred Taylor in there instead… Michael Turner needs to prove, I dunno, something before finding himself in the Top 20… Reggie Bush is a wide receiver, let’s stop pretending otherwise, he rushed for barely 500 yards last year as the “feature back,” yet had over 700 receiving yards. Get him off the list altogether.

Not to mention that several rookies appear prominently on the list. Despite never playing a snap at the pro level, Darren McFadden, Jonathan Stewart, and Rashard Mendenhall all received ranks in the top half of their rankings

In other words, this is just about the worst list I’ve ever seen trying to rank players, possibly ever.

I set the stage in such a way to let you know that Selvin Young, the first Broncos runner listed, is ranked 60th. They can’t even justify the ranking in their own description.

60. Selvin Young, Denver Broncos
Superpower — He is coming off an impressive rookie season in which he provided excellent depth in the Broncos’ backfield. Young was a pleasant surprise for the Denver staff after being acquired as a college free agent in 2007. He showed deceptive power for his size, as he runs with conviction and great body lean. He has excellent vision and instincts with the lateral quickness and agility to find a crease.
Kryptonite — Young has had durability concerns in the past, and it remains to be seen how well he can handle the pounding with more playing time. He lacks great elusiveness in space and is more of a straight-line runner. He will need to develop in the passing game, especially in blitz-pickup situations.

Ahh… the old generic “needs to work on blitz pickups” excuse for journalism. Take a closer look at Young and you’ll see he’s been refreshingly decent in that area.

For the record, they have our old friend Travis Henry listed #36. Which is incredible to me. Young ran for more total yards, more yards per attempt, was better in blitz pickup, and has no off-field issues to consider.

Wow, when I put it that way, why’d it take us so long to cut Henry in the first place?

I am one happy camper this morning! :)

Rod Smith is home – he arrived at Team Camp yesterday.

As articles in both USAToday and NFL.com, Smith made it clear that he hasn’t ruled out playing again, but I think reality is setting in for our favorite modern-day Bronco wideout. And while he hasn’t yet been officially asked about coaching, he certainly expressed his desire to do anything he was asked to do for the Broncos.

“I’m always open to anything. I love the organization. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to help, whether it’s on the field or off the field. Anything I can do — even just sitting there and talking to some of the players.” — Rod Smith 6/3/08

As I’ve said many times, I hope we can retain Smith’s knowledge, passion and love of this team in a coaching position for years to come. His years on the field (and the in team meeting rooms with Shanahan) can provide such a huge advantage for our wide receivers. As an example of that, Smith held an impromptu lesson on gaining additional seperation from DB’s after official practice ended yesterday.

“It’s a real advantage for me to have a guy like him around and help me be the best player I could be. The knowledge that he has is so valuable.” — Keary Colbert 6/3/08

For a man that has broken records for an undrafted NFL receiver, Smith also holds franchise records for career receptions (849), receiving yards (11,389), touchdown catches (68), touchdowns (71) and 100-yard games (31). He has given the Broncos everything his body had to offer. Now we’re asking him for all his mind and spirit can provide. Smith knows what it takes to win a Super Bowl… and we need him to share that with not only the WR’s, but the whole team.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to try to help us get back to where I feel we belong.” — Rod Smith 6/3/08

(H/T our friends at the Mile High Report)

The 31 year running highlight and analysis show “Inside the NFL” has found a new home to continue it’s run.  The NFL Films produced show had been cancelled by HBO earlier in the year.  The new landing spot is rival cable network Showtime.  No word yet if any of the anchors from last season (Marino, Collinsworth, Carter, Costas) will still host.  Showtime is owned by CBS and will still use NFL Films to help produce.  There is a good likelyhood that Collinsworth will still be on the show being that he’s already an announcer for The NFL on CBS.  Costas may have a conflict of interest since HBO still aires the other shows he’s involved in, Coastas Now and Real Sports.  The show will air Wednesdays starting Sept. 10th.

• Rod Smith joined Broncos practices yesterday in an advisory role and says a comeback isn’t out of the picture. [NFL.com]
• Camp Notes: S Marlon McCree replaces both John Lynch and Travis Henry on the same day. [DenverBroncos.com]
• The release of Travis Henry has everyone on notice. [Denver Post]
• Ebenezer Ekuban finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel. [Rocky Mountain News]
• An actually enjoyable read from Woody Paige on Selvin Young‘s 2,000-yard pledge. [Denver Post]
• Trading thugs for boy scouts isn’t enough to turn around a franchise. [Rocky Mountain News]
• The Bucs are still going after $7 million from Jake Plummer in a long-awaited hearing to be held later this month. [Pewter Report]
• Mike Klis explains how they could very well win their case. [Denver Post]
• MLB: Rockies snap an 8-game slump (didn’t I say the same thing two weeks ago?). [Yahoo! Sports]

It’s a War of Mascots, and the Denver Broncos’ Miles is currently trailing “Raiders fans” in this CBS Sportsline poll. Yes, the fans are the mascot. Pretty lame, right?

