Week #2 - As I see It

Random thoughts and observations from the weekend of football.

• Obviously the big story in college football was the domination of a Big Ten team by one of America’s consistently successful football programs, led by a former NFL coach. Sure it has become cliché at this point, but it still must be said because it is clear who the greatest team in the country is this year. Clearly, the national championship runs through South Bend, Indiana.
  • I have made many jokes about Charlie Weis’ impossibly high waist but after he blew out basically all of the ligaments in his knee this past Saturday when a player was blocked into him, I will refrain making a cheap joke. A cheap joke like saying I actually expected his straight leg cast to extend all the way to the bottom of his manssiere. Nope, not going to make a cheap joke like that. That is just classless.
  • Seriously though congratulations to the Irish. They have now beat 2 teams that have combined for one win over a MAC team and losses to a Division 1-AA team and a Mountain West team. Clearly, the pride is back in South Bend. We can all expect at least one or two articles this week about how Notre Dame is a national championship darkhorse.
• On to the ‘The Collision in the Coliseum’ or rather the ‘The Continued Embarrassment of Buckeye Nation – West Coast Edition’
  • I know Mark Sanchez put his name at the top of the Heisman trophy candidacy list and he seems like a good enough guy but is it just me or is Joe McKnight the scariest player in the country? As Musburger said as he snapped the ankles of several Buckeyes on one play ‘he looks like he is playing a video game out there’
  • Speaking of the announcing team, I have to give credit to Kirk Herbstreit. Can you imagine trying to stay objective and professional while your former school and hometown team was getting slaughtered (yet again) on a national stage? I know, if I sat in an announcing booth while FSU got filleted like that I would have either gone very bitter and tried rationalize each busted play (‘that looked like a hold to me, Brent’) or become sarcastic and cynical (‘wow, they can tackle, I guess they were just giving the Trojans a head start’).
  • By the way, what was the point of announcing the day before that Beanie Wells wouldn’t be playing? Unless Tressel was worried about the crowd out in Las Vegas (kind of like someone else in his state – see below), is there anything gained by telling the world that your best player won’t be suiting up for the biggest game of the year? Sure, tell your team so that they can be prepared – but tell the press? Umm, ok.
• I traded messages with Turner on Saturday evening during the Sooner beatdown of the Huskies as he gloated over another Sooner domination of an over-matched team. It is pretty clear that Bob Stoops is still really bitter about the Pac-10 officials stealing that game from him a couple years ago at Oregon and is now taking it out on any Pac-10 team he faces (as long as it isn’t in a BCS bowl of course). I think if he really wanted to rub it in on the Huskies, he should’ve had his team intentionally throw the ball high in the air after each touchdown, just so Husky fans could see what a 35 yard extra point looks like – about 7 times over.

On to the NFL:

