I think most fans will care very little about the NFL closing down it’s NFL Europa (formally Europe) league.  However, I’m actually sad to see it go.  I think there are many young players that gain valuable in-game experience from their time overseas.  This game experience doesn’t happen in the states as teams provide very limited reps for reserves or rookies.  For the Broncos, we have been lucky to get both Greg Eslinger (like Ben Hamilton before him) game-speed practice time while in NFLE this year.  And one of our elder statesmen, Nick Ferguson, played for two years in NLFE where he made the All-NFL Europe League squad as a member of the Fire in 1999.  That’s only to name a few…

I understand that the league has to make a decision based on the bottom line.  And, in this case, the bottom line is well into the red (NFLE lost a reported $32 Million this year).  I also understand that the league has been working on regular season games for overseas countries including a proposal for increasing the season to 17 games.

I just think that it’s sad to loose this 15 year traditional training ground for young NFL athletes…  Call me sentimental.

NFL Official Announcement: HERE

Article on Nick Ferguson’s time in NFLE: HERE

I have had a theory about Shanahan’s Broncos… It’s not at all scientific, but I believe it to be a quasi-accurate formula for charting our path to a Super Bowl.

The theory is simply this: It takes Shanahan three years to go from new QB to Super Bowl.

YEAR #1 (TRANSITION): The first year is a ‘Transition’ year, where Shanahan is both teaching his new QB as well as learning what that QB can do best. I guess it could be called a ‘rebuilding’ year, but I hate that term so we’ll use ‘Transition Year.’

YEAR #2 (PLAYOFFS): The second year Shanahan has nearly perfected the coordination of his QB and his playbook and the Broncos find themselves in the playoffs (hence ‘playoff’ year).

YEAR #3 (SUPER BOWL YEAR): um… pretty self-explanatory, really.

Now you might be asking: If that’s true why haven’t we won a Super Bowl every three years?

Good questions! The answer is very simple… things went wrong. Some of these were beyond anyone’s control (see 2001 below). The other major factor is the fact that, while Mike Shanahan can bring a team to the brink of the Super Bowl, he needs a QB that can finish the deal. I think he worked wonders with each of the post-Elway quarterbacks he has worked with, but until now I don’t think we’ve had ‘the closer’ we need at that position.

Here is a break down of the Shanahan Era Broncos according to my theory:

1995 Season: 8-8 (no post-season)
Elway: 3970, Davis: 1117, Miller: 1079/McCaffrey: 447, Sharpe: 756
TRANSITION YEAR: Shanahan takes over the Broncos.

1996 Season: 13-3 (Post-season: 0-1 lost Divisional Playoffs)
Elway: 3328, Davis: 1538, Miller: 735/McCaffrey: 553, Sharpe: 1062
PLAYOFF YEAR: The Broncos advance to the playoffs.

1997 Season: 12-4 (4-0 Super Bowl Champions)
Elway: 3635, Davis: 1750, Smith: 1180/McCaffrey: 590, Sharpe: 1107
SUPER BOWL YEAR: “This one’s for John.”

1998 Season: 14-2 (3-0 Super Bowl Champions)
Elway: 2806, Davis: 2008, Smith: 1222/McCaffrey: 1053, Sharpe: 768
SUPER BOWL YEAR: Team stays the same… same results.

1999 Season: 6-10 (no post-season)
Griese: 3032, Gary: 1159/Davis: 211, Smith: 1020/McCaffrey: 1018, Chamberlain: 488
TRANSITION YEAR: Griese takes over at QB.

2000 Season: 11-5 (0-1 post-season: lost Wild Card Playoffs)
Griese: 2688, Anderson: 1487/Davis: 282, Smith: 1602/McCaffrey: 1317, Carswell: 495/Clark: 339
PLAYOFF YEAR: The Broncos have a GREAT year and advance to the playoffs.

