Sports Illustrated’s Peter King ranked each quarterback 1-32 based on how he felt they would perform in 2007. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and mine differs in many ways from the respected journalist. I love his Monday Morning Quarterback section, but his take on Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler is a little less… well… enthusiastic than mine. I’ll be in the wilderness of Wyoming when this post drops, but I hope you enjoy it and leave feedback with YOUR opinion.

10) Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles

KING’S RANK: 12
I agree with King in that McNabb would be listed much higher on the list if he would only stay healthy. He was leading all quarterbacks before getting injured and killing my fantasy season last year. But he’s been hurt three years running now, so it’s hard to rank him any higher. When he’s on the field, he’s one of the most feared quarterbacks in the game and can make plays all on his own.

9) Jon Kitna, Detroit Lions

KING’S RANK: 9
I think King and I may be the only people in the country who are Jon Kitna fans. I find it funny that King says he values wins above other stats, but Kitna went 3-13 as the starter last year and he’s ranked in his Top 10. I believe the Lions are going to have their first winning season in a decade this year and vie for a Wild Card spot in the NFC – shocking, almost sacrilege, but I can see it happen. The team wasn’t the most talented AND was decimated by injuries more than any other team in the league. If healthy, they can definitely compete in the watered-down NFC. Kitna will lead them to another 4,000-yard season and be one of the elite fantasy quarterbacks again this year.

8) Matt Leinart, Arizona Cardinals

KING’S RANK: 18
Biggest difference between King and I lies in college football’s most impressive quarterback, Matt Leinart, whom I believe will be much improved over the past year. He showed enough signs for me to rank him in the top half of quarterbacks LAST YEAR – this year he cracks the top 10. With as many weapons as he has, and an improved offensive line under Russ Grimm, look for the Cardinals to be the other surprise team to vie for a Wild Card in the NFC.

7) Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle Seahawks

KING’S RANK: 6
Matt Hasselbeck and the Seahawks offense in general didn’t click last year. Partly due to injury, partly due to the departure of All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson, and partly due to a once-paltry and now-surging division, he didn’t perform to his 2005 level last year, and I fear we may see a drop off again. It’s bold to place him behind my 6th ranked quarterback below, and believe me, it was close – but Hasselback hasn’t shown me enough consistency to make me a believer in the Seahawks dominance in the NFC West much longer.

6) Jay Cutler, Denver Broncos

KING’S RANK: 10
I’m noticing a trend in my writing – I’ve always tried to be a voice of reason in the Broncos blogosphere when it comes to crowning Jay Cutler too early. But as the offseason winds down, I’m noticing that I’m becoming more and more sold on the sophomore myself. He has a lightning arm, great intangibles, and all the mental skills you could hope for coming from Vanderbilt. He shined last year, and with a full offseason centered around helping him succeed, I’m becoming more and more convinced that Cutler will perform at an incredible level in 2007. Broncos fans have a lot to look forward to with #6 gracing the field.

5) Marc Bulger, St. Louis Rams

KING’S RANK: 5
One of the more underrated quarterbacks in the league, Marc Bulger is the third quarterback from the NFC West to make the top 10. He has great weapons in Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce and Steven Jackson. He’s always breaking 4,000 yards, and it wouldn’t surprise me for a second to do it again this year.

4) Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

KING’S RANK: 3
Statistically, Drew Brees excelled nearly everybody at season’s end, but I don’t foresee the same alarming success this year. For one, the Saints won’t be sneaking into the back door of the playoffs this year. And in the NFC, it’s easy to forget that they were the second seed at 10-6 – not the most exceptional record for the conference in which they were playing. 10-6 wasn’t enough to get the Chiefs into the playoffs at all in 2005. I expect the Saints to have a solid season this year, finishing around 8-8 or 9-7 and into the playoffs, but I don’t expect the same level of explosion as teams gear to stopping them more than in the previous season.

3) Carson Palmer, Cincinnatti Bengals

KING’S RANK: 4
With a healthy offensive line, I expect this Pro Bowler to have his best year yet with the Bengals, even surpassing his impressive breakout year in 2005. Interestingly enough, my Top 3 quarterbacks all hail from the AFC.

No surprises at the top

2) Tom Brady, New England Patriots

KING’S RANK: 2
Take a 3-time Super Bowl champion, add the best coach of the past 7 years, mix in a little disgruntled playmaker looking to revitalize his career and an impressive-looking second year runningback looking to prove himself and you have the recipe for a Super Bowl (at least according to Vegas and everywhere else not in Denver, Indianapolis or San Diego). Tom Brady has all the tools he needs to succeed and will do so with flying colors, probably having the best statistical season of his storied, but still young, career.

1) Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts

KING’S RANK: 1
Surprise! Peyton “The Freaking Robot” Manning tops the list for best quarterbacks. I just want to beat him so bad… man… I can’t take another loss from the Colts this year. Our offense should be able to compete with theirs and our defense should definitely be better. BEAT THE FLIPPIN’ COLTS, BRONCOS!

So there’s my Top 10 – but I’m not done yet. For your viewing pleasure, I included a player who you may have noticed just missed the cut – I honestly couldn’t justify moving him any higher on the list. Perhaps the most overrated quarterback in the NFL, here is your “just missed” player of the week.

11) Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

KING’S RANK: 8
I’m expecting a step back from this breakout player in 2007. Philip Rivers struggled at the end of last year, and he failed to lead the team in the 4th quarter of their playoff game. For whatever insane reason, Cam Cameron stopped giving Ladainian Tomlinson the ball with an 8 point lead in the 4th. He decided he wanted to rely on Rivers and his less-than-talented receiving corps. to put the game away. Rivers didn’t have LT to hand the ball to – he had to lead the team, and he couldn’t do it. He’s still a talented player, and I expect him to do well, but I saw enough struggles at the end of last year to hesitate before crowning him as one of the elite quarterbacks in the league.

I’ll be back in full force from my vacation next week. Until then…

With everyone getting ready for team camps coming up this month, I thought it would be great time to try out my fantasy football projection skills. I would NEVER claim to be an expert in fantasy football (although I’m very proud of the championship title I won in a co-worker’s league several years ago), so take these with at least one grain of salt. Also, I don’t see any point to projecting deep into the wide receiver or tight end positions right now because we have no real idea what the depth chart will look like in August. Therefore, I’ve limited my notes and predictions to the top player in each category. Here goes…

QB Jay Cutler: 3100 yrds passing, 130 yards rushing, 19 TDs, 11 int, 3 fumble

SUMMARY: The only way Jay finishes under 3000 yards passing would be if Denver is ahead every game at halftime and Travis Henry pounds out nearly 2000 yards on the ground (see 1998). With that not very likely, I’ll take 3100 yards for the season. I’ve seen very low projected numbers for Cutler’s rushing yards, and although I think Shanahan will try to keep The Kid safe, he’s more mobile than Griese and he still had between 100-130 yards each year. I’ll guess 18 TD’s as I believe many of Denver’s scores will be pushed in by Henry in short yardage situations. Several sites have Cutler’s INT numbers higher, but again I think the improved ground game puts less pressure on Jay therefore he keeps the picks low this year.

RB Travis Henry: 1450 yrds rushing, 200 yrds receiving, 12 TDs, 4 fumbles

SUMMARY: Unless he gets hurt, Travis Henry is putting up ~1500 yards rushing. That’s a flat out given. He will also increase his passing yardage over past years, as Denver uses it’s backs at checkdown receivers often. I have Henry down for 12 touchdowns because Shanahan likes to send his power-back in on goalline situations and Henry will get those calls. Henry only had 3 fumbles last year in 14 games, and with Denver’s RB guru Turner coaching Henry this off-season, that number will stay low.

WR Javon Walker: 1050 yrds receiving, 100 yrds rushing, 9 TDs.

SUMMARY: Many fantasy experts are citing Walker’s declined number after Cutler took over as a sign that Jay doesn’t look to Walker as much as Jake did. In reality, after Walker lite up the score board in the early part of the season, defenses started to view him as a serious threat and redoubled their coverage of him. I’m sure that will happen again this year; however, I also think we have enough other weapons that defenses will truly be forced to ‘pick their poison.’ My projections are lower than some because I see Denver having multiple quality targets for Cutler to throw to this year. And remember, with Shanahan’s system the ball will be spread around quite a bit.

TE Daniel Graham: 400 yrds receiving, 4 TDs

SUMMARY: Unlike New England, Graham will catch passes for the Broncos. In addition to that, he will be an endzone target (like many tightend before him). Shanahan likes to put his ‘blocking tightends’ into the endzone (see Carswell). So, I think Graham (who had great hands in college) will do well this year and will likely become an every down TE for the team.

