Well, it happened … Simeon Rice is a Bronco.
After two days of speculation, the Broncos agreed to terms with the former Buccaneers and Cardinals defensive end. Terms were not disclosed.
In a league where nostalgia is what you had for breakfast, as Harlan Ellison would say, it’s easy for Simeon Rice’s relatively recent accomplishments to be dismissed; after a two-sack, injury-ruined season in 2006, his previous success might as well have been in the Cenozoic Era in the eyes of some.
But even with shoulder injuries limiting him to just eight games and 0.25 sacks per game in ’06, Rice’s best days are closer than they might appear in the rear-view mirror.
Not only does Rice have more sacks than any active player not named Michael Strahan, but he has the third-best sack total in the last five years; his 69.5 sacks since 2001 are one less than Strahan and 5.5 fewer than Miami’s Jason Taylor.
He is also 20 months removed from a 14-sack season; until ’06, his sack totals were 15.5, 15, 12 and 14 in the ’02, ’03, ’04 and ’05 campaigns, respectively. He has as many double-digit sack totals in the last five seasons as he did in his first six NFL campaigns, and four of his six seasons with 12 or more sacks have come since 2002.
Further, there is only one player with five double-digit sack seasons since 2001. It’s not Taylor; it’s not Strahan; it’s not Dwight Freeney — it’s Rice. Taylor, Strahan, Freeney, Leonard Little, Julius Peppers and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila each have four double-digit sack campaigns since ’01, but only Rice has a quintet.
Until last year, Rice’s career stood as evidence of a player who was seeming to blossom with age, rather than decline.
The spectre of injury, of course, alters perception. Just like it did on John Lynch in March 2004 after the Bucs released him. But the Broncos signed the safety, and three Pro Bowls later, one can say the pickup worked out pretty well. If Rice is half as successful at Lynch, then bringing him aboard was worth it.
The other factor for Rice involves the impact he can have upon the defensive line; one can only assume that he’ll teach a trick or two to Jarvis Moss, Tim Crowder and Elvis Dumervil. Even if Rice only plays a single season in Denver — he agreed to a one-year deal — his impact could continue to be felt for years beyond of Crowder, Dumervil and Moss become successful pros.
Tags: Simeon Rice
Well if he can bring the same sort of talent he brought to the table a couple of years ago in Tampa, I’m excited as hell. But if he can’t I’d rather see some of these young guys get the playing time.
that’s awesome! hopefully he can be productive and help bring the pressure they seem to lack.
I totally agree with the whole youth/playing time scenario you describe. However, that playing time would probably be at the expense of winning games, so our season would be gone in a flash. Now, the youth can watch a future HOF’er, and a person that will likely get 8-12 sacks, and at the sametime create sack opportunities for our youth(Dumerville, Crowder, Moss). Bottomline, he will make everyone better, just like Lynch and Bailey.
Yes, he’s 33! Yes, he had to have season ending surgery. Yes, there are risks involved. But Dr Andrews clear him! Says he should be almost 100% by the beginning of season. He’s had no stress or contact(training camp), so he’s given his shoulder the best opportunity to return to normal, which should pave the way for him to return to his 2005 type of stats!
Its a win-win for Denver!
So, what’s your assessment? Is he going to make an immediate impact on the defense, is he a really expensive mentor for our three young ends, or is it a combination of the two?
While I’d like to see it be the third, if I had to choose between the first two, I think I’d take the second.
I think it will be good for the youngins to get help and advise from a pro-bowl de. I love Eb-Ek and some of the other veterans but they have never had the numbers that Rice has had. Go BRONCOS!
Well somthing had to happen cause the D was not up to par and they needed a shot in the arm just in time for the first game. Simeon is that shot, it coulden’t be better timing. GO BRONCOS.
Now who is off the roster
A great pickup
I think like “orange blue man”. One of the HB’s?
