Wide receiver Darell Jackson has agreed to a one-year deal with the Denver Broncos, pending a physical. Per club policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Jackson will compete with Keary Colbert for the #2 wide receiver position (and likely win it). He’s the third free agent WR the Broncos have signed this offseason.

Great news.  Now there’s virtually no chance a WR is drafted before the 4th round.

Every weekday leading up to the draft, BroncoTalk is breaking down the Broncos roster and the 2008 draft prospects, position by position. Each day we’ll tell you why we should draft that position in the first round, why we shouldn’t, and then ask you to tell us your thoughts. Today we’re breaking down defensive tackle. Enjoy.

Is there a bigger need for the Broncos than defensive tackle? The only starter set in stone in 2008 is Marcus Thomas… but wait, even he has huge questions surrounding his off field incidents. Being in a vehicle with cocaine, passenger or not, is no way to ensure future seasons in the NFL. Is a league suspension looming? What is to happen with his ever-postponed court date? Can we really count on Thomas being on the roster in 2009? 2008?

Besides Thomas on the depth chart, we have Alvin McKinley and Josh Mallard, who’s a DE/DT hybrid.  Both were serviceable at times last year, but neither can be called a reliable starter.

The need is there, both short term and long term, and when put so blatantly it’s hard to argue it’s not extreme.

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DJ Williams has finally spoken. And what he said pretty much confirms much of what we’ve discussed here on BroncoTalk.

First, to clear up any misconceptions about his successful first year as MLB, DJ stated he was more than comfortable playing MIKE in 2007 and liked running the defense from the middle.

“I enjoyed playing [MIKE] last year, I had fun. I thought I caught on well at the end.”

He also expressed his surprise at being moved bumped from that position this off-season. However, he’s a true team player and has agreed to the move for the team.

“I understand why I had to move; it made the team better. Sometimes you do things that are best for the team and it’s not best for you,”

Does that sound like a guy that’s happy about being demoted? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

But DJ is a professional and a throw-back to the good ole days. He’s a TEAM player and had nothing bad to say about the organization or his Coach.

“I haven’t been happy about the movement, but I like the organization, I like the cit. I love how coach Shanahan takes care of his players, as far as physically, the off-season program. Everybody around the facility, I like everybody.”

The second media point, beaten to a bloody pulp the last few months, was the fact that DJ was best over on the Weak Side. DJ seems to back that up… with a disclaimer.

“I feel like if I played one position all four years, I could probably be the top guy at my position or one of the top guys at the weak-side position. Changing every year kind of stunts your growth. But at the same time, I’ve got knowledge.”

Overall, I think this just verifies what we’ve been saying for months now. DJ wasn’t done any favors by being pushed to WILL from his leadership role in the middle. He was surprised and unhappy about it, but because he’s a team player he is willing make the move to improve the team.

In a league of ME FIRST athletes, it’s refreshing to see a guy like DJ choosing the team over his own personal glory. Compare the way he has handled this off-season against Javon Walker.

DJ had his best year (statically) and the spotlight of running the defense. Javon Walker had a gimped-up uneventful year. However, when both of these two were told to move to second-fiddle positions for the betterment of the team, Javon walked. DJ, however, decided that the team was more important than one man.

DJ play WILL this year – and probably earn himself a trip to Hawaii in the processes. But we’ll always know that his greatest attribute is not strength, agility or speed… it’s his selfless devotion to our Denver Broncos team.

• D.J. Williams is glad he played at each LB position, but ready to stick to one spot. [Rocky Mountain News]
• For the first time since 1989, Denver will not host a prime time game. [Denver Post]
• As reported earlier, Darrell Jackson is close to signing. Also in this article: RB Rashard Mendenhall and OT Gosder Cherilus visit with the Broncos. [Denver Post]
• Chargers LB Stephen Cooper receives a 4-game suspension for using the banned substance ephedra. Note that this includes the Week 2 battle against the Broncos in Invesco. [San Diego Union Tribune]
• For the third year in a row, the Raiders have signed DB Duane Starks. [ProFootballTalk]
• Looking at the MNF schedule, including the Broncos’ two games. [Hashmarks]
• MLB: Padres 6, Rockies 0 [Yahoo! Sports]
• NHL: Avs tie up the series with a 5-1 throttling of the Wild. [Denver Post]

As draft day approaches, BroncoTalk will be giving you game tape highlights of some of the bigger (and smaller) names around the draft. In spirit of the discussion yesterday, today’s installment: Illinois HB Rashard Mendenhall.