K Jason Elam: 32 AFG, 28 MFG, 40 XPA, 40 XPM

SUMMARY: Jason’s career FG average is better than 80% and he’s coming off his best year in 2006 with 93% of his kicks going for points. Jason has placed in the top ten best kickers the last ten years with six top five placements. Kickers may not be the number one priority to Fantasy Football owners, but they play an important part in maximizing your weekly points. And in that area, Jason Elam is as solid as you can get.

TEAM Defense: 41 sacks, 17 INT, 13 FR, 3 TDs, 5000 yrds allowed, 290 pts allowed

SUMMARY: With Bates, Denver should increase their number of sacks considerably. With Champ AND Bly, our interceptions should be as good as last year’s and I even increased our defensive TD’s by one for 2007. Over all, Denver should have a solid team defense that will fall within the top 10 or 13 of the league. Again, this might be a great value pick after the top team defenses are taken.

Projections and predictions aside, I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! My wife and I cooked out, had some friends over and watched the kids play with sparklers — good times. :)

Wish you were here! Photo Courtesy

Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!

It seems that the entire NFL is taking the week off for me. Just as I’m enjoying some much-deserved (if you ask me) rest and relaxation, all’s quiet on the western front as the world recharges this week in preparation for Training Camps and the big rush that is the NFL season. I’m in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, quite possibly the most beautiful place in the country. I’ve swam in three lakes, a river and a creek. I’ve hiked several miles through forests, mountains, and long stretches of open brush. My wife and I are quite simply having a wonderful time, as we do every year, and although it is very hot and dry this year, it’s as pretty as ever and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Now that I’m done bragging, it’s time to apologize for the lack of a Top Ten this past Tuesday. I thought I had scheduled it perfectly to drop on Tuesday automatically – having not been by a computer, I haven’t been able to check until today, and it seems I forgot to save the post as “Published” instead of a Draft. So you’re getting a Top Ten Thursday today – sorry about that. Should show up soon.

I don’t expect to be by the computer again until Monday or Tuesday – I’m travelling on Monday, so I should be able to connect at the airport during the layover in Denver (I’m excited as ever to be in Denver, if even for a few hours – after all, it is the day Broncos minicamp gets underway – perhaps I’ll see one of my favorite Broncos somewhere!). And barring any unforeseen mixups (like the Top Ten), the Pick ‘Em Monday segment should show up on Monday anyway. Stay safe over the weekend and I’ll be blogging away come Tuesday morning!

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Since this day has been set aside to celebrate the Declaration of Independence, I went ahead and read it again this morning. As always, reading it makes me think about those men who risked everything they had to remove themselves and their fellow citizens from the control of a tyrannical government. These were all very well known men, who – if things had gone badly – would have been easily tracked down by the British. They all had families, wealth and respect among their peers. Each one of them could have just kept quite and lived comfortably. But instead they risked it all for their belief that the government should serve the people, not the other way around.

So, they wrote the following (and in my mind the most meaningful) line of this historic document:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

— Thomas Jefferson 7/4/1776

As a result of this document, we all gained the right to representation within our new government. And while I don’t want to discuss politics in this bog, I would ask everyone to reflect on these early ‘politicians.’ They were not only risking their lives and the lives of their family, but their wealth and honor — all to serve the colonies best interest.

The next time we all go to the polls and exercise our right to vote, I think we should think about measuring our choices against the men that signed this document. Would our current choices have the constitution to risk their honor, wealth and lives to serve the community? It’s a tall order to meet, but how much stronger would our country be if our elected officials all had this type of character?

Have a great 4th — Enjoy some great food, stay safe and have fun! :)

Mike Shanahan has announced that the Broncos have signed four NFL Europa players who just completed their season last month. The new Broncos include G Emmanuel Akah (Frankfurt Galaxy), CB Bill Alford (Frankfurt Galaxy), CB Kevin House (Cologne Centurions) and T Cliff Washburn (Hamburg Sea Devils).

Denverbroncos.com has posted the following info on each of the new players…

G Emmanuel Akah (6-foot-3, 330 pounds) is a first-year player who started all 11 games at left guard for Frankfurt in 2007, helping the Galaxy lead NFL Europa in scoring (25.4 ppg.) and advance to World Bowl XV. A native of London, Akah began his professional career in NFL Europa in 2006 and saw time with Rhein and Frankfurt that season. He signed with Miami on June 2, 2006, and competed in the Dolphins’ training camp before he was waived on Aug. 29. Akah played three seasons at Winston-Salem State University following one year of junior college football at State University of New York-Canton. A graduate of Tottenville High School in Staten Island, N.Y., Akah was born on Feb. 8, 1979, in London.