2001 Season: 8-8 (no post-season)
Griese: 2827, Davis: 701/Anderson: 678, Smith: 1343, Clark: 566
SUPER BOWL YEAR: Ok, it was supposed to be Super Bowl year, but this was the ‘Year of Tragedy.’ Monday night before the world-changing 9/11 attacks, Eddie McCaffrey breaks his leg. TD gets injured later that year and things fall apart. By Dec. 16^th (the KC game) our 3^rd string QB is throwing to our 5^th string WR… Dark times for all Denver fans.

2002 Season: 9-7 (no post-season)
Griese: 3214, Clinton Portis: 1508, Smith: 1027/McCaffrey: 903, Sharpe: 686
LAME DUCK YEAR: This year is lost as Griese never recovers from 2001 and is finally benched.

2003 Season: 10-6 (0-1 post-season: lost Wild Card Playoffs)
Plummer: 2182, Clinton Portis: 1591, Smith: 845/Lelie: 628, Sharpe: 770
TRANSITION YEAR: Plummer takes over at QB.

2004 Season: 10-6 (0-1 post-season: lost Wild Card Playoffs)
Plummer: 4089, Droughns: 1240/T. Bell: 396, Smith: 1144/Lelie: 1084, Putzier: 572
PLAYOFF YEAR: The Broncos play well and advance to the playoffs.

2005 Season: 13-3 (1-1 post-season: lost Conference Championship)
Plummer: 3366, Anderson: 1014/T. Bell: 921, Smith: 1105/Lelie: 770, Putzier: 481
SUPER BOWL YEAR: Ok, it was supposed to be a Super Bowl year. We had one of our best shots at it since Elway left and we blew it. Most people blamed Plummer (and so did Shanahan- he drafts Cutler in the off-season).

2006 Season: 9-7 (no post-season)
Plummer/Cutler combine: 2995, T. Bell: 1025/M. Bell: 677, Walker: 1084/Smith: 512, Scheffler: 286
TRANSITION YEAR: Plummer starts at QB, but is replaced by Cutler in Nov. Cutler begins to work the offense and learn what it’s like to be a QB in the NFL.

Follow me so far? Well, at least pretend you do for my sake…

IF we count 2006 as a Transition year (and not a Lame Duck year), that leaves us two years remaining on the three year development theory of mine . So, it’s time for my predictions based on this wildly unscientific theory that I just made up! :)

2007 Season: 11-5 (1-1 post-season: lost Conference Championship)
Cutler: 3500, Henry: 1500, Walker: 1200/Marshall: 700, TE: 550
PLAYOFF YEAR: Cutler plays well his sophomore year aided by Henry on the ground.

2008 Season: 13-3 (3-0 Super Bowl Champions)
Cutler: 3300, Henry: 1800, Walker: 1300/Marshall: 1100, TE: 775
SUPER BOWL YEAR: Shanahan finally gets his post-Elway ring!

As fun as this is, I hope none of you are taking this too seriously…..

AFC West Watch continues on BroncoTalk, and this week it’s the runningbacks that’s under debate. Of course, the AFC West features some of the best runningback in the entire league – similar to the tight ends I reviewed two weeks ago, San Diego, Denver and Kansas City can all consider themselves in the upper echelon of runningbacks.

1) San Diego Chargers

League MVP Ladainian Tomlinson? Check. Probably the best backup runningback Michael Turner? Check. The best fullback in the game Lorenzo Neal? Check. Yeah, the Bolts take this one hands down.

2) Kansas City Chiefs

Larry Johnson may be threatening a holdout, but I can only rank these teams based on the talent I see, and LJ makes them dangerous at runningback. While they lost their really good fullback to free agency two years ago, and their backup runningback is a mess by committee, Johnson is good enough that you have to rank them second only to San Diego, possibly in the entire league.

3) Denver Broncos

We have the best runningback we’ve had in a long time back there – I would rank our runningback situation easily in the top 10 across the entire league. So while we may be in the bottom half of the division, I don’t believe that reflects our rank overall. Travis Henry is a huge upgrade, and we have some healthy competition going at both backup runningback and at fullback. Look for the Broncos to possibly rush for more yards than the Chiefs too.

