The Denver Broncos on Tuesday released wide receiver Taylor Jacobs and placed defensive tackle Carlton Powell on their reserve/physically unable to perform list, Head Coach Mike Shanahan announced.

Jacobs, a sixth-year player, saw time in six games for the Broncos last season after the club signed him as a free agent on Nov. 6.

Powell, a rookie, suffered an injury to his right Achilles tendon during the Broncos' offseason conditioning program in July. He was selected by Denver in the fifth round (148th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft from Virginia Tech University.

Many around here think I am the eternal optimist, but that really isn't the case.  If you go back, way back, to last season you'll find my posts were not all cheery and rosy.  However, during the off season I must, as a fan, take on a different persona.  I must cheer on and rah rah my favorite team in the anticipation of the upcoming season.  The off season in my mind ends in two days with our first preseason game, therefore, it is time to get serious.

I have some major concerns about this team that I have really only hinted at over the past few months.  You could call some of them "IFs" or just simple deficiencies.  Whatever you might call them, these are the things that I beleive will be the difference between another 8-8 season and a 13-3 season. 

Continue reading this post »

Day 2 of workouts for the Broncos is underway.  Following from afar, I have to rely on various sources that are live at the practice facility.  I will rotate around based on the information I find.

Here is what I have found out about the AM session --

Another Player Done For 2008 -- First it was Carlton Powell.  Now WR Edell Sheppard is done for the year after teearing his ACL and hamstring during workouts yesterday.  While Sheppard wasn't a name most people were looking to make an impact in 2008, it is never a good thing when you lose some for the year, especially when rosters are already thin becuase of the 80-man limit.

Continue reading this post »

The first day of Training Camp 2008 is in the books and has already left us with more questions.  Each day I'll give my thoughts on the previous day's work and try to sum up what we saw, what we heard, and what we read. 

1.  Call The Exterminator -- The injury bug is back, that is, if you thought it had left in the first place.  Before the first ball was snapped we found out the DT Carlton Powell would likely miss the season with a torn Achilles tendon.  Then, reserve WR Edell Sheppard injured his knee and missed the afternoon session.  If one reason could be targeted for the team's play in 2007 it would be injuries.  Even Jay Cutler's diabetes is injury related in some ways.  While the team does possess depth in several areas, I wouldn't term depth as a team strength.  Every team tries to avoid getting hurt in Training Camp, for the Broncos it is even more important.

2.  A Couple of Starters Out of Shape -- Brandon Marshall has been in the news most of the off-season for all the wrong reasons.  We'll likely find out early next week his status for the early part of the season.  On the field, Marshall is also making news looking "gassed" after every pass route.  Sure, Marhsall's arm injury inhibited his off-season training, but he was cleared to run in April.  Despite not being able to catch a football, there is no excuse for Marshall to come into camp out of shape. 

Starting RT Montrae Holland is even worse off than Marshall.  Coming to camp heavier than the team's required reporting weight, Holland will have to work out on his own until he gets the weight off.  With the O-Line one of the big questions coming into the season the fact that one of the known starters will not be working with the group early in camp should not be overlooked.  Holland played great last year, was rewarded with a contract extension, and talked during the off-season how he was as strong as ever.  Hopefully this is just a hiccup for Holland and not an indictment of his work ethic.  The Shanahan Doghouse is not a place you want to spend any time and it appeared Holland might be the first to take residence.

3.  Diabetes Be Damned -- Sure, I was confident that Jay Cutler would be able to come into camp and play well despite being diagnosed with Diabetes, but until he actually puts the pads on and get to work you never can be sure.  After 1 day of Cutler firing passes all over the practice field.  It goes without saying that any success the Broncos have in 2008 is directly related to how Cutler and the doctors handle is medical condition and the results after Day 1 are, I'm happy to say, positive.

4.  Playing Through Pain -- It has been reported that OL Chris Kuper suffered a broken hand during the morning practice and missed the afternoon workout.  The hand, when fitted with a cast, should not keep Chris from practicing.  Kuper is battling for a starting job along the offensive line and needs to be on the field.  There is no questioning this kid's toughness and I hope the injury doesn't slow him down.

4.  Ex-Bronco Sighting -- Former Broncos RB Mike Bell will receive a try-out with the New England Patriots.

FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2008 (A.M. PRACTICE)

HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

On the first practice of training camp -

"Typical first day, especially in pads. Any time you don't practice for about 15 days, it's really hard to look sharp, but I know we had some good effort. It was a little bit hot with player in full pads, [but] it's nice to get back in football shape. 

