Broncos @ Niners - A Few Good Questions With...John Bena from MileHighReport.com

At least everyone will hopefully know who will be the RB for Denver once we get into the pre-season a little bit! Shanny use to drive me crazy with how quick he rotated the RBs each week! Hopefully that won’t happen anymore.

There are two schools of thought on this. First, some people think McDaniels will use all the RB’s, similar to how the backs were used in New England. The other, of course, is that one back will become the primary.

I fall into the latter. The Broncos didn’t draft Knowshon Moreno at #12 to have him split carries. Once he gets the hang of the offense, and more importantly, pass pro., he’ll be in there. I believe the Pats wanted Maroney to be that guy too, but it never happened.

That said, Peyton Hillis is too versatile a weapon not to get the ball, as are LaMont Jordan/Correll Buckhalter. I just don’t see all of them making the team, so someone is going to be the odd-man out, unless there is an injury.

I don’t think you pay KnoMo that kind of money if he’s not going to see some serious playing time. I think Moreno will be the primary back with Hillis as the second back and FB.

I was pleasantly surprised when I watched him up close at camp. They guy is always teaching and he is extremely enthusiastic in his coaching. Some guys just aren’t cracked up to be Head Coaches, but from a DC standpoint he has had success everywhere. We’re hoping it continues – It can’t get any worse than last year….

good luck with that.

I think that Broncos fans are excited that Nolan is back in Denver. I think the general consensus is that the defense and scheme can’t be worse than it was last year. I think Nolan may be one of the guys that doesn’t make a great HC but is a very good DC. Sounds like he’ll be running a similar defense as in SF, sort of a hybrid 3-4. Although I’ve been to several TC practices and it looks like it’s mostly just 3-4. I think I’ve seen some comments on this site that he didn’t blitz much in SF. Every indication is that he’s planning on blitzing frequently in Denver.

When I watched him at camp I saw exactly what I expected – a young guy that is extremely raw. He does have tremendous size and appears to be able to make all the throws. From what I saw, however, he is a project at this point and is probably a couple years away from being stable enough to make a run at a 53-man roster. He’s likely headed to the Practice Squad.

Definitely…Sometimes I wonder why the Broncos are even fielding a team this year…A complete embarrassment!

No way. I think there will be at least two worse teams in our division (KC and OAK).

I think the offense is going to be pretty potent. I think we our O-line, WRs, RBs, and TEs are all among the best in league. This is really a huge opportunity for Orton and I think he’ll make the best of it. There is plenty of reason to believe that Orton will be very effective in this offense. He’s been handed the keys to the Ferrari…now he needs to show he can handle it. The Broncos have so many playmakers on offense that Orton just needs to get them the ball and let them do their thing.

The defense is still the question. I don’t think any Broncos fans thinks we’re going to have an elite defense. However, if we can somehow manage to be middle of the pack and force some turnovers then the Broncos might surprise some folks this year.

If you choose not to do your research, that is fine, but if you go that route please don’t form your opinion by listening to others who are in your same boat in that regard (the MSM).

Let me help you out where the MSM has failed:

The biggest reason the Broncos were 8-8 last year was our 29th ranked D. Well, that D has been completely over hauled with much more talented players. Not to mention the biggist reason our D sucked last year is gone; Bob Slowik. As much as you guys may dislike Nolan the HC, Nolan the DC’s track record speaks for itself. Nolan is a huge upgrade over Slowik.

Let’s get into the upgrades on D real quick. Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill are major upgrades over Marquand Manuel and Marlon McCree. The biggets weakness on D last year (besides Slowik) was the safety play. Even an aging Dawkins & Hill are way better than what we fielded last year. The rookies Bruton & McBath should learn a lot from Dawkins.

Andre Goodman, IMO, is an upgarde over Bly. I am not a Bly basher and I supported him throughout his campaign with us. I agree with others who say he was killed by Slowik when he made Bly line up 10 yards off of his receivers all year long. However, Goodman’s game tape from last year is impressive. The Dolphins did not want to lose him this offseason. We also have a very promising rookie playmaker in A Smith. He should win the job as Nickleback at some point this year which is an upgrade over Josh Bell from last year.

This secondary is scary good. Champ, Dawkins, Hill, Goodman, and Smith >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Champ, McCree, Manual, Bly, and Bell.

Another HUGE upgrade on D from last year was bringing in Andre Davis to replace Nate Webster at MLB. Davis is a proven run stopper who has played LILB in a 3-4 before. DJ Williams is also moving back to RILB, his natural LB position. The OLB’s are unproven but undenialbly talented. They are unproven b/c they are either moving to OLB from DE (Dumerville, D Reid aquired from the Colts, Crowder, & Moss) or a rookie (Ayers). This group is a question mark but

It was largely divided early on to be sure. Even now there are people that clamor for Cutler and Shanny to come back. I’ll say this, however – the more time goes by, and the more Cutler bashes the organization and the fans the more people are seeing what kind of a guy he is.

Personnally, he’s a Bear, and the fact that Chicago is in the NFC, and their success/failure has little to do with Denver’s makes Cutler a non-factor but some Broncos fans will always compare.

Let’s just say that if Cutler isn’t Denver’s public enemy number one then I’m not sure who is.

I compared it this way – Shanny ran TC practices that were more of a show for the fans and media. Alot of 11X11, very little hitting, done in 75 minutes, go sign some autographs.