4) Oakland Raiders

Drafting Michael Bush with the first pick on Day 2 of the Draft may prove to be one of the best picks of the entire event – if healthy, Bush would have competed with Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch as the premiere back in the draft. Other than Bush, they still have some talent, but I wouldn’t rank their unit in the top half of the league. Lane Kiffen is supposedly installing the zone blocking system Denver employs over in Oakland, so we’ll see how that turns out.

There you have it – the runningback situations of the AFC West, ranked 1-4. If the Broncos are going to move high into the playoffs, they’ll need a solid running game, and they’ll need to be able to stop the run of the opposing teams. Next week I’m off, but two Fridays from now I’ll run through the linebackers. Have a great weekend everybody.

So, today is John Elway’s Birthday!  What a perfect day to support the big man himself by helping to get 07/07/07 named John Elway Day! 

The origins for this grand plan began with a fellow Denver fan named Matt who emailed the Colorado Homers with a request to drum up support for the seventh day of Juy this year, to be named JOHN ELWAY DAY (7/7/07).  With this being the only time it will happen in our lifetimes (and Elway’s), why miss the opportunity to spend a full day basking in the undying glory that is ‘The Duke’?

Many of us have enjoyed what Elway and the Broncos have done for us over the years, now here’s a chance for US TO DO SOMETHING FOR HIM!

I’m going to offer you several ways of assisting in making this thing happen for Matt and the rest of us…

 1.  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  

2.  Contact the Governer of Colorado (Bill Ritter): Phone: (303) 866-2471, Fax: (303) 866-2003, Email: Governor.ritter@state.co.us

3.  Contact CBS4 (and ask them to cover the story): Contact Form:  http://cbs4denver.com/contact

4.  Contact ABC7 (and ask them to cover the story): Phone: (303) 832-7777

5.  Contact NBC9 (and ask them to cover the story): Email: kusa@9news.com, Phone: 303.871.1799

 6.  Contact the Denver Post: Phone: (303) 954-1201, Email Letter to the Editor: openforum@denverpost.com

Get busy Broncos Fans!!! 

[UPDATED 06-28-2007]

Happy Birthday John Elway

The Legend turns 47, but we’ve got more to celebrate as well.

Broncos fans, mark your calendars. July 7, 2007. 07-07-07. The seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year.. Such a cosmic coincidence only happens… well, once a century. And it is the only time it will take place during the lifetime of one John Elway who just happens to be the coolest dude I’ve never met. And if I had met him, he’d be the coolest dude I had met.

Here at BroncoTalk, I’m happy to celebrate Hall of Fame Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway on the first ever John Elway Day. Originally suggested/created by the excellent Colorado Homers blog, the movement has been gaining momentum of late. You can find the original posting here.

It’s a shame that I’ll be in the depths of the Grand Tetons during the annual BroncoTalk Bye Week for John Elway Day. I’ll have a little celebratory post scheduled for that day… and I’ll sneak my Elway jersey in my suitcase just to drive my wife nuts (like most Broncos bloggers out there, this is an outlet for my obsession… wearing that jersey’s about the most daring I’d be with regards to the Broncos and my wife and my media-free week in the country).

Elway Day will be represented in Wyoming, fellow fans!

The BroncoTalk Offseason Awards continue! Today, the Most Improved Offense award is given, and unlike the case with the Least Improved yesterday, the winner is by no means clear cut. I looked for some input over at BroncosFreak, and to my non-surprise the votes were overwhelmingly for the Broncos. I’m sure if I had done the same thing at a Patriots board I would have gotten similar results, but for the Pats.

Those two teams are the main contenders for the award – apologies to San Francisco, Oakland, Detroit, and Houston, who were the other main contenders. This one is between the big boys.

Was there any bigger splash this year than the Randy Moss trade?