The first clip is the Rivals.com scout video showing Rashard’s strong points. Take note of the tough yardage carries in this video. The second clip is (in my opinion the best at showing what type of runner he truly is) all of the running plays in which he shredded through Wisconsin condensed into a 4 1/2 minute clip. Finally the third is a more stylized highlight reel. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

According to the Denver Post, a deal for Darrell Jackson is imminent, possibly even being signed today.

Like most everyone else, the Samie Parker signing doesn’t do much for me. To be sure, his numbers were somewhat depressed by the abyss that was KC’s offense last season, but they’ve had a long history of having crappy wide receivers, despite being a high powered offense in the glory days of Trent Green. So being at the bottom of their list was a lot like being at the bottom of our list of wide receivers. Say, somewhere in the vicinity of Ashley Lelie.

But Jackson? I’m excited about Jackson. I want to know why he didn’t succeed in San Francisco. (I have a theory, but it’s not a very good one). He has a good history, and he put up some good numbers in Seattle. He’s made a fantasy team or two pretty happy, too. I think he looks really good paired up across from Marshall, though I am a little concerned that he’s considered to have ‘middling’ speed, and one thing we really need is someone like Lelie, only with hands.

There also appears to be some concern that he’s had an attitude problem. My hope, though, is that a bad year in San Francisco will have put the stoppers on any attitude problems he may have. After all, he’s going to have to put up with Marshall for at least a season, and we all know that kid can get cocky!

No matter how you slice it, having Jackson and Colbert competing is a lot better than having Colbert and Parker competing.

The Denver Broncos signed free-agent punter Danny Baugher on Tuesday, Head Coach Mike Shanahan announced. As per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Baugher (5-10, 194 lbs.) is a third-year player who entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Bengals in 2006. He spent a year with Cincy before heading to New England, went back to Cincinnati and finally landed with the Broncos after a workout Monday.

Baugher had a lot of potential coming out of college before a severe knee injury sidelined him. He comes with more baggage in addition to his injury: Baugher was arrested for an incident shortly after the Patriots released him last year, where he was allegedly heavily intoxicated and assaulted his father.

So… we drop Todd Sauerbrun, who’s a bad apple who can punt, for Danny Baugher, a bad apple who can’t? Somebody help me out here.

Should the Denver Broncos pick a running back in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft?

We’ve given you reasons they should. We’ve give you reasons they should not. Now you tell us.

The poll is below, and it can also be found in the upper left sidebar of the main site.

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Tomorrow: Defensive Tackle

Part Two of today’s series explores the reasons against using the 12th pick on a running pack.

There are a lot of reasons not to draft a running back in the first round. The obvious one is that the Broncos have never done it before, and have still run for as many yards as anybody in the past 10 years. How many times have we heard ESPN analysts say that they, themselves, could run for 1,000 yards behind the Denver offensive line?

While none of the backs Denver currently employs stayed healthy in 2007, it’s hard to argue that this is reason enough to address the situation with such a lofty draft pick. The Broncos have larger needs elsewhere, and while finding a franchise back is tempting, is it the type of move that would help a 7-9 team more than other moves?

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Every weekday leading up to the draft, BroncoTalk breaks down all the important positions. We’ll tell you why we should and why we shouldn’t pursue that position in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Today we’re covering running back. Enjoy.

Say what you will about the Denver Broncos running system, 2007 was not a good year on the ground. It’s true, we finished 9th overall in the league in rushing, but that’s hardly a measure of success. At least not to our standards. Compare our rushing total of 1,957 yards to years past, and you will see the struggle we had on the ground:

2006 – 2,152. 2005 – 2,539. 2004 – 2,333. 2003 – 2,629.

Does anyone else see a pattern? Run for over 2,300 yards, make the playoffs. Run for over 2,300 yards, make the playoffs. When the Broncos are dominant in the running game, they enjoy winning records and playoff berths. I’m all for that.

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