FanNation - The Republic of Sport

winners*

"The real winner's here are the people of Portland"
--Shooter McGavin

We're gonna miss him. A terrific player and a hard worker. I just wish his statistics were good enough for the Hall...but Sadly, I think he'll fall short. The fact he was an undrafted free agent might help.

The Ravens are more than just a QB away from the playoffs anyway--they have a sieve for an O-line and those WR's are below average...

Yeah and I'd expect the same from a SD column writer when they start comparing positions where other Division teams have a better player...for instance, if they started to talk about how Cromartie was on the level of Champ Bailey....tho Cromartie has had a good career thus far, to say he was on the same level of Bailey is not accurate....yet I would just chalk it up to hometown bias...So get over the TE comparisons

here*

"boohoo no one gives Gates enough respect"
--The Denver post posted this article so wouldn't you expect a bit of a bias towards Denver? (and away from a division rival like SD)
--Nobody here is sayin Gates wasn't the beginning of what has turned into a new breed of TE, no one here says Gates isn't one of, if not, THE best at what these new TE's do. But if he is the best he has a lot of quality players right on his heals. Whitten, and Clark are near if not AT his level. Shockey, when healthy (and happy) is close too. Quit whining about who isn't giving Gates enough respect, everyone hear agree'd that this article was a bit over dramatic and over stating Scheffler's current reputation and talent comparison.

I won't say he's the second coming of Sharpe or that he is Gates, Cooley, Witten, Clarke all rolled into one, but I will say this: Don't sleep on Scheffler if he's healthy.
He has great hands (See Chargers game '06 and last years Bears game) but he is just potential so far. Just like the Post overstated the current comparisons to Gates, etc. some of you guys are understating his talent by comparing him to Desmond Clark etc. Keep in mind Schef accomplished what he did really only playing 12 games (the first 4 he did play a few snaps but his foot injury was too severe to get significant time) and this was also his first full season (he really only played 6 games his rookie year).....but for now he is just potential. It's true, for Cutler to succeed he needs a healthy Scheffler and Marshall. But no one can compare him to the elite TE's in the league yet. But he does have the talent

Here's a little note about Shanahan and his career with QB's:
Shanahan's first year as Offensive coordinator with the 49ers....1992, some guy named Steve Young
--.....Young was the first quarterback ever to record a triple digit rating in consecutive seasons. Many credit Young's turnaround to the arrival of then 49ers Offensive Coordinator Mike Shanahan, who mentored Young just as he did John Elway in the years before. He went on to throw for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rush for 73 yards, in a 20-13 divisional playoff win over the Washington Redskins before losing the NFC title game 30-20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Despite the disappointment, Young was selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time.
-Shanahan became a part of the offensive staff that Developed Young into the 1992 MOST VALUABLE PLAYER.

50 Year fan,
I read that article as well. But guess what, I read it before the Owners decided to opt out of the current contract agreement set in for 2011. So with that in mind, who is to say how resignings and free agency will go at the end of this upcoming season. Will players want 1 year deals so make sure they get as much guranteed before possibly striking and then resigning on a non salary cap year if they don't strike? Or will they want long contracts? Will they have a new agreement set in by then? Who knows!! My point isn't to say "hey this is why the Broncos are going to win the Superbowl" it's to say that you can't judge how a team will do down the line because you have no idea what could happen. We have draft, free agency (where we could pickup someone to replace Lynch if need be). Telling me how the team looks in a yeard is such a crap shoot that it's a waste of breath. BUT...too go along with losing players after this season I have to say this....
Englberger received a huge boost in playing time when our other DE went on IR--Ekuban. He is a hard worker but by no means can he be declared a valued loss. Tim Crowder replaces him, and does better than him guranteed. Lynch (who is great and a HOF'r who I love) is old and has become a situational player to stop the run--he hurts us a decent amount of the time by being on the field. We have already begun addressing this problem with a rookie and signing of a cover safety.
--You say we are gonna have all of these Free agents but you neglect to mention one thing: WE CAN RESIGN THEM! And from the group you mentioned We can replace quite a few. Nalen is the best: but guess what, we played most the season without him and have had a formidable replacement for a while.