"We've been going for about a month, but any time you're away from football-related drills, it takes a while. The first day is always the toughest, especially with shoulder pads on, but the guys worked extremely hard and over time we'll eliminate mistakes and hopefully get better day by day."

On WR Brandon Marshall's health -

"Good. He's fine. He's been going full speed for a month."

On QB Jay Cutler's health -

"He's controlling the diabetes. Obviously he has a game plan. He's gained his  weight back-the majority of his weight-and he looks good."

On DT Carlton Powell's injury -

"It happened a number of weeks ago. His Achilles popped in the offseason conditioning program, and he's obviously out for the year."

On T Ryan Clady signing the first day of camp -

"We got it done at about 4:30 this morning. The guys worked extremely hard to get it done. A lot of posturing back and forth, but it's nice to have him in camp."

On G Montrae Holland -

"He's OK. He's a little overweight. We're not going to have him practice until he gets back to his reporting weight. When he does, we'll let him practice, but until then we're going to keep him in that weight room with [Strength & Conditioning Coach] Rich [Tuten] and get him back into football shape. When he is at the required weight we will let him practice with the team."

Continue reading this post »

The Denver Broncos on Friday declared rookie defensive tackle Carlton Powell active/physically unable to perform with an injury to his right Achilles tendon suffered during offseason workouts.

Powell was selected by Denver in the fifth round (148th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft from Virginia Tech University.

I am looking into this a bit deeper to see how serious the injury is. The Broncos can remove Powell from the P.U.P List at anytime before final roster cutdowns. After that point, Powell would be inactive until after Week 6.

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 --

Continue reading this post »

Alot of off the field stuff lately has really been a drag.  Even all the Brett Favre stuff has me ready to find the nearest building over 4 stories and leap to a slow and painful demise.  Luckily, the Broncos made some annoucements just in time to save me from ridicule. 

While the top of the Broncos' draft remains unsigned, the bottom half is sealed and delivered after three more of the newest Broncos came to agreements to actually get paid for their new career.

LB Spencer Larsen(6th Round), RB Ryan Torain(5th Round) and DT Carlton Powell(5th Round) all came to agreements on 4-year deals.  Torain, the first of the team's two 5th rounders, received the largest signing bonus, coming in just shy of $200k.

The signings leave FB Peyton Hillis as the only late round pick still awaiting a contract, though the team hopes they can get it wrapped up by this weekend.  As for the top-4 picks in the draft, past history tells us the Broncos will get it done, though likely at the last minute.  The Broncos has historically waited until the week before Training Camp to get the upper-level contracts finished, and with the roster limit set at 80 this year there really isn't a rush.

Moment #3 -- One of the Worst

--The Grind

I have one particular play in mind.  You might remember it.  Jacksonville was lining up at our 3 yd line to run what seemed to be the 12,000th play of that drive, and the Bronco's defense looked lost, confused and out of place.

All 12 of them.

The result of that play was a nifty little 3yd lob from Garrard to Reggie Williams for a TD.  Of course they declined to accept the penalty the Bronco's incurred for having too many men on the field and the score opened up what would be a floodgate of domination by the Jaguars in a game they would go on to win by only nine points, though no one who remembers the game would think we were any closer than the Jags let us be.

The events leading up to that play are what makes it so deplorable.  A ridiculous penalty that doesn't even help negate a score is bad enough, but when it is the final slap in the face of an 80 yard, 18 play drive that averages a steady 5 yards per play and chews up almost 12 minutes of game clock, it reaches a level deeper and darker than bad.  It was heinous.

Continue reading this post »

“The Quest” for me must begin with the defense.  2007 was the worst defense statistically the Broncos have fielded in a long time. At least when it comes to the most important stat, Points Allowed.  The Broncos gave up 409 points last season, only the 1-15 Miami Dolphins gave up more points in the AFC. 

In short, this defense was an embarrassment to the organization and its fans.  I want to believe that our veterans have a quiet determination and swagger this offseason that they didn’t display at the beginning of last season.  Okay, so the veterans are saying all the right things again this year.  What does that mean?  Nothing actually.  They are professionals and any company/organization wishes to portray a united front to the public.  What we need to do is to compare this year’s projected starters with last years dismal group.  And as a group, 2007 was quite dismal.

NOTE: I saw that HT had already posted a similar post over the weekend.  They say great minds think alike!   I had started writing this while I was in Lake Tahoe, no where near a computer.  Since I was already almost finished with this post I decided to go ahead and post it.  So I apologize if this comes off as redundant.  HT's post on positional comparisons is located here.

Continue reading this post »