Love the pick up, Jarvis Moss in watching the replay of the Cards game is still green. By the way if you were going to say Jarvis Moss plays like a Former Bronco who would it be?
Answer: Alfred Williams it is amazing they move the same!
GO BRONCOS!
that is alot of depth to our D LINE THIS YEAR
I think its a great move. Elvis Dumervil is a great pass rusher and he will get to learn from one of the best. So not only will be able to help make plays on the field and be a mentor for the likes of Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder but he can help some of the veterans become better as well. With the loss of Al Wilson the Broncos lost a great leader. With the addition of Rice they get a high energy leader to help DJ run this defense.
great pick up
LOVE the pick up. We have way to many running backs right now. T Henry will get the bulk of the carries anyway. I am guessing one of the backs will go.
I think that signing rice is a great pick up. i believe the broncos have 3 promising up and coming stars at DE with moss, crowder, and dumervil but could use a little more time developing and signing rice gives them that
Well, I have mixed feelings about this right about now. On the one hand, I am quite stoked that Rice is here and I am hoping for all of the possibilities outlined above. On the other hand, I also said to myself when I saw it, “Wow, our shopping spree hasn’t ended yet. Who else might we have to sign to fit Bates scheme and (as mentioned above) at the expense of what player’s roster spot?” Overall, I am excited about the possibilities that are dancing before us, but I’m not going to hold my breath on this until I see it pan out on the field. On a lighter note, I bet John Lynch is loving this right about now…
I’ve heard some bad things about him being a one-dimensional pass-rusher and not being able to stop the run. According to John Lynch this isn’t true or at least is made to much of. I just hope he is right about that Denver hasn’t had a truly premier defensive end not named Trevor Pryce since the SuperBowl.
This is a low risk pick-up, it’s not like we were expecting him. With John Lynches approval, I’am very excited to have the number 13 all-time sack leader with the Broncos this Year, and at the very least be a mentor to our young ends.
Well, with big Sam Adams and now Rice now there’s some meat to are D-line. Plus with some great rookies and one of the best defensive backfields in the league i think Denver defense is fitted well.
In past years our ability to sack quartbacks has been a complete joke. If he comes in here and gets 9 sacks thats more than anyone got last year. With what he can teach our rookie defensive ends will be worth it. Regardless he has tremedous upside and odds are that whoever gets cut probably would not have even seen the field.
Can’t wait to see what he can add to the team, its always a welcome sight to see a future HOF player on your roster, as long as he is playing and contributing in a positive manner.
we still need Tank. but i like the move.
I have been thinking,here we go again ,no defense, and out of the blue ” the the great football genie in the sky” brought us what we need, The “Riceman’” I hope he is in shape and can blow and go in Game 2. He will be good for 7 points for us every game. Go Broncos
We may cut one of the TE’s. I think the RB’s are more likely to be used on special teams then the TE’s
Its a win-win 4 sure! If he just plays to his average, it would mean about 12 sacks? He’s all about the pass rush, not the run. The bloggers are correct. He adds pressure and depth from the outside, but our weakness is truly on the inside gap containment. That is NOT his strong suit. We need a big heavy run stopping MLB. Im afraid DJ is just not going to be the answer.
RIce is a character player. I am proud to have him as a Bronco. I look foward to watching him play every week.
Nice move..I also like all the running backs..the 2 rookies look good, and could be future works in progress, but look pretty good, and hungry players.If you gonna cut somebody, with all the DL’s, cut the guy we just got that played for KC.
This could be a great pick-up if Rice is in fact healthy. What worries me, is Rice in Football shape. Is he capable of competeing week after week. On the other hand, our defense (Scheme) is HORRIFYING!!! (Sorry, I call it how I see it.) So this is move that can’t hurt, either way. Still not Sold on Bates Defense. Please FOOTBALL GOD, Bless the Broncos, I’ll never, ever ask for anything else again. GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!