Anyway, he was quick to ask for help in his blog, and we’re happy to oblige, although something tells me if a “None of the above” option was available Jonathan would be the first to select it. (J/K Jonathan… couldn’t resist).

I mean… we’re going to let RAIDERS FANS beat our mascot? Up in arms, folks!

It’s election season after all… go practice… vote here.

Name: Jay Cutler Height, Weight: 6’3″, 233 Position: Quarterback Age, Experience: 25, 3 College: Vanderbilt

Jay Cutler is the latest player to attempt to fill the massive shoes left by Hall of Fame Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway. As his young career has progressed, it’s become apparent that Cutler is trying to avoid such comparisons, and wants to create his own legacy with the Denver Broncos. Drafted 11th overall in 2006, Cutler started his first five games in his rookie season, then followed up by starting all 16 games last year. For his career, he has completed 378 of 604 passes (62.6%) for 4,498 yards, along with 29 touchdowns and 19 interceptions for an overall passer rating of 88.2.

The Good: All signs point to Cutler being the future for the Denver Broncos. And the future is bright. He’s entering his third year with the Broncos, well known to be a huge event under Mike Shanahan. To this point he’s been solid, completing over 60% of his passes and having several games with passer ratings above the 90’s and even 100’s. His diagnosis with Type I Diabetes will only help him this year and beyond, and he’s began to show leadership off the field in various ways.

The Bad: Many fans were looking for Cutler to step up and improve from year one to year two, but he actually finished with an extremely similar (slightly lower) passer rating to his rookie campaign of only five games. From a scouting report standpoint, Cutler still has the tendency to lock onto a target. He also still throws off his back foot from time to time, although this became less frequent as 2007 progressed.

Status: Incumbent starter. Signed through 2011. As every NFL QB, Jay Cutler has a lot of pressure on him entering the season. In Denver, the microscope and expectations are even higher. His third year will be a make or break year in the court of public opinion for Cutler. Jay Cutler was born on April 29, 1983 in Santa Claus, Indiana.

As always, we invite you, the readers, to partake. Is Jay Cutler the quarterback to bring us back to Super Bowl glory, or is the jury still out?

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So, I’m back from my family vacation in Florida (mental note: 11.5 hours in a car with both a six & a two year old makes for a VERY long drive).

I tried to keep up with all the Denver Bronco news and there are a couple of little items I’ve read or seen in video coverage of Denver’s OTA days that brought a smile to my face…

1. The Emergence of Foxworth
With Bly sidelined with an injury (hamstring), it appears there’s been some talk about how DB Domonique Foxworth is pushing Bly for the starting corner spot opposite Champ. The Denver Post mentioned it in passing this week and I thought it was noteworthy. Foxy has been a big part of our defensive backfield, and I have always liked him. However, he was (apparently) not considered adequate to start after we lost D-will as evidenced by Shanahan bringing in Dre’ Bly from Detroit.

Although fans and the media may have been a bit underwhelmed by Bly, he had a strong year. He started all 16 games and registered 59 tackles (44 solo), a sack and 16 pass deflections. He also had a team-hign 5 interceptions (9th in the league). So, I’m interested to learn what camp observers have seen (besides Foxworth lining up in place of Bly) that has them buzzing about this. Until then I’ll just be happy that we have enough talent in our backfield to generate this kind of competition.

2. Royal Treatment
I know there is a honeymoon period for any player, but WR Eddie Royal has received some nice praise from both Mike Shanahan and Jay Cutler. What I like about their comments is what they haven’t mentioned. Let me explain…

Both Shanahan and Cutler have applauded his speed coming out of his breaks and his ability to run clean routes. Cutler went on to discuss his great hands – saying he hadn’t dropped a ball. What has me excited is that neither of these two items were his number one attribute in every scouting report – his ability to make people miss and get yardage after the catch.

Maybe I’m reading too much into all these kind words, but I’m totally stoked to see what happens when the pads go on and we can see Royal not only running a great route and making a great catch, but also eluding the defense and gaining some YAC.

3. Peyton Hillis Spotting
I’m not sure what Mike Shanahan really means when he says rookie FB Peyton Hillis is “one heck of an athlete.” It seems pretty vague to me. Now, I understand that these first few OTA days have been mostly installation of the play book and unit drills with very little contact (if any), so evaluating any fullback at this point would be very silly.

What has me excited then?

Well, Hillis has always had good size and great hands, but his biggest scouting report knock was his lack of skill as a lead blocker. Since I can’t see us keeping a FB that can’t blow up defenders in that lead blocker role, I would love to see our coaching staff working with Hillis on this area of concern. I would also love to see indications that Hillis is eager to learn and is working hard to develop his game.

So, it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling to see Hillis’ #48 jersey still on the field working with Bobby Turner after practice last week (this can be seen in the background of the denverbroncos.com video interview of O-lineman Wiegmann on Friday).

These were a couple of small news items that made my day a little bit brighter. I’d love to hear what you think!

What players have caught your attention so far? Have you seen footage of a player that surprised you? Have you read a news story or background info about a player that has moved you? Who are you pulling for early in these camp sessions?