First, my apologies for the tardiness of this report.  With the Broncos taking the afternoon off to celebrate Gary Zimmerman's induction into the Hall of Fame, I was fortunate enough to get an early flight back home Saturday afternoon/evening.  Then, of course, I had to get involved with being a dad again, something all fathers know whenever they are away for a few days.  That left little time to get this out and for that I apologize.

That said, I want to take a moment to thank the Denver Broncos Media Relations staff, including Patrick Smythe and his folks for making me feel welcome and giving me anything and everything I needed to make my job easier.  I also want to thank the Broncos internal Media staff, including Kyle Sonneman, Dave Gaylinn and others for making sure I didn't feel the wrath of Fred, the resident bad-ass security guy for the Broncos.  We have talked many times about the CLASSY type of organization the Broncos are, and it doesn't stop on the field.  These guys and gals are all class off the field as well, and it starts at the top with Mr. Bowlen and goes all the way down to the interns in the media room.  Thanks to all of you again!

With all the Thank You's out of the way, let's break down what I saw on my final day of seeing practice up close and in person.....

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Nalen's health will be a huge question in '08

Under Mike Shanahan, the Denver Broncos have been known for a couple things. A strong running game and a solid, if a bit too quiet, offensive line. A group that has been synonymous with imposing their will, despite their lack of pure beef up front, the Broncos' O-Line was an area of the football team that fans could hang their hat on. Over the past several years, however, injuries and age have started to take their toll. Let's look at two different areas that are an indication of O-Line performance. Are these hardened rules when it comes to evaluating an O-Line? Of course not, but I like to keep it simple and let you guys and gals decide.

First, we'll look at sacks allowed, and where the team ranked from 2003 through 2007 --

Sacks Allowed --

2003 -- 25 Sacks -- #6
2004 -- 15 Sacks -- #3
2005 -- 23 Sacks -- #3

2006 -- 31 Sacks -- #13
2007 -- 32 Sacks -- #16

The space between 2005 and 2006 indicates the entrance of Jay Cutler at quarterback, and there is no doubt the combination of youth, and Cutler's style as more of a pocket passer than Jake Plummer had a negative effect on the O-Line.  Need proof?  Cutler was sacked 13 times in the 5 games he started in 2006.  Plummer had been sacked 18 times in his 11 starts.  On average that is a sack a game more with Cutler.  In 2007, that number got even worse, though in my opinion this was more attributed to injuries and youth on the O-line as much as it was to Cutler's "never say die" attitude in the pocket.

How about the running game?  The Broncos have seen a dip that that area, too, during the past 5 years --

Rushing Yards --

2003 -- 2629 yards - 164.3 ypg - #2
2004 -- 2333 yards - 145.8 ypg - #4
2005 -- 2539 yards - 158.7 ypg - #2

2006 -- 2152 yards - 134.5 ypg - #8
2007 -- 1957 yards - 122.3 ypg - #9

Again, there was a lot of consistentcy until 2006.  There are a lot of reason for that, but for the sake of keeping it simple other teams simply stacked the line of scrimmage and forced, at first Jake Plummer, then the rookie Jay Cutler, to beat them.  The Broncos defense wasn't very good either, thus the Broncos were forced to play from behind.  But anyone who watched the games will also admit something was definitely missing from the Broncos running game.  While functional, it wasn't dominant.  Make no mistake, while Mike Shanahan likes to create shock and awe with the passing game early, he wants to smash it down a team's throat late.  Unable to do that, the Broncos offense has sputtered, especially in the red zone and short yardage.  The O-line, with age and injury, has been part of the cause. 

The winds of change are blowing through Dove Valley, however, and the Broncos are addressing their O-Line.  High draft picks(Clady and Harris) along with solid free agent acquisitions(Holland) have injected youth and talent.  Will it be enough to make a difference in '08?  Let's take a look at who will need to move the pile....

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Rod Smith makes an appearance, Ebenezar Ekuban is getting frustrated and #20 was barely off the back of Travis Henry before another player laid claim. All that and more in today's Team Camp update!