Let’s consider each improvements one at a time, starting with New England:

New England Patriots
BIGGEST SIGNING: Randy Moss
BIGGEST LOSS: Daniel Graham
OTHER GAINS: Donte Stallworth, Wes Welker, Sammy Morris, Kyle Brady
OTHER LOSSES: Corey Dillon

The Patriots made the splash of the offseason by trading for Moss, a move that finished an uncharacteristically busy offseason for the Pats. Adding Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker to the receiving corps. makes the offense all the more explosive. And they bounced back from the loss of Corey Dillon by taking backup RB Sammy Morris away from their division opponent Miami. Huge moves all offseason long, and they’re rightfully in the running for the award.

Denver Broncos
BIGGEST SIGNING: Travis Henry
BIGGEST LOSS: George Foster
OTHER GAINS: Daniel Graham, Montrae Holland, Brandon Stokley, Patrick Ramsey
OTHER LOSSES: Cooper Carlisle, Tatum Bell, Damien Nash

While everyone is extremely excited about Jay Cutler, it’s important to remember, at least for this award, that the move wasn’t part of this offseason. Our biggest move is the signing of Travis Henry, complemented by the unsexy signings of Daniel Graham and Montrae Holland. I expect the running game to be much improved behind Henry, and Holland adds depth to the offensive line.

The BroncoTalk Offseason Award for Most Improved Offense goes to…

The New England Patriots

I know, I know… I’ve blasphemed. But I’m trying to be as objective as possible with these BOAs, and objectively I feel the Patriots did more to improve their offense this offseason than the Broncos. A lot of the posts on BroncosFreak state the obvious – the Broncos offense sucked last year, and there’s will be MORE IMPROVED, the name of the title. But I need to separate the beginning of the season from the end – I need to distinguish between Jake Plummer‘s efforts and that of Cutler’s. When Cutler came in, our offense performed admirably, so I need to consider the improvement from the end of last season.

The Pats, on the other hand, had a decent enough offense all last year with the pathetic wide receivers they had. They’ve upgraded in HUGE WAYS and now see themselves with one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL.

The Broncos offense may be much better than last year, but this is more attributable to Jay Cutler than THIS OFFSEASON. So the Patriots get the BOA.

Next week I’m off on vacation, but I’ll have posts scheduled throughout the week to keep your fix going. And I’ll be previewing the final week of the BOAs, where the Best Offseason award (and worst) will be given. Until then…

In an attempt to put our busy off-season into perspective, I’ve organized most of our moves and notable news this off-season into one timeline.  I did add two items from 2006 (Jay Cutler’s starting at QB and Al Wilson injuring his neck).  I’ve also added this timeline to a page under the Information.

Let me know if I missed anything.