McDaniels runs his practices like a High School Camp. A lot of individual and positional work, lots of work in pads, 3 hour practices, alot of hitting, tons of competition. It has been refreshing to be sure.

and a particular attention to detail that I find very refreshing.

Are suggesting Nolan finally has a reason to call a blitz?

I guess you guys don’t like Nolan too much?? :)

a preseason game, right? it might as well be decided by a coin flip.

The Broncos have never had one, ever. I doubt that changes this season.

It is still a work in progress, certainly, but the team did a good job of bringing in a solid Defensive backfield with Brian Dawkins, Renaldo Hill and Andre Goodman. They then drafted underneath those guys with David Bruton, Darcel McBath and Alphonso Smith. The thing about D-Linemen, they don’t play special teams and the learning curve is a long one. Drafting one early in the 1st Round and spending all that money for little production is a bit counter productive. By adding speed and youth, along with experience, to the DBs and LBs, the Broncos are solidifying from the back. Time will tell if it works this season, but it was the only way to go.

To me, the Pre-Season is more about internal storylines as opposed to team V. team stories. Sure, Nolan is a hot button for fans of the Niners, but the fact that he is a DC in Denver and not the head man takes much of the luster off of that angle.

For me, I am excited to get my first look at the Broncos new offense. I want to see the progression of the quarterbacks in the system. I want to see what the D-Line can do, if anything, and see where the team stands this early in the Pre-Season.

Above all else, it is going to be great to see the Broncos and Niners back on the field, hitting someone other than themselves. Let’s hope both teams come out of it healthy and injury free…

1. Seeing Knowshon Moreno in action.
2. Checking out the new offense and defense (granted they’ll be seriously watered down versions).
3. Seeing what the new QBs can do.
4. Can our defense get a pass rush?
5. Can our defense stop the run?
6. Can our defense force some turnovers?
7. How do the converted DEs look at OLB (especially in pass coverage)? Particularly Crowder and Dumervil.
8. Interested in the play of all of our rookies, but particularly Ayers (OLB), Moreno (RB), Smith (CB), Quinn (TE), McKinley (WR), and Brandstater (QB).

What will you guys be watching for?

My take on that is that Stokely will be half as good as Welker. Welker is what he is because of a void at WR besides Moss. We have Eddie Royal, Brandon Marshall, Stokely, and Jabar Gaffney…with two pretty solid TE’s and two RB’s with great hands(Knowshon Moreno & Peyton Hillis). I wouldn’t worry too much about the Broncos offense. I’d worry more about the patchwork defense we’ve got. The talent is decidedly better than last year, but with like only two starters returning to start for us, the chemistry may take half a season to fully begin to gel. I am not convinced we’ll make the playoffs, but I am convinced we will finish the season very strong. Which is also why I have the 49ers beating us 17-13 this Friday…meaningless game, but we have soooo many new faces. It all depends on how quickly McDaniels brings this group together I suppose.

The process has been slow to say the least, especially for the quarterbacks. While both say they love the offense, they have admitted it is tough to learn. That said, once they all get on the same page it is hard to argue with the results. What the Broncos do have on offense is depth all over the field. Stokley has been running as the 4th WR in Camp, but the dude is too good to not find a way to get on the field.

It is hard to gauge a team when they are playing themselves to be sure. I think we’ll learn alot about where the offense is on Firday.

I think that Denver’s fans are split right down the middle on whether Shanahan should have been fired. Of those that think he should of been fired, about half of those are happy with McDaniels as the new HC. There are also many people who despise McDaniels for his handling of Cutler and are prediction doom and gloom. My take is that I wish Shanahan was still our HC because I think he was only a few key defensive pieces away from the Broncos being a legitimate contender. However, I support McDaniels and like many of the changes that he’s made. I haven’t liked everything he’s done, but he definitely seems to have a plan and sticks to it. Obviously if McD wants to “show that the move made was the correct one” then he needs to win football games. He’s not going to get a ‘honeymoon’ period in Denver. I have never seen Denver fans so disgruntled and divided.

I was on the Chris Townsend show the other night and he asked me the same thing. Whether people thought it was the right move or not really doesn’t matter because Shanahan, in a lot of ways, had become bigger than the organization. He was a huge weight that needed to be removed. I don’t mean that in a bad way. It just isn’t a good thing when the face of the franchise is the Head Coach.

There are few, if any, coaches in the NFL that are better than Shanny at pure Xs and Os. I think he struggles in a few other areas, mainly his intense loyalty to friends and certain players. I think the complete control he had(no checks and balances), coupled with his personnel mistakes, lead to a situation where the Broncos had no other choice.

The fact the Shanny is touring Training Camps this year(he’s gone to Pittsburgh and New England so far) tells me he had lost a bit as well and is observing the best of the best so he can come back better than ever.

The thing about Dre Bly, and I never really was a fan, is the Broncos completely mis-used him. Bly’s aggressiveness is his strength. He needs to play close to the line of scrimmage in order to get his hands on WRs as they go into their routes. Too often the Broncos had Bly 7-10 yards away from the LOS. That really hampered his ability to do what he does best. Instead of reading and reacting, Bly was forced a hang back and break on the ball/receiver when the ball was already in the air.

It’s hard to say what the Niners are getting, but the Broncos really didn’t let Bly do what he’s done well during his career.