• Of course I must start with the Broncos / Chargers game. For all of you that were instead forced to sit through Captain America taking on the Evil Empire from Foxborough, you missed a really entertaining game. The Broncos and Chargers had as many touchdowns by halfway through the first quarter as you did all day – Favre or no Favre.
• Sure the defenses weren’t exactly stellar (942 yards of combined offense!) but it sure was a fun game to watch. Even the No-Fun-League couldn’t take the excitement out of this one.
• Much has been said and written about the ‘aggressiveness’ and ‘guts’ of Mike Shanahan going for two points at the end of the game rather than the extra point to send it to overtime. I actually had 2 other words come to mind when he made that call: job security.
• No coach worried about his job, would go for that play. Shanahan knows he will coach the Broncos as long as he wants – even if one of those 4 defenders that pass threaded through had knocked it down. Compare Shanahan to Romeo Crennel who has kicked a meaningless field goal in each of the first two weeks that accomplish nothing but make the final score slightly less embarassing (and maybe make some people out in the desert very happy) rather than go for a touchdown. Romeo probably has (at most) 14 games left as a head coach. You don’t think he wouldn’t love to get his rival into overtime?
• One final note on the Broncos: I have been talking about Brandon Marshall all summer and putting aside his organization-record 18 receptions for a moment and that he spent the entire day humiliating Antonio Cromartie (Seminole Alert!) one of the best corners in the game, one thing sticks out about his play. He catches everything with his hands. That displays not only great hands (obviously), but also a lot of confidence and it makes a ref’s job easy to give him close catches. His touchdown just before half was a thing of beauty. He catches that with his body and the refs have a lot of latitude to rule him out of bounds but by catching it with his hands (and even cleanly palming the ball with one hand) the only question the refs needed to determine was whether his feet were in.
• On to other games, I am a little surprised by our continued surprise at the Patriots. Sure, they aren’t going to set scoring records again but this team won 3 Super Bowls with a young quarterback managing a game and not making mistakes. Why shouldn’t they be able to do it now? This team finds a way, whether it is moving Troy Brown to defensive back, resurrecting Corey Dillon’s career or making Mike Vrabel a legitimate pass catching option at the goal line when they had limited receivers.
• So, how bad are the Chiefs? They play quarterback roulette (and come up double zeros) and get dominated at home by the Raiders. Yes, the same Raiders that got trashed by the Broncos on Monday night. The only one who might be more frustrated than Chiefs fans by what happened at Arrowhaed could be Justin Fargas. Get a little banged up and open the door just enough to let Darren McFadden show what he can do. 164 yards and a touchdown later and Fargas may not be seeing much more of the field this year. At least not if Lane Kiffin wants to keep his job. 
• By the way – have you seen that new NFL.com commercial? You know, I spend a lot of time in airports and I can honestly say no one that looks anything like Marissa Miller has ever sat next to me, let alone wanted to look over my shoulder to watch football. And can we all agree that the guy who gets annoyed by this is officially the dumbest person in America?
• One last comment from tonight’s Eagles / Cowboys match-up. When DeSean Jackson made that 70-yard catch in the 2^nd quarter I thought a new wrinkle had been added to my personal Jackson/Eddie Royal feud. Little did I know how right I was when it was ruled that Jackson actually dropped the ball on the 2 yard line in a slightly premature celebration…something I know nothing about. The optimist in me likes to think that Jackson’s ignorance or arrogance might have had some impact on the Broncos selecting Royal. Suddenly, Shanahan’s draft record improves in my eyes. Maybe I have been too hard on the guy. Maybe I just rushed to judgment. <gulp> Maybe I was wrong.
• Of course, then I remember this is the same guy who drafted Maurice Clarett in the 3^rd round and I don’t feel so wrong.

The Boys Are Back in Town

Before diving into the Cowboys/Broncos game from this past weekend, I have 3 comments on the Olympics I need to get off my chest:

• First a shout out of congratulations to Walter Dix. As someone who also spent many, many hours almost killing myself on the Mike Long track, I take immense pride in a fellow Nole coming up so huge on the largest stage in the world. Congrats Walter, good luck in the 200. Even Alachua county is rooting for you this time.
• Second, I am happy to report that despite hours of brainwashing by Al Trautwig and Tim Daggett I feel even stronger than ever that all judged events have no place in the Olympics. The ridiculousness that is endured on a nightly basis where no one can understand or explain why one competitor wins over another is absolutely ludicrous. Add in that whole tie-break fiasco and I most certainly won’t be counting the days until the next gymnastics meet. Since when would it be so bad that two competitors who performed equally well both get gold?
  • Can you imagine if this was applied to other sports? Like track? “Well, it looks like the two Jamaicans have tied for second in the women’s 100 here at the Bird’s Nest. And the judges have awarded the silver to Kerron Stewart for having a quicker start out of the blocks and maintaining better form over the first 50 meters.”
• Finally, did you see that coach for U.S. Pole Vaulter Jenn Stuczynski, after she won the silver? I won’t recap it here (this does a great job of summarizing both the incident and my reaction to it). Two points though:
  • Think what you will about gymnastics or diving (as I clearly do), you have to give the coaches a ton of credit. No matter how bad of a belly flop or face plant is performed by one of the athletes; the coaches are always there with a hug, high-five and words of encouragement. There is no underestimating how important that is to these athletes.
  • Jenn, since clearly your coach won’t say it, let me just say: congratulations. Fantastic job. There is no shame in losing to the greatest athlete of all time in your event (who set a world record during the event). You did a great job. When you come to your senses and ditch whats-his-name, try giving Dennis Nobles a call. As for coach, well let me just say I hope he finds some enjoyment from his time in Beijing. After that performance I can’t imagine a lot of world class athletes will be beating down his door.

Whew I feel better. Ok, on to the game.