2007 OFFSEASON TIMELINE

• 11/27/06 — Cutler is named the starting QB. 
• 12/3/06 — Al Wilson injures his neck during the Seattle game.
• 1/01/07 — Shooting death of starting CB Darrent Williams.
• 1/02/07 — Denver signs ten players for the 2007 season: FB Troy Fleming, QB Darrell Hackney, DE Carlos Hall, LB T.J. Hollowell, P Eddie Johnson, TE Teyo Johnson, G Kevin McAlmont, CB Lamont Reid, T Jacob Rogers and LB Cameron Vaughn.
• 1/04/07 — Denver signs FB Thump Belton, CB Eric Hill, WR Glenn Martinez and G Doug Nienhius for the 2007 season.
• 1/05/07 — Denver signs RB Andre Hall and CB Jeff Shoate for the 2007 season.
• 1/09/07 — Denver fires Defensive Coordinator Larry Coyer.
• 1/10/07 — Denver cuts loose defensive line/tackles coach Andre Patterson.
• 1/11/07 — Jim Bates is is named Denver’s assistant head coach/defense and Bob Slowik is promoted from secondary coach to defensive coordinator.
• 1/12/07 — Denver allocates five to NFL Europa: C Greg Eslinger, TE Teyo Johnson, G Kevin McAlmont, T Doug Nienhuis and CB Lamont Reid.
• 1/16/07 — Denver’s TE coach, Tim Brewster, accepts the head coaching job at the University of Minnesota.
• 1/17/07 — Bill Johnson is hired as the teams defensive line coach.
• 1/28/07 — The Broncos hire Scott O’Brien as special-teams coach, Joe Baker as linebackers coach and moving former special-teams coach Ronnie Bradford to assistant defensive backs coach.
• 2/11/07 — John Lynch and Champ Bailey help the AFC win the Pro Bowl.
• 2/25/07 — RB Damien Nash passes away after a charity basketball event. 
• 2/26/07 — Rod Smith undergoes hip surgery.
• 3/02/07 — Denver trades with Detroit: CB Dre Bly for RB Tatum Bell, George Foster and a 5th-round pick in the draft.
• 3/03/07 — Jake Plummer retires as the Broncos trade him to the Bucs for a conditional draft pick in 2008.  Denver also trade their 6th-round pick to Miami for a DT Dan Wilkinson.
• 3/05/07 — Denver signs RB Travis Henry, G Montrae Holland and RB Paul Smith.
• 3/09/07 — Denver signs TE Daniel Graham.
• 3/12/07 — Denver re-signs WR Quincy Morgan.
• 3/13/07 — Denver re-signs DE Kenny Peterson.
• 3/19/07 — DE Courtney Brown is released.  Denver signs QB Patrick Ramsey.
• 3/20/07 — Denver signs DT Alvin McKinley.
• 3/22/07 — Denver signs WR Brandon Stokley.
• 3/24/07 — Denver hires defensive assistant Charlie Jackson.
• 3/28/07 — CB Dre Bly and the Broncos agree to a contract extention.
• 3/31/07 — Denver’s trade with Miami for Dan Wilkinson is voided when Wilkinson doesn’t showup for his physical.
• 4/03/07 — Off-season workouts begin.
• 4/09/07 — Mike Shanahan agrees to a contract extention.
• 4/12/07 — Denver signs WR David Terrell. 2007-08 NFL schedule is released.
• 4/20/07 — Denver signs kicker Todd Sauerbrun.
• 4/26/07 — Denver releases LB Al Wilson and signs LB Warrick Holdman and LB D.D. Lewis.
• 4/28/07 — Denver moves up to draft DE Jarvis Moss.  They also draft DE Tim Crowder and OT Ryan Harris. 
• 4/29/07 — Denver again moves up and drafts DT Marcus Thomas.
• 5/01/07 — Denver waives RB Cedric Cobbs.
• 5/02/07 — Denver signs five college free agents: G Tim Duckworth, DT Steven Harris, WR Marquay McDaniel, S Roderick Rogers and RB Selvin Young.
• 5/07/07 — Denver signs college free agents C Mark Fenton and kicker Brandon Pace.  They release Tim Duckworth.
• 5/14/07 — Denver waives TE Landon Trusty.
• 5/16/07 — OTA days start with QB Camp.
• 5/21/07 — TE Tony Scheffler breaks his left foot during practice. 
• 5/29/07 — OTA days continue as Team Camp begins.
• 6/04/07 — Denver signs DT Sam Adams.
• 6/07/07 — Denver trades with St. Louis for DT Jimmy Kennedy.  They release CB Eric Hill.
• 6/21/07 — C Greg Eslinger is named to the All-NFL Europa Team for his performance with the Cologne Centurions. 

The BroncoTalk Offseason Awards continue! There are only 2 weeks left for the BOAs – next time it’s the grand daddy of them all, the Best Picture of the Offseason Awards, “Best Offseason.” But before that we have to celebrate the worst offseason awards… but even before that, we’ve still got to take care of business with the offense awards.

And I have to tell you, debating to myself which team’s offense suffered from the strongest amount of sucktitude was a lot of fun. In all honesty, much like my Pick ‘Em Monday where the Patriots won a few days ago, there was a clear cut winner and a heated battle for the rest. No doubt the winner today had the least improved offense and will be in the running for worst offseason overall.