And saying Davis is the only reason Elway one the Superbowl is moronic at best. Yes I love TD and I am one of few that believe he should be a Hall of Famer. But when you look at this team TD was part of an amazing team.
--Shannon Sharpe (he's pretty good), Rod Smith, Ed McCaffrey, JOHN ELWAY, Stever Atwater, John Mobley, Tom Nalen, Trevor Pryce, Romanowksi, Neil Smith, Keith Trailor. Gary Zimmerman (Hall of Famer this year).
--Terrell Davis is amazing but he is in no way the deciding factor behind WHY they won the Superbowl--that is his biggest knock into the Hall of Fame--that he is a part of a SYSTEM...Who put that System in????? I think it was Shanahan

Let's put this all in to perspective...this "Free ride" and the "one playoff win"

1997--Superbowl Win
1998-- Superbowl Win
1999-2004--The Broncos Decline because, Initially, they lose their franchise QB who had been their cornerstone for 15 years. Along the way they lose almost every player from their superbowl winning team. Sharpe, McCaffrey, Neil Smith. Their NEW FRANCHSISE Terrell Davis suffers what later becomes a career ending Injury. Can the Broncos rebuild? Possibly. But with great coaching and some free agency moves the Broncos manage to sink to no lower than the 15th overall pick in the draft. But Let me ask you this. Does 2 consecutive Superbowl victories buy you 5 years, especially when only one of those seasons is a losing one? If it doesn't I'd be amazed.

2005--The Broncos go 13-3 and win their ONLY PLAYOFF VICTORY since the super bowl....Who does that win come from? Why, the Former Superbowl Champion NE Patriots. This ONLY WIN also takes them to the AFC Championships.
2006--The Broncos transition from an older, free agent based team to a younger team FINALLY with a franchise QB. They fall one game short of the playoffs, ALL BECAUSE THEY LOSE the last game of the year--a game which is put squarely onto the shoulders of their rookie Quarterback in his 5th start of his career.
2007--Broncos suffer their first losing season in 8 years (and 2nd in 13). Their Franchise WR out a majority of the season. Between the starting O-line and D-line their are 3 players on IR (Hamilton, Moss, Ekuban), 2 of which from pre-season. The Franchise QB UNKNOWINGLY plays the entire season with type 1 diabetes, losing dropping from 230 to 200 pounds, still finishing top 10 in yards and 12 in QB rating.

--Now these aren't reasons as to WHY the Broncos are a great team or should have more superbowl wins, playoff wins, etc. But this is putting in to perspective our ONE playoff win--it came 3 years ago and took us to the AFC championship. Since then we have transitioned a rookie franchise QB. How many teams have won a superbowl with a quarterback with a QB in his 1st two years? I believe only one. Shanahan has had a bad stretch of 5 years, but that came off a good stretch of 3 (with 2 Superbowl victories). So he bought himself those 5 years with the Victories. Then he has a 13-3 AFC Champ appearance. Then he trains a new rookie QB. Shanahan's tenure as Head coach is a lot more solid when put into perspective

I'm not saying the Broncos will win the Superbowl, far from it, I'm just saying you can't state where the Broncos will finish or how terrible they will be. If you're that good at prediciting where teams finish you should talk to SI or go to Vegas and wager some money, because your talents are being wasted making comments on Fannation. The Giants, Browns, and many other teams have proven that in June it's just not wise to say who will end up in the cellar and who is going to win the Superbowl.