No one knows exactly what the future is for Rod Smith but one thing's for sure, it will involve helping the Denver Broncos in some way, shape or form. Smith showed up on the practice field yesterday to help out with the receivers and expressed his love for the Orange and Blue -

I love the Denver Broncos, I love the organization, so there ain’t nothing that I wouldn’t do to help. Whether it is on the field or off the field, anything I can do, even just sitting there and talking to some of the guys who are playing receiver now, just giving them little tips and stuff like that. I enjoy that because I know it is going to help them, therefore it helps the organization. There isn’t anything that I wouldn’t do to get us back to where I feel we belong.

Smith already has the attention of one of the Broncos' newcomers, WR Keary Colbert -

Anytime you have a player with the experience like him and the career he has had, you want to listen and take good notes and try to implement them into your game.

He has had a career that has been remarkable. I’m really trying to put in a career and a season like he has done in the past. That’s the start of it really, getting to know how to do it through him. He has the blueprint, and I just have to follow it.

It is impressive that Smith is open to helping the younger guys, and even better that one of those guys is open to listen. Colbert can learn alot from a guy like Smith, and it seems he is willing to be taught.

So what advice has Smith given to Colbert?

Just trusting my speed, trusting the technique in certain routes. I have to come out here the next couple of days and practice it, perfect it.

I’m ready to get it going.

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This post is an historic one for me as it is my 100th since joining Mile High Report almost a year ago.  I am currently working on several different upcoming posts and I was wondering if I should make a certain one my historic post, but then I thought I should just stick to what my original schedule was.  This was planned to be my next post, therefore, it will have to be my 100th post. 

I recently posted my positional comparison for the defense along with grading the performance of the 2007 group and also applying a preliminary grade for what I see as potential upgrades or downgrades for each position.  I felt incomplete not having done the offense as well, so here it is.

The 2007 offensive group had a solid core surround by a couple of glaring deficiencies.  The story of our season was told best by a series of posts called “NPTB” or No Points Left Behind that can be found all over the MHR Community during last season.  Our offense racked up the yardage without scoring very many points. 

The Quest for the offense this season is about one thing, getting into the end zone!

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The first of two weeks in this year's Quarterback Camp are complete and while there isn't much to be learned from a bunch of guys in shorts and a t-shirt it sure was nice to be talking about football again.

There is some news to speak of. Tony Scheffler had his foot examined and the news turned out to be better than expected. The soreness in his foot is nothing but that, but the Coach will still tread lightly this early in workouts.

We know there's not another break in there. You can see that on the X-rays. But there's something in there that keeps him quite sore, and, hopefully, with a couple weeks in the boot, he'll come back full speed and we don't aggravate the injury.

Nate Jackson, Scheffler's back-up, knows all too well how frustrated Scheff is with the chronic pain.

"He feels like, 'What am I doing wrong for this to happen?' It's the same time as last year, the same play. But I feel for him. He's a friend of mine, and I don't like to see him dealing with this. He'll be fine, though. It's not as bad as it was last year, I don't think."

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3 days are in the books and the Broncos suffered their first significant injury, though it has lingered for a year now.  Let's take a look at what(and who) went down yesterday --

Tony Scheffler will miss the next month of action due to recurring problems with his broken foot. It was during Quarterback Camp in 2007 that Scheffler initially broke the bone in his foot and played through pain all of last season.

There is concern that Scheff may have actually re-fractured the foot, though the Broncos are taking a wait-and-see approach. With Scheffler out of the lineup, old friend Nate Jackson will be counted on to take his place. With Daniel Graham proving last season that his strength is blocking, not running routes, the Broncos need a down-field threat from the Tight End position. Jackson signed a 1-year/$605,000 contract in March with a $425,000 signing bonus.

I have always felt an injury to one's foot, especially if you are a running back or tight end, can be extremely problematic. Scheffler has never been right since originally breaking his foot, but still was productive last season. After two seasons I was hoping 2008 would be a breakout season for Scheff who had become Jay Cutler's favorite target.  Despite not notching his first grab until week 5, Scheff still put together a solid season, totaling 49 catches for 549 yards and five touchdowns.

Back in March, Scheffler spoke about the importance of keeping the foot healthy --

"I've been continuing to keep maintenance on the foot. It's still in a little bit of pain, but it's something that's going to be gone by the time the season rolls around.

Scheffler took his confidence about the injury from QB Patrick Ramsey who dealt with a similar injury. As I have said, however, playing Quarterback is a lot different on your feet then playing Tight End. Keep your fingers crossed.

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