But for the sake of being thorough, I started with the top 16 offenses from last year and looked at who lost a playmaker or two. I looked at both total offense and scoring offense. An offensive coach getting fired can hurt your chances (San Diego, San Francisco); a few linemen retiring could definitely hurt your chances (Kansas City); losing any of those playmakers would hurt as well. Then I looked at the lower half of the stats (where sadly the Broncos fell last year) and looked for the same things (Green Bay). I found less here, but I also considered teams whose offenses were so horribly bad, yet didn’t bother to make the moves to improve (Minnesota, Tennessee).

But ultimately it came down to the team I knew would win it (or lose it, depending on your point of view) all along – the team who lost their Pro Bowl quarterback; they thinned their already thin receiving corps.; they lost another key offensive lineman through retirement; their biggest playmaker is threatening a holdout; their record-holding tight end got a year older. If you haven’t figured it out yet, you don’t belong in the AFC West…

The BroncoTalk Offseason Award for Least Improved Offense goes to…

The Kansas City Chiefs for losing just about every playmaker they have!

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
2. New York Giants
3.Tennessee Titans
4. Minnesota Vikings

The Kansas City Chiefs finished 2nd in the division last year, ahead of the Broncos, and squeezed into the playoffs only to lose in Week 1 to the Colts. Their offense never got it going – whether you blame Trent Green for his post-insanely-massive concussion syndrome or not, Larry Johnson couldn’t get anything going against the regular season’s worst rush defense. Their offensive output was just pitiful.

Take that dreadful playoff performance and take away another key part of their offensive line in Will Shields. Now take away their former Pro Bowl quarterback. Then perform the worst trade by sending off Dante Hall to the Rams for next to nothing. Overpay for your aging tight end; refuse to pay your record-setting runningback; keep your head coach who killed your offense last year. That, my friends, is the recipe for one of the quickest disasters in offense anyone has seen in a long time.

I think the Chiefs’ defense has improved, but their offense is so bad now that it’s hard to take them seriously. They win this one hands down, only somewhat closely followed by the Giants, who lost Tiki Barber and Luke Petigout this offseason.

A brewing quarterback controversy between an aging veteran journeyman backup and an injury-prone young untested third rounder is no way to get fans excited. The Chiefs may struggle more than their fans want to realize as the Broncos and Chargers, and even possibly the Raiders, pass them by in the AFC West.

Jay Cutler could have the biggest breakout performance leaguewide. Photo Courtesy

Jay Cutler‘s first year at the helm of the Broncos offense has all of Colorado (and beyond) thinking Super Bowl. Rod Smith‘s recent injury has left a door open for new talent to emerge. The defensive line is completely revamped, and the right side of our offensive line the past 2 years are no longer Colorado citizens.

OK – where are my Broncos, and what have you done with them?

The pressure is on our younger players to have big performances this year, and there are a lot of names for Broncos fans to get excited about. Some of them have been on the squad for a few years and have shown “flashes,” – some are going through a career-changing position switch – some are rookies and just older. These are players who have yet to “break out” on the Broncos squad who I expect will have big games this year and impact our season in a big way.

10) Marcus Thomas – DT

Much like Elvis Dumervil last year, I expect 4th-round pick Marcus Thomas to make his impact on passing downs this season. He’s an athletic freak – 300 lbs. and doing back flips. He has the athletic tools to become one of the greatest to ever play his position – but let me slow myself down and remind myself, “He’s just a rookie DT.” Defensive Tackles are statistically one of the least common rookies to make an impact in their first season, so it’s hard to hope Thomas will change our team by himself this year. But like Doomy last year, he can wreak havoc on third downs, and I expect a solid 5 sacks from this beefy freak.

9) Kyle Johnson – FB

Riddled with injury last year, I expect big things from a healthy Kyle Johnson in 2007. You could almost consider 2005 his breakout year – 6 touchdowns, nearly all from the red zone, where Mike Shanahan‘s creativity was showing how he could utilize every player on the field. After being hurt most of last year, he only scored once, but I expect Johnson to come back better than ever. We have playmakers all over our offense now, and our offense should be more explosive than ever. Johnson will be blocking for his first 1500 yard back in Travis Henry, but even with the added playmakers, I still expect 6 or 7 TDs and upwards of 300 receiving yards if Johnson stays healthy.