CB Bill Alford (5-foot-9, 183 pounds) is a first-year player who saw time in 10 games (6 starts) at cornerback for Frankfurt in 2007. He also competed for the Galaxy during its 2006 season, starting all 11 games for the club to help it win World Bowl XIV. Alford competed in Atlanta’s training camp during the 2006 season and was in Baltimore’s camp as a rookie in 2005 but spent both regular seasons out of the NFL. He played two years at Vanderbilt University, including a senior season in which he started 10 games, after transferring from Middle Georgia College. An all-state selection as a senior at Brunswick High School in Brunswick, Ga., Alford was born on Oct. 30, 1981.

CB Kevin House (6-foot-0, 185 pounds) is a fourth-year cornerback who earned All-NFL Europa honors as a 10-game starter for Cologne in 2007, helping the Centurions lead the league in scoring defense (17.2 ppg.). House, who spent the 2006 season out of the NFL, was on Seattle’s reserve/non-football injury list for the entire 2005 campaign after playing for Cologne in NFL Europa that spring. He saw time in 16 games (0 starts) for San Diego from 2002-03 and competed in the Chargers’ training camp in 2004 but was waived by the club on Aug. 31 of that year. House entered the NFL with New Orleans as a rookie free agent in 2002 after playing four seasons at the University of South Carolina, where he posted 135 career tackles. A graduate of Chamberlain High School in Tampa, Fla., House was born on Jan. 9, 1979, in St. Louis.

T Cliff Washburn (6-foot-5, 305 pounds) is a first-year tackle who played 11 games (1 start) for Hamburg in 2007, helping the Sea Devils to a victory in World Bowl XV. Washburn, who also played for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europa in 2004 and ’05, saw time on the rosters of Dallas and Minnesota in the offseason leading up to the 2006 campaign but spent that regular season out of the NFL. He competed on Chicago’s practice squad during the 2003 and ’04 seasons after entering the NFL with the New York Giants as a college free agent on May 2, 2003. Washburn earned second-team All-Southern Conference honors in his only season of football at The Citadel after playing four years on its basketball team. A graduate of Shelby High School in Shelby, N.C., Washburn was born on Jan. 25, 1980.

While the signing of two cornerbacks may hint at the possibility of Foxworth playing again at Safety this year, the real surprise would have to be the size of O-linemen Washburn and Akah. At 305 and 330 (respectively), they are both larger men than the standard Denver model. It isn’t a huge issue, as all four will likely be working to win practice squad spots (if they can stick it out through camp).

We’ll see when camp starts in a couple of weeks! :)

Article in the Tennessean on Bill Alford in NFL Europa: FULL STORY

Article on WTOC Channel 11 on Bill Alford in NFL Europa: FULL STORY

2005 Article on Kevin House in NFL Europa: FULL STORY

2005 Article on Cliff Washburn in NFL Europa: FULL STORY

Brief Article on Emmanuel Akah’s signing to the Dolphins: FULL STORY

I don’t know what we’re doing messing around with Scott O’Brien. I mean, sure, he’s created some of the most impressive special teams units in the NFL, but he doesn’t have ANYTHING on this guy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3UgiRGtLdE]

We should all learn something valuable from this Special Teams Gōru… Although I’m not really sure what a ‘Gōru’ is… I’m sure it’s something good!

“33% of the game is Special Teams, other 33% is Offense, other 33% Defense and 1%…. well 0.01%… or, whatever the f#@$’s left is motherf#@k’n mental!”

— Thafranchise1 

Oh… it’s ‘mental’ alright… and for you it’s about 0.01% mental.    :)

 For over 150 more video examples of this ‘Special’ team player check out his YouTube collection: HERE

I’ve mentioned over the past month that I was going to be away from the computer, unable to post for the coming week of July 1-9. Well, it turns out that is not entirely true – Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Credit USAToday for getting some great inside info on Cutler. Jim Corbett‘s article today has some great gems in it. Let’s take a look…

As we’ve heard throughout the off-season, Shanahan has been very impressed with Jay’s leadership.

“It’s not very often you get a quarterback at that age, with that type of ability and that type of leadership skills. He’s been working out here, and he’s done a great job with the receivers and our players in general. And hopefully he can keep on leading. He can’t do it by himself, though. And that’s why we’ve got, I’m hoping, a pretty good supporting cast.”

— Mike Shanahan 6/30/07

But what I really like is that Shanahan has been working close enough to Jay to notice these leadership skills. According to this article the two of them have been spending hours together with Mike Heimerdinger reviewing not only tape on Jay, but also tape on Elway, Manning, Brees and Brady. This is awesome news! I haven’t been this excited about a QB’s development since Jake spent the off-season with Kubiak (and that season we nearly went to the big game).