With less than a week until my fantasy draft I find myself having a hard time watching football games without constantly looking at it from the fantasy perspective. With that in mind, I decided to review the game from the fantasy point of view.

Quarterback

Broncos – In case you haven’t noticed (and you probably haven’t), Jay Cutler is having a great pre-season. He started off against the Cowboys with 12 straight completions and finished 16 of 20 for 178 yards and a touchdown. Yes, this was against everyone’s Super Bowl favorite Cowboys defense. He picked them apart. While he may not be in the top tier of quarterbacks, with the Broncos weak schedule, he has to be a strong consideration for a spot start in case of injury or bye week. Especially after the first two weeks when he gets Brandon Marshall back.

Cowboys – I’m not sure if Tony confused ‘pre-season’ with ‘post-season’ but Romo didn’t look real sharp. While there was absolutely no pressure from the Bronco defense (shocking, I know), Tony still didn’t do much. He ended the day 6 of 9 for 33 yards. Part of this was the clock eating drives of the Broncos early in the game but clearly he had no luck going downfield in his couple drives (long of 10 yards). I know he is a top four fantasy quarterback, but I think fantasy owners are going to need to be willing to suck up a few dreadful weeks to get those outstanding weeks.

Running Back

Broncos – You got me. Seriously, I got nothing. I can’t even tell you who to talk about, let alone how they are going to do. Andre Hall and Selvin Young are both getting equal time with the first team and both look equally good. Based on his stats last year you would lean toward Young, but given his history of injuries and Mike Shanahan’s love of screwing fantasy running back owners, I don’t think either of these guys have upside worthy of wasting a high draft pick oh him. If someone gambles on Young way-too-early in the draft I might pick up Hall late (do you really need that second defense?) and stash him on the bench to see how many carries he gets those first few weeks. Don’t forget everyone’s summer crush Ryan Torain will be back just in time to ruin someone’s fantasy playoff performance and there is also Anthony Alridge who should get some of those valuable swing passes and sweeps each game.

Cowboys – Marion Barber is a consensus late first round pick. Call me as conservative as Bill O’Reilly but I tend to want my first round picks to be the clear number one on their teams. The more I have seen both Hard Knocks and the Cowboys play the more and more convinced I am that Felix Jones is going to be the scourge of all Barber owners. Jones is going to get carries and passes this season. Remember Duce Staley? Brian Westbrook’s rookie year, Duce had over 1500 yards from scrimmage. The following year he had 845. You think Jerry Jones will keep his fellow Arkansas alum off the field as much as Westbrook that rookie year? Sure Marion will get the majority of the goal line carries which helps his value but don’t say I didn’t warn you when he is right back sharing time with Felix Jones.

Wide Receiver

Broncos – In case you didn’t get the subtle hints from my training camp time, Brandon Marshall is going to see a lot of balls coming his way this year (Cowboy game: 6 catches, 59 yards and 1 touchdown in less than two quarters). If the Broncos can find another threat during Marshall’s suspension that will keep teams from focusing on him, Marshall should have a big year. On the other side, Eddie Royal has been one of the breakout stars of Bronco camp and the Cowboy game (2 receptions for 67 yards) and has the inside track to playing opposite Marshall all year. He better play well, as for the rest of his career I will be comparing Eddie to DeSean Jackson – a similar player with better collegiate career who the Broncos passed on for Eddie. DeSean had 6 catches for 70 yards in Philly’s game against the Panthers on Friday. Just sayin.

Cowboys – T.O. is….T.O. He had a relatively quiet night against the Broncos (3 catches, 20 yards) but by this point we know what we are getting from T.O. As long as Romo has as much time as he did against the Broncos, Owens will have a big year. It would be helpful if the Cowboys could find a partner for him to take some of the attention but I don’t think Patrick Crayton (big, fat goose-egg on the catches) is striking fear in the hearts of too many defensive coordinators. Miles Austin had the biggest play – a 37 yard touchdown pass from Brad Johnson but then got injured and can’t really be considered a fantasy option until he takes Crayton’s job.