8) Domenik Hixon – WR, PR/KR

Last year, Domenik Hixon wasn’t healthy enough to see the field for the Broncos, but quotes from Mike Shanahan indicate that he is excited to see what Hixon can do. Last year, our punt and kickoff returns (hell, our special teams in general) ranked near the bottom of the league – but the growth of Hixon hopes to change that. Assuming he’s healthy, look for Hixon to be our star returner, and complement his special teams contributions with big plays on offense as well.

7) Tim Crowder – DE

I must have said it a hundred times by now – I expect Tim Crowder to have a bigger immediate impact than Jarvis Moss. So, at least for 2007, T-Crow makes the list where Moss does not. He was more productive than Moss and he wasn’t as big a liability in run support, and I expect him to crack the starting lineup by midseason. Our defensive line is completely revamped with cuts, additions, and draft picks – Crowder shows the most promise among the new guys on the block.

6) Domonique Foxworth – DB

Domonique Foxworth has showed flashes of brilliance his entire career in Denver. He’s also been beat quite a few times, leaving him room to improve. I would still insist that Foxworth is better than half the #2 corners in the league, but he’ll need to be in this defense. Think about it – with Champ Bailey covering John Doe #1, and Dre Bly all over Doe #2, quarterbacks will be looking toward John Doe #3 more often than they would for other teams. This makes Foxworth the most important nickelback in the NFL. Can he live up to that sort of pressure – I think he can, given his flashes and even his willingness to fill in at safety when we were decimated by injuries last season.

5) Tony Scheffler – TE

Shannon Sharpe. Tony Gonzalez. Antonio Gates. The best tight ends in the NFL have resided in the AFC West, and the Broncos haven’t seen a truly versatile tight end since Sharpe called it a career years ago. With 4 touchdowns in the last 4 games of the year, Tony Scheffler exploded to make a rookie passer-to-receiver tandem that had all of Denver blowing up with excitement. He was the leading receiver through most of the preseason, and I expect big things from him in 2007.

4) Chris Kuper – OG

Denver fans have been hearing good things about guard Chris Kuper for over a year now, and it looks like the late round pick from last year is finally going to get his shot. The right side of our offensive line is my biggest concern on our team, but Kuper looks like he could at least spare us the worry on the right side.

3) D.J. Williams – MLB

Talk about pressure – imagine being asked to fill in Al Wilson‘s shoes. D.J. Williams has already broken out at Weakside linebacker his rookie year – his production fell since Ian Gold returned, and Williams switched, but he’s athletic enough where Jim Bates wanted to get him on the field as much as possible. As the new middle linebacker of the Broncos, Williams will be asked to move sideline-to-sideline, and he will stay on nickel packages to help Domonique Foxworth handle the rest of the opposing offense. He could be a household name by the time we win Super Bowl XLII in February (yeah I said it).

2) Brandon Marshall – WR

With Terrell Owens-like talent and abilities, and Rod Smith temporarily out of the picture, will Brandon Marshall explode the way most hardcore fans believe he will? We’ve seen glimpses of his ability in the Seattle game – but can he be the #2 we’ve been missing since Ed McCaffrey left? Marshall fell in the 2006 draft, seemingly inconceivably, and the Broncos snatched him early on Day 2. We’ll know exactly what kind of player we got as he starts opposite Javon Walker this season.

1) Jay Cutler – QB

And then there was Jay. I don’t even know where to begin with Cutler – he seems to rank at the top of these lists twice a month. Everything they say COULD happen in Denver this year all depends on the success and growth of our strong-armed quarterback. I expect big things this year.