“We’ve watched Elway, Peyton, Drew Brees, Tom Brady— how they work in the pocket and their feet. It’s been a real learning tool.”

— Jay Cutler 6/30/07

And what was the focus of all those hours of watching tape?

“The clock in your head, that’s what they’ve been preaching here the last couple of weeks with Mike and Dinger. They’ve helped me out tremendously in what I need to attack and look for.”

— Jay Cutler 6/30/07

So, it appears that Shanahan & Company are working hard to help develop Cutler’s speed in the pocket (i.e. reads, check-downs, footwork, etc). If he can put those things together on the field during camp and the preseason, I think we’ll have one heck of a QB come opening day!

And speaking of putting it all together, how does our young QB feel about his newly acquired cast of offensive weapons?

“Having Travis, Daniel and Brandon (Stokley) here, they simplify things for me. They take a lot of guesswork out of my job. I just have to get the ball into their hands. It’s a tribute to coach Shanahan and his desire to win and help make my life easier that he brought these guys in.”

— Jay Cutler 6/30/07

The experience of these players is not going unused. It looks like Jay is soaking up information from them as well.

“Daniel and Brandon both offer advice: ‘You might want to run this a little deeper. This is how Peyton or Tom Brady might do something. They’ve been around some really great quarterbacks, and it helps make my job easier.”

— Jay Cutler 6/30/07

All in all, I think this is great news for all of us Bronco fans! It’s the first article to include details on what Shanahan and Cutler have been working on this off-season. It also points to the fact that Shanahan is PERSONALLY working with Cutler — and that’s great news. I think we have a lot of exciting things to look forward to this season…. and it all starts with our new QB.

Article in USAToday: FULL STORY

Ok, here’s the 07/07/07 JOHN ELWAY DAY update!

I have joined forces with my blogging brethren to try and encourage the city of Denver to undertake some sort of special event for July 07, 2007 (07/07/07) in honor of the Mile High hero John Elway. Some of us that are working on this include: Orange Bucksnort, BroncoTalk, Colorado Homers (the founders of this great idea). We have also asked fans on forums like BroncoMania, Orange Mane and BroncoFreak to help out.

So, far we have a some local businesses that are offering to put on sales or promotions for that day, but we don’t have anything BIG set up by Dove Valley or the City of Denver (which is still our goal).

We’ve had several people calling and emailing the mayor, Broncos HQ and some of the TV stations as well as the Denver Post, but at this point we haven’t seen anything run in the mainstream media. So, now we need to try to get the local Denver Radio involved.

Radio promotions can work fast, but to motivate them to get going we need to call and email them in enough force to cause them to move on this. So, we need you’re help!

Here’s what you can do:

#1. Contact 850AM KOA: WEBSITE — this is their contact page, but here is the important number — TALK LINE: 303-713-8585   Everyone should call them during sports shows and ask about 07/07/07!

#2. Contact 950FM THE FAN: WEBSITE — this is their contact page, but here is the studio line number: (303) 893-2-950. Also, you can email any of the shows you listen to The Sports Guys Scott & Al Irv & Joe and Jim Mike Evans

#3. Find your favorite station: WEBSITE — this is a complete list of all the Denver area radio stations. It includes their website links which should give you their contact numbers. Pick your favorite station (the one you always listen to) and give them a call. Get the DJ’s to talk about how many fans are calling about 07/07/07!

Get busy folks we have 6 days left!!!!

P.S. If you haven’t already contact the Mayor’s office we encourage you to do that this week: Contact the Mayor of Denver (John W. Hickenlooper): Phone: 3-1-1 or 720.865.9000, Fax: 720.865.8787, E-mail: MileHighMayor@ci.denver.co.us

If you haven’t tuned in to THE AUDIBLE over on footballguys.com, you need to check them out.  Cecil Lammey and Sigmund Bloom have a great show and if you’re hunting for more NFL info during the off-season, these guys will keep you busy with several podcasts per day! 

I got a chance to appear on their 7/29/07 podcast to talk about the Broncos upcoming season including Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Travis Henry.  We also chatted about my run in with Miles and the origins of my denver obsession (you can check it out HERE). 

To subscribe to their show, here are the links —

RSS Link: CLICK HERE

The Audible Discussions: CLICK HERE

The Audible on iTunes: CLICK HERE

The Audible on Digg: CLICK HERE