I’m an eternal optomist, so I think Simeon Rice still has a lot of fuel left in the tank. He can be a reserve defensive end if necessary, but his experience and timely play will prove to be beneficial. It’s always of utmost importance to have as many veterans who have experienced success previously as possible. Thus, let’s enjoy this, it may be the means of bringing yet another Lombardi trophy to the Rocky Mountain region.
I’m just hoping this move gives the team the same momentum as signing Neil Smith. And if it doesn’t – it’s only a short term contract so he’s out next year. Here’s hoping that it’s the former!
There are a number of great things that make this signing a win-win situation. The most important thing is leadership at the point of attack. When in Tampa ( when the defense was lights out ) one of the most underated aspects was there being a leader at every set of positions. Lynch in the secondary, Brooks at Linebacker ect. While some believe that Warren Sapp was the “vocal leader” of the Defensive line, those that pay attention to what the players in Tampa said will note that their description of Sapp had more to do with “vocal” than it did “leader”. The leader of that line has been Rice. You’ll notice that when Sapp hit the bricks in Tampa you didn’t see Mr. Lynch Jr. or any member of the Broncos coaching staff cry out “Get Sapp on this team!”. Rice is the type of high character player that demands excellence of his teamates and will not tolerate half measured efforts from his fellow lineman. While watching the pre-season games this year I noticed some very real frustration from John Lynch and rightly so. When some one like Lynch gets frustrated it isn’t because of a lack of talent it’s because of a lack of execution. Other Bronco blogers have correctly remarked on Lynch’s not being able to motivate the line from his position in the secondary. Well now he won’t have to try. The second point has more to do with simple schematics than anything else. In Jim Bates Defense the Ends have got to get in to the backfield. The double pincer move from the end positions disrupts the pocket or run blocking sheme and forces the play towards the two tackles who’s primary job is to act as a massive road block that funnels the ball to the waiting ‘backers. I do agree to some extent with HOGblog though. A monster MLB is needed for this defense to work well. I think that D.J. Williams has the physical tools but he has got to get himself and the rest of the defense in the right position so they can profit from the D-lines work. Ultimately I think this will happen and I think that when things come together for our defense we might finally see a 50 plus sack number from the boys in blue and orange. One minor point. With John Gruden’s release of Rice I think that a performance that lands his Bucs anywhere short of the playoffs will land him in the unemployment line.
He who dares Wins!
Mike.
Listen up…Every One of you that doubts the acquisition of Simeon Rice is fair to midland for our D, obviously plays too much Madden and probably never played past high school football!! So for all you ‘Weekend-Warrior Wanna-BEs’ still living the Al Bundy “glory days”…. ENOUGH already!!! Rice adds the dimension of ‘presence’ to our front line and from a coaches standpoint the threat of teams having to “game plan” schemes and packages to double-team him, is plenty for our chemistry. Whether it’s his strong suit or not, we have a Committee now for the pass or the run!!!
A true Bronco analyst knows we always hold our own against the run, it’s our pass defense underneath and at the seams that kill us.
His presence alone is all we’ve ever needed and haven’t had since Trev. It’s just a matter of time before teams realize they only have 4 maybe 5 players to double-team with and that sill leaves one of our dangerous D-linemen free. Between Crowder, Thomas, Adams, Dumervil and Rice ….they can’t double-team them all, all the time, and somebody is gonna be free…conclusion: SuperBowl bound- The Crush is Back Baby! Now other players that were otherwise not noted for being ‘sack machines’ are gonna increase their stats, and THAT’S what its about… Team Effort, not individual stats! So DJ will be just fine……(uh-hmm)Mr. Hog.
DU GRAD AND LOVE THE BRONC,S.THEY WILL WILL BE BACK. WHERE THE HECK IS JOHN ELWAY. WENT TO THE FIRST HE PLAYED OLD MILE A CLUSTER. ARMY, LTC, RTD. MANY THANKS
well, we clearly needed expériece at the DE position and hopefully Rice can bring it , he also