Just off the list players include Jarvis Moss and Mike Bell, but I like this edition of Top Ten Tuesdays just the way it is. We have a lot of on-the-cusp players that could break out this year; influenced by your votes, I ranked the likelihood and potential impact for you here. Next week it’s the BroncoTalk Bye Week – my week away from a computer… and while every other segment will be taking the week off, I’ve found a way to schedule a future post, and so Top Ten Tuesdays will roll on as scheduled!

So, last week Peter King over at SI.com ranked the 32 starting quarterbacks for this upcoming season based on projected stats. Jay Cutler made it into the top ten (just barely at #10). I wasn’t too disappointed about that at first as this will be Jay’s first full year under center. But then I took a look at one or two of the QB’s ahead of him. I’m sure Vince Young will have a good year in TN and Phillip Rivers will do well in San Diego, but I personally think Cutler will out preform both by the end of next season.

Yesterday, Bucky Brooks from SI.com listed off the top 25 Wideouts for 2007 based on his projections. Javon Walker – no surprise to anyone – made the top 10 (placing #8).

“After posting a 1,000-yard season in his first season as a Bronco, Walker has established himself as Jay Cutler‘s favorite target. A vertical playmaker, he excels at double moves and deep routes off play action. With Travis Henry commanding attention in the backfield, Walker and Cutler should hook up for several big plays in 2007.”

— Bucky Brooks 6/25/07

I agree with his assessment of Walker and think his top ten are pretty close to what I would predict (were I an expert). However, I think TO and Driver will both need to have very good years to pass what I believe Walker will produce this season (my UNprofessional prediction is that he goes to the Pro Bowl at the end of the year).

But what really got me thinking was the fact that many of the Sports Illustrated top QB picks also had leading wideouts. Although this isn’t surprising, it made me wonder which of these top ten quarterbacks that also had top 25 receivers had the best combined tandem. So, in typical Denver Obsession non-scientific fashion I have added up their SI.com rankings and came up with the following list:

#1. Indianapolis Colts: Peyton Manning & Marvin Harrison*

#2. Cincinnati Bengals: Carson Palmer & Chad Johnson*

#3. New England Patriots: Tom Brady & Randy Moss

#4. Detroit Lions: Jon Kitna & Roy Williams*

#5. St. Louis Rams: Mark Bulger & Torry Holt

#6. Denver Broncos: Jay Culter & Javon Walker

#7. Seattle Seahawks: Matt Hasselbeck & Deion Branch

#8. New Orleans Saints: Drew Brees & Marques Colston

#9. Tennessee Titans: Vince Young & <NO TOP 25 WR>

#10. San Diego Chargers: Phillip Rivers & <NO TOP 25 WR>

*each of these teams had two wideouts in the top 25.

With Indy, Cincy and NE at the top of the list, I think this might be pretty close to accurate. And while I don’t agree with Detroit and St. Louis having a better tandem than Denver does, I do think that we’ll fall in the top five for the year, and this is pretty close to that.

Of course, no one really puts any stock in projections and predictions (even from the experts) in June. All of these pairs will need to preform on game day before this list really counts. In the end, this list will likely be something we will all get to laugh at in the off-season next year!

However, it’s exciting to think about having one of the leagues top five QB-WR duos, and I can’t wait to see them get out on the field and make this it happen!

Here are Peter Kings top 10 QB’s:

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts

2. Tom Brady, New England Patriots

3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

4. Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals

5. Mark Bulger, St. Louis Rams

6. Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle Seahawks

7. Vince Young, Tennessee Titans

8. Phillip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

9. Jon Kitna, Detroit Lions

10. Jay Cutler, Denver Broncos

Here are Bucky Brooks top 25 Wide Receivers:

1. Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers

2. Chad Johnson, Cincinnati Bengals

3. Roy Williams, Detroit Lions

4. Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis Colts

5. Terrell Owens, Dallas Cowboys

6. Andre Johnson, Houston Texans

7. Donald Driver, Green Bay Packers

8. Javon Walker, Denver Broncos

9. Anquan Boldin, Arizona Cardinals

10. Randy Moss, New England Patriots