Tight End

Broncos – To me this is the most interesting position for the Broncos. The fantasy experts love Tony Scheffler and I’m not sure why. Yes, he has finished the last two seasons on fire but throughout camp and the two pre-season games he seems to be the Broncos third tight end. First is Daniel Graham, primarily for his blocking ability, though he still had 24 catches last year. Second has been Nate Jackson, who actually has more rececptions than Scheffler so far this year. In fact, Scheffler didn’t really start getting lots of balls until Jackson hit the IR last year. If Jackson is a better blocker than Scheffler than won’t he get the majority of snaps when the Broncos are keeping run and pass options open (like, for example – inside the 5 yard line)? If Scheffler screams “PASSS” to the other defense, doesn’t that limit his effectiveness and fantasy value? I am no fantasy expert, what do I know. I just think when I am looking for a tight end I would rather have a clear number one like Heath Miller or Alge Crumpler, who are rated below Scheffler.

Cowboys – Speaking of clear number ones, the Cowboys have Jason Witten. While he didn’t do much against the Broncos (zero catches), Romo’s vacation buddy is clearly one of the top five tight ends in the game (is it getting monotonous saying that every Cowboy offensive player didn’t do much? Sorry, you should have seen the game – yawn). Interestingly, the break out player of the game for the Cowboys was Rodney Hannah who had 4 catches for 52 yards. I have no idea how the Cowboys would fit him in, but he looked darn good – big and quick.

Defense

Broncos – If you are seriously considering drafting the Broncos defense after their performance last season, you need more help than I could ever provide. Despite, the Cowboys struggles, you need to remember that the Broncos defensive line is young, suspect and ineffective; their linebackers are unproven and the secondary is a combination of new or unhealthy. Other than that they are really solid.

Cowboys – Much like everyone else on ‘America’s Team’ the Cowboys defense is heavily hyped. Not that allowing the Broncos to march up and down the field, putting no pressure on the quarterback and giving up fourteen points in a quarter will change the hype. But I would think at a minimum it has to give someone drafting the Cowboys defense a moment’s pause.

Kickers

Does it really matter? All kickers are pretty much the same. Argue with me only if you spent a draft pick on Mason Crosby a year ago knowing that he would be the highest scoring kicker in the league.

Having said that, Matt ‘Brian Griese’ Prater hasn’t exactly been a model of consistency so far this season.

Actually, strike that, he has missed the first field goal of both games so far, he has been very consistent.

My Week at Summer Camp – Day Three

Note: This week, after realizing that planned (and desperately needed) vacation time coincided with the opening week of Bronco training camp, I decided to head down to Dove Valley for several days this week. I will be providing nightly updates on what we have learned about your 2008 Denver Broncos.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Welcome back to our exclusive outside-the-ropes, back-row view of Denver Broncos Training Camp. Joined by our Hierarchy of Hate and Roundtable compatriot Turner, we decided to suck it up and go to both ends of the Broncos two-a-days today. As this will be my final day in Dove Valley this week, I decided to break this one into two posts. Today will be the morning session, tomorrow come back for the afternoon session. On to the sights and sounds of Dove Valley:

• On the way in, we check out the mini-Bronco store to see if there are any jerseys we should pick up for Turner’s son who will be joining us this afternoon, figuring maybe he is our ticket to getting a ball and meeting some players. Unfortunately the sale rack is about 90% Travis Henry jerseys (along with an assortment of Javon Walker and Simeon Rice jerseys – wonder why these are on sale?). While there are plenty of basements in the greater Boulder area where a Henry jersey would be highly sought, we both agree it probably isn’t the best jersey for a four year old.
• As we take our spots on the grassy berm (not to be confused with the grassy knoll in Dallas where nothing occurred in 1963), we are entertained by the local ‘security’ in charge of keeping the wild crowd under control. This mostly consists of asking people to put away their phones and keeping them out of the ‘VIP Lounge’. I have high hopes that the ‘Lounge’ has a bar at the back and some waitresses in Bronco cheerleaders to take your order. Alas it is just a square area on the berm at mid-field roped off by red and white striped rope.
  • After a long day we have begun to feel close with the two rope minders, one we called Big Jake and the other whose name we learn is T.J. Big Jake looks disturbingly like the white guy from that Red Stripe commercial who learns to dance and T.J. is a dead-ringer for Boyd Tinsley, Dave Matthews’ violin player (who coincidentally is not on their current tour…hmmm.). Big Jake spends most of the day talking to a blond with big hair in the VIP section. Turner and I are convinced she is there in a desperate attempt to become Mrs. Jay Cutler.
  • For the record, we don’t think she is alone in this goal among the crowd.
• The first highlight from the action on the field is Darrell Jackson getting absolutely blown up on a short pass in the flats. This is noteworthy first because he is a Gator (it is still surprisingly satisfying even in a Bronco uniform) and second with all players in shoulder pads and shorts hitting typically is a nice smack on the shoulders and that is about it. Poor Darrell is the exception, not only does he go airborne but his helmet goes flying! The crowd eats it up, momentarily forgetting that he is probably going to start opposite Brandon Marshall this season.
  • I wish I could tell you who hit him but I have had this problem all week that I get Jamie Winborn (#51) and Nate Webster (#58) confused constantly. Part of it is their similar size (5’11” – 6’0”, 230 lbs) and part of it is the similar roles they have played for the Broncos in recent years: back-up linebackers occasionally seeing defensive plays while being special teams stalwarts. That is pretty much all it takes to confuse me, especially on my third straight morning slowly baking in the sun.
• Speaking of Brandon Marshall, I can’t stress enough how big of a year he could have this season.

