• The Bleacher Report ranks our running game.  Disclaimer: this was written by a self proclaimed hardcore Raider fan.
• Gary Kubiak’s son Klint, is making a comeback with the CSU Rams. [coloradoan.com]
• The Vikings signed Gus!  This is his second stint with the team where he had a 2 1/2 win streak previously.  [ESPN]
• Speaking of the Vikings, John Elway’s 2004 fellow hall of fame inductee  Carl Eller was arrested for a DUI and assaulting a police officer.  [ESPN]

• Hamza Abdullah has yet to receive any contract offers from other teams.  The RFA deadline is April 18.  [Denver Post]
• This draft’s running back class doesn’t have anything to match 2007’s Adrian Peterson.  [New York TImes]
• Baltimore K Matt Stover finds himself neck-deep in offseason controversy now that his e-mail attempting to organize Union head Gene Upshaw‘s departure has surfaced.  [ESPN]

As draft day approaches, BroncoTalk will be giving you game tape highlights of some of the bigger (and smaller) names around the draft. Today’s installment: Auburn defensive end Quentin Groves, who could find himself in the late first round, but more likely selected in the second.

Two short vids after the jump – the first shows Groves leveling the opposing LT. The second shows him sacking the QB, which forces a fumble that the Tigers return for a touchdown.
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Football Outsiders has another good article up, this time on the AFC West as a whole. I found this nugget particularly interesting:

Last season, Cutler threw 496 passes. Of those, 169 were directed at Marshall. Only T.J. Houshmandzadeh was targeted more often. Carson Palmer threw one more pass to Housh than Cutler threw to Marshall, but Palmer threw almost 100 more passes overall. No quarterback relied so much on one receiver as Cutler did on Marshall.

Is Cutler relying on Marshall too much? It appears so, but the writer is quick to forget that Javon Walker was nowhere to be found, and Brandon Stokley was down with injury for the last several weeks, when Marshall really caught fire and was averaging 10 or so catches a game.

That being said, Marshall’s injury is a cause for concern if Cutler hasn’t established chemistry with other options. There’s also the lingering possibility that Marshall will face a league-imposed suspension for his off-field behavior.

This isn’t something I’m too worried about, more something to keep an eye on. It makes it obvious, however, that the Broncos are in need of another playmaker at the wide receiver position to take some of the focus off Marshall.

Pittsburgh Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert recently called this year’s tackle class the best he’s seen in 25 years. It’s hard to argue; around 6 offensive linemen are speculated to go in the first round of this year’s draft class. If you’ve been following the reports like I have, you’ll notice that some of the names the Broncos are likely to consider have had their faults pointed out a little more heavily lately. Football Outsiders assures us: guys like Vanderbilt OT Chris Williams and Boise State OT Ryan Clady are more than worthy of our selection spot. Any bad news we’re hearing lately is simply a matter of ‘paralysis by analysis.’

NFLDraftScout.com Senior Analyist Rob Rang characterized it this way —

“The reality is that the scouting and certainly the exposure of these players is just so much more intense now than even a few years ago. Boise State’s Ryan Clady is a perfect example. He might be the most athletic pass-blocker in this draft. Because he doesn’t have dominant upper body strength, he’s been characterized as a marginal run-blocker. While he isn’t a commanding drive blocker, he can block on the move well and flashes some nastiness. The hype machine, however, takes over and characterizes him (and other tackles in this class) as being more one-dimensional than they really are.”

Williams has been particularly affected by this phenomenon.
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Just when it seemed like ESPN’s coverage of our team was getting bleak, they actually come out and produce some quality content. Nice round table of their analysts, and they hit the nail on the head for the most part. I don’t exactly agree with Kiper’s Cutler assessment, but the whole segment is fair even if it is a bitter pill to take. It also reminded me of why I like Merril Hoge, he really knows the inter-workings of any team he covers.

The Kansas City Chiefs worked out free agent kicker Mike Vanderjagt on Monday, and may consider signing him soon. In the meantime, the Broncos are also considering bringing in Vanderjagt for a workout, this according to ESPN.com’s John Clayton.

Working on conditioning and kicking, Vandgerjagt, 38, didn’t give up on his hopes of getting back into the NFL. The Broncos, who lost Jason Elam to Atlanta, are debating whether to bring him in for a workout. First, though, Vanderjagt will see if he gets an offer from the Chiefs.

Never been a big fan of Vanderjagt. I wouldn’t mind if the Chiefs lock him up and let us focus on drafting a kicker in the fourth or fifth round.

For the past week, hundreds of girls have been trying out to join the elite squad of Denver Broncos cheerleaders. Our friends at CBS4 Denver have provided us a video of yesterday’s action. Enjoy!

• Three league sources confirm that the Broncos are looking to trade down on draft day.  [Denver Post]
• Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post reminisces about all the failed drafted wideouts, reminding us why Brandon Marshall is so special.  [Denver Post]
• The Raiders visited with prospect Darren McFadden.  [Inside Bay Area]

After reading the morning Broncos news, Kyle and I have decided that Jeremy Green’s article entitled Broncos Heading in the Wrong Direction came off, well, elementary at best. With that, below is a discourse of our take on Mr. Greens evaluation.

Kyle: This piece was part of a series of articles meant to explore each team’s needs and who they would likely choose come draft day. You know what I find insanely funny? The word ‘draft’ was never mentioned in the article. Not once. Neither was the word ’round,’ as in ‘first round’, except for one instance where he talks about Chris Myers leaving for a 6th rounder. The fact of the matter is simple – Jeremy Green completely loses focus and decides to bash the Broncos at every turn. There’s no objectivity whatsoever, and he fails to back up nearly every point with any sort of logic.

1st Issue: The Sundquist Relationship

“This is a team and a franchise going in the wrong direction. The Broncos now have their third defensive coordinator in three seasons, and GM Ted Sundquist, who seldom was used in personnel decisions despite his expertise in that area, was fired.”

Kyle: Ted Sundquist wasn’t involved in personnel decisions? Are you serious? I can’t even comment on that.

Josh: The Denver Sports media has argued that Sundquist, while definitely not the end all be all in personnel decisions, certainly was moving and shaking the roster. Shanahan and Bowlen also have/had a large say so who comes and goes. This Rocky Mountain News article quotes Bowlen eluding to the case that Sundquist was behind the bulk of the large name signings during the 2007 off-season.

In this section Green also makes points that Shanahan has not made good personnel decisions and he will continue to do so until the Broncos hire a GM who will hold the reins with authority. These points are all highly debatable and opinions not fact. We don’t have a clear cut answer to who has made which personnel decision in the past few seasons, the more realistic scenario is they were run by committee like most organizations.

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