DT Alvin McKinley Released To Make Room

The Denver Broncos on Tuesday signed guard Dylan Gandy and defensive tackle Josh Shaw, Head Coach Mike Shanahan announced.

The club also on Tuesday released defensive tackle Alvin McKinley.

Gandy (6-foot-3, 290 pounds) is a fourth-year player who rejoins the Broncos after he was released by the club on Saturday. Gandy, who originally joined the Broncos as a free agent on May 16, spent his first three professional seasons (2005-07) with Indianapolis after the Colts selected him in the fourth round (129th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft from Texas Tech University.

He has played 42 career games (14 starts) in the regular season along with six career playoff games (1 start), including the Colts' victory in Super Bowl XLI during the 2006 season.

In 2007, Gandy saw time in 10 games for Indianapolis and recorded one start at right guard. He appeared in all 16 regular-season games, starting a career-high 11 contests at left guard, for the Colts' Super Bowl XLI-champion team in 2006 that allowed an NFL-low 15 sacks.

At Texas Tech, Gandy started 20 games during his four-year career and was an honorable mention All-Big 12 Conference choice as a senior. He attended Pflugerville High School in Pflugerville , Texas, and was born on March 8, 1982.

Shaw (6-foot-3, 305 pounds) is a sixth -year player who joins the Broncos after spending the 2007 season with Oakland, which released him on Saturday. He also has played for Miami (2004-06), New Orleans (2003) and San Francisco (2002-04), which selected him in the fifth round (172nd overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft from Michigan State University.

In nine career regular-season games (0 starts), Shaw has totaled nine tackles (7 solo) and one sack (5 yds.).

Last season with Oakland, Shaw posted two tackles in his only game action (vs. Hou., 11/4) after beginning the year on its practice squad. He appeared in a career-high five games with the Dolphins in 2005, recording four tackles, and saw time in three games with the 49ers in 2003.

A three-year starter at Michigan State, Shaw was a first-team All-Big Ten Conference choice as a senior for the Spartans. He attended Dillard High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and was born on Sept. 7, 1979.

D-Rob will still have a chance to get to Brady

Last season the Broncos entered Training Camp with the beef necessary to make an impact in the AFC West.  Or so we thought.  Sam Adams, Jimmy Kennedy, Gerard Warren and others were going to stop the run, create havoc in the back field and make life miserable for opposing quarterbacks.  Too bad Defensive Coordinator Jim Bates never got the message.  Before the season started, Warren was so expendable the Broncos traded him to the Raiders and Kennedy was simply thrown on the trash heap for the like of Antwon Burton.  It didn't take long to show those moves, and the entire defensive interior, were a complete train wreck. 

Even now the stats are hard to look at.  Only two teams  - Oakland and Miami - gave up more yards on the ground than the Broncos in 2007.  The 2282 yards allowed on the ground were nearly twice the amount given up by the Minnesota Vikings, who led the NFL in Rush defense(1185).  While the defensive tackles can't take all the blame, there was certainly enough to go around, it is safe to say the group was a major disappointment.

If the Broncos are going to improve in 2008 it has to start at DT.  It is a young group, with only two players with more than 2 years experience, but it is a group filled with talent as well.  In my mind this group comes into Training Camp with the biggest question mark attached to their back.  No one really knows what we are going to get.  Every team has those question marks somewhere, that's were a little luck comes in.  The Broncos need a few breaks to fall in their favor.  A group of defensive tackles that exceed expectations is one of them.  Let's break 'em down --

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