NOTE: After the suspension of course. Which brings up an interesting question: what round is he drafted in fantasy leagues with the suspension looming? Here is what Turner and I agree: no suspension – 3^rd round, 2-game suspension – 5^th round, 4 game suspension - 6^th - 7^th round. Interested to hear any other fantasy perspectives).

o       It is amazing how much Cutler looks for Marshall, it was practically a running joke for Turner and I. Every time Marshall split out left, you could almost see the third string corner on the left side deflate, knowing that the pass was coming his way and he was pretty much powerless to stop it.

o       Cutler averaged about 29 passes per game last year. If I had to break down how those 29 passes will be distributed this year (post suspension), I would guess:

o       5 passes – running back out of the backfield (Torain, Young, A.A.)

o       5 passes – tight ends (Sheffler, Graham, N. Jackson)

o       4 passes – slot and other wide receivers (D. Jackson, Stokley, Royal)

o       14 passes – Marshall

o       0 passes – Keary Colbert

o       1 pass – cutest girl in the bar after the game

o       We had several scrimmages again. This time the goal line play was replaced with a four minute drill. Unfortunately, the results were very similar. Lots of (simulated) time for Cutler on his back side.

o       It is never good when your offense faces a 3^rd and 16 in what is supposed to be a hurry up drill.

o       It is even worse when said offense decides to run the ball on that 3^rd and 16.

o       Unless that 4-minute drill was actually held with the offense holding 10 point lead. This point was never clearly articulated to the crowd.

o       To be fair, the offense did sustain a nice long drive at one point after the clocks were turned off. So they have that going for them. One drive for every 5 hours of practice.

o       To separate the four minute drill from the next scrimmage we had our first glimpse of punt coverage (and – spoiler alert! - it won’t be our last). It would be easy to dismiss this as time filler but after the show the offense has put on, the punter could be a highly critical role for the Broncos this year.

o       That is about it for the morning session, other than one unfortunate incident when Turner was taken down by T.J. and Big Jake when he tried to storm the field and have Larry Birdine, the sole Sooner in camp, sign his bare chest. But we don’t want to get into that. It is best for everyone if we try to forget that sight.

We will be back tomorrow to wrap up our time with the Broncos and re-cap today’s afternoon session. I will choose to skip over our lunch when we dominated one of those network trivia games. Krusty, Fred and EHomer had no idea that JTDMac would interrupt their usual game with absolute and total domination.

My Week at Summer Camp – Day Two

Note: This week, after realizing that planned (and desperately needed) vacation time coincided with the opening week of Bronco training camp, I decided to head down to Dove Valley for several days this week. I will be providing nightly updates on what we have learned about your 2008 Denver Broncos. Note #2: Given that I recently celebrated a 33^rd birthday and have been ‘with’ the Broncos longer than some of these players have been alive (Ryan Clady, born: September 6, 1986) I have accepted Mike Shanahan’s offer to long time veterans to only participate in one of the two-a-day practices each day.

Monday, July 28, 2008

• Back for morning number two and it is just as hot and crowded as Sunday morning. What is with that? Don’t these people have anything better to do with their Mondays? Huh? What’s that? Why I am sacrificing for you dear reader that’s why. I am a giver.
• Let’s go back to the running backs
  • I said yesterday that Ryan Torain wasn’t overly impressive; however I will say that today he looked much better. He was quicker to the line, made a single cut and hit the hole. In fact, after Ryan broke off a long run, a starry-eyed optimist could even imagine him as a taller Terrell Davis. Thankfully, I am not a starry-eyed optimist so I saw it as a nice run on the 4^th day of training camp…by a guy with skills to make us forget Travis Henry, Mike Bell, Tatum Bell, Quentin Griffin, Reuben Droughns and Olandis Gary. Damn, that kool-aid tasted really good after a hot day in the sun.
  • My boy A.A., Anthony Alridge, looked good again, cutting back against the grain and busting down the sideline for another long run.
• There was one overriding story in my mind today and that was the match-up of the offense and defense, and the defense’s domination.
  • Let’s start with two interceptions – one for each of Domonique Foxworth and Champ Bailey when they were both able to jump curl routes (which in fairness was practically all the offense ran).
  • When he wasn’t throwing picks, Cutler was running for his life. He would have been on his back on almost every drop back if the defense was allowed to hit the quarterback. The only entertainment was the half of the crowd that thought he had successfully avoided the rush and cheered wildly when he chucked it down field. These poor fans are going to be in for serious disappointment in that first game “How is Jay not getting away from this rush like in training camp? This Raider defense must be really good!”
  • Beside the two long runs above, there was only one highlight for the offense – a long pass to Brandon Marshall on the first play of a #1 offense vs. #2 defense scrimmage. Just a little glimpse of what we can look forward to after Marshall returns from his suspension to begin the season for all of his off-season fun. Sorry fantasy players, I forgot to mention that little fact when telling you how good Marshall looked yesterday. A clever ploy to get you to draft Marshall three rounds too early, or mere stupidity? Guess you will never know.
  • So the real question is: what does the defense’s domination tell us? My guess, not much. We all thought the Broncos had a great defense last year, until they got lit up in the first two pre-season games. So, all we know is that right now the Bronco defense is better than the Bronco offense. Who knows how they stack up against actual other teams.
• That’s it for today. Tomorrow we will be joined by Turner and will actually be sucking it up and sweating through both ends of the two-a-days.

My Week at Summer Camp – Day One

Note: This week, after realizing that planned (and desperately needed) vacation time coincided with the opening week of Bronco training camp, I decided to head down to Dove Valley for several days this week. I will be providing nightly updates on what we have learned about your 2008 Denver Broncos. Note #2: Given that I recently celebrated a 33^rd birthday and have been ‘with’ the Broncos longer than some of these players have been alive (Ryan Clady, born: September 6, 1986) I have accepted Mike Shanahan’s offer to long time veterans to only participate in one of the two-a-day practices each day.

Sunday, July 27th

o       I arrive at Dove Valley 30 minutes early with my Denver Post sports section and a Propel and find a spot high on the tree-lined berm lining the side of the practice field. Despite, expectations that temperatures will reach nearly 100 today, the place is packed. Clearly, I am not the only one that is already over baseball and looking forward to football.

o       As the first drops of sweat say hello, I realize that morning workouts may be a tactical error. I am facing due east into the rising sun and there is nowhere to hide.

o       I am about to begin whining about the folly of drowning in my own pool of sweat while watching 80 enormous humans sort-of, kind-of stretch when a Bronco official comes over and asks a young girl sitting in front of me wearing a Jay Cutler jersey (one of the Jessica Simpson pink ones for the record) if she would like to receive a ball from Jay. She agrees and to a round of applause from the crowd she walks across the field, meets Jay, shakes hands with him and while handing her the ball in his hands, he introduces her to Patrick Ramsey. A Vandy guy and a Tulane guy? There is about a 97.6% chance that girl is marrying a guy who wears a ratty old ball cap, khakis and a polo some day.

o        For the record, big props to the Broncos for making training camp as fan friendly as possible. They now allow you to bring in a personal drink, hand you a roster as you walk in so you know who you are looking at, open up for autographs (not to mention the above little girl). They also sell drinks right on the premises and a bottle of water only costs a buck! If this was Rockies training camp there is no way that water costs anything less than $4.

o       On to the actual play on the field. I have decided to pick a few positions and focus on them each day. Today: running backs, wide receivers and secondary

o       The Running back battle is probably the most interesting position battle in Bronco camp this year.

o        Selvin Young enters as the favorite and didn’t do anything to dissuade that opinion. He played well if not spectacularly. Outside of one move that absolutely embarrassed some poor second string DB and even elicited hoots and hollers from teammates. Those are always fun.

o        Further down the list of possible starters is Ryan Torain, probably the most anticipated 5^th round pick in Bronco history. Ryan looks very impressive in person – he is big and tall (6’1”, 225 lbs) and looks like he should be a star. I have to admit, after hearing about him since mini-camps he was a little underwhelming

§         I’m not sure whether it is his size but he doesn’t look like he is running real hard a lot of the time. He did put one ankle-breaker on a DB but for the most part he seemed to jog up into the line and get swallowed up by the linebackers and linemen.

o        On the other hand, my first sleeper of camp is Anthony Alridge, an undrafted free agent signed out of Houston. He is small (5’8”, 185 lbs) but extremely quick (reportedly a 4.3 40-yard dash). Not only did he look like he was going full speed, there were several times they sent him on a sweep around the corner and he flew past the defense.

§         One of the guys sitting near me, hopes that they can use him as a Glyn Milburn type, a third down specialist, too small to play every down. I have two problems with this. First, clearly this guy is not familiar with a man named Warrick Dunn (5’9”, 180 lbs, 10,181 career rushing yards). Second, while I appreciate the Milburn comparison (if for no other reason than its relative obscurity), can’t we aim a little higher for Alridge? Milburn accounted for less than 700 yards rushing and 1,050 yards receiving in his three years with the Broncos (2 of which occurred in the Wade Philips, so we can’t hold that against him). If we are going to compare him to smaller guys who are much more valuable in point-per-reception leagues….umm…I mean who are dual threats, let’s hope Alridge can play more like W.D. or Brian Westbrook (5’8”, 200 lbs.)

§         Not only was A.A. (as I call him) showing game when he was handed the ball he also got up in front during stretches and got both the crowd and players to start a rhythmic clap and boo the Chargers. Clearly, this guy is ready to play the role of Tulo in an unlikely Bronco up-rising in 2008!

·         Before Turner pulls a groin jumping to write a comment mocking my homerism, I don’t actually expect an unlikely Bronco uprising in 2008.

·         However a few more days in the sun with these guys and I may be convinced/sun stroked into believing it.

o       At the wide receiver position, there were two big off season storylines: the Jerry Springer-esque life of Brandon Marshall and the endless line of re-treads brought in by Shanahan to complement B-Marsh (as someone who I bludgeoned repeatedly calls Marshall).

o        First, just in time for all of those fantasy football drafts, I am happy to report that Marshall showed no signs of any lingering effects from the cut he took to his arm. He looked great today, catching everything and using his size to absolutely abuse Champ Bailey in one-on-one goal line battles.

o        On to the second question, I can tell you who I think will be the one left standing in this game of wide receiver musical chairs. That would be one Keary Colbert formerly of the Carolina Panthers and USC Trojans. Colbert did not have his best day today. He couldn’t get open, seemed to be tentative on where to go and when the ball got to him, he couldn’t catch it.

§         Besides the bad play, he wore long pants during practice, showing a remarkable lack of common sense.

o        One of the other receivers in is Darrell Jackson (or D-Jack to those that despise his underachieving ways in Seattle and San Francisco). I can’t say whether he will become that other receiver, but I will say he has the kickingest beard in camp.

o        I am also withholding opinion on second round pick Eddie Royal. At a minimum I will say he could be a great addition as a slot receiver replacing Brandon Stokley after his inevitable injury.

o        In the secondary much of the focus has been on whether John Lynch’s role will be reduced to mostly running downs with the arrival of Marlon McCree from the Chargers. Well, they may have forgotten about someone as Roderick Rogers was the defensive star today with two tipped ball interceptions.

§         My other sleeper of the draft also made his presence known in the secondary today. Free Agent Christian Morton, looked great both in the one-on-one goal line drills and in the broader seven-on-seven and full team drills.

o        Of course all of these opinions were based on one 2 hour practice. I am sure that by the time the regular season starts these will look almost as bad as that whole ‘the-Giants-are-a-joke thing’ from last year.