--The Broncos have had recent success in their previous 3 years of drafting, so according to "rules" isn't 3 years of successful drafting normally the time it normally takes for teams to succeed in the post season? The Broncos have 12 of 17 players from the previous 3 drafts (not inluding this last draft of course) that either start or play a majority of the game. 1 of those 5 that don't play was murdered and was a starter. Another was traded for a pick in this last draft and will start for that team. Another Paralyzed a man during a kick off return and was so shaken that he himself said he needed to be released before he could contribute in the NFL again(By the way, how did Hixon workout for the Giants???). As a Giants fan, to say how the Broncos are set up this coming season is just a mistake.

--To predict how the Broncos are set up for the future, as a Giants fan, is just stupid. Did the Giants not have an 8-8 season (and 28th overall pass defense) just a year before they won the super bowl? (one win more than the Broncos this season). Wasn't the main story coming out of New York at the beginning this year saying that Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning both had one more season or else one would be fired and the other proclaimed a bust?

--I never said that the Henry deal worked out, I'm saying that if you think Shanahan doesn't know how to spot talent to fit his running scheme you are sorely mistaken. I'm saying you can't fault Shanahan who has notoriously made terrific decisions with the players in his running scheme to make one mistake. The previous 6 decisions at running back have lead to 1000 yard rushers (so roughly since 1995)

They still drafted a RB so it's not as big of an "if" as you think. They still have Ryan Torrain (a good fit for their system), Selvin Young (Averaged 5.1 yds per carry and who has added bulk) Andre Hall (A serviceable backup) to go along with Pittman and Mike Bell (Who still can be productive). They also drafted a FB and a LB they are considering converting to FB so they have potential to make wholes and protect their RB's as well.

And why are you still locked on the Broncos not signing Elam? Saying that the Broncos should have signed Elam instead of going with another kicker is like saying you already know which draft players will be successful and which will be busts--you won't know what is a good move or what is a bad move until the season is played out. Yes Elam is statiscally better than any kicker the Broncos currently have(he was also one of my favorite Broncos). The game isn't decided by who did what in the past, it's decided by who performs on sunday. For all you know right now Elam might not be as successful as whoever becomes the Broncos next kicker.
--weren't the Pats statistically better than the Giants in almost every category? So why play the Superbowl then? I figured you might get the point if I put somethin about your gmen in there.

50yearfan,
You can't fault Shanahan for making the move to sign Henry. When he was signed a little over a year ago Shanahan was praised for bringing in a one cut runner who fit so well into the Broncos' zone-blocking system that a lot of analysts had Henry as a possible league leader in yards by the end of the season. Shanahan tried to set up his running game with the best runner built for his system. Are you trying to say Shanahan doesn't know what he is doing when choosing a RB for his system? I think History might prove you wrong there.

When I saw this article I was expecting to see a lot of Shanahan haters. I was surprised to see a lot of people agreed with me so far--Jackson isn't an AWFUL player, he could be a quality #2 or #3. I don't know what America's legend is talking about with trading draft picks because we have 9 this year and haven't traded any yet (Though we don't have a 3rd rounder due to a trade last year for Marcus Thomas). I do agree Cutler is goofy looking though--but a great player.
--I agree with JNacht, the Broncos are getting depth so they can really shore up the lines this year. and maybe by 4th round (in which we have 2 picks) we can take a shot at a WR then. This wasn't a bad move

Darrell Jackson isn't THAT bad. He's not elite, but it's not like the Broncos are looking for a #1. Look who Jackson had throwing to him this year, and being slated as the 49ers #1 WR means he had the best corner on the opposing team marking him--while also having a piss-poor QB lobbing the ball to him. His #'s in Seatle are also back when they were more of a run-based team so it's not like he was a primary target there either--Hackett, Branch, and Burleson were all there for his last year as a Seahawk and he still had 950 Yards and 10TD's (Branch and Hackett each had at least 600 as well, Engram only played half the year)
As a #2 with an actual quarterback throwing the ball to him he has a shot to put up the same numbers he had in Seatle. 900 yards and 10TD's....
--I'm less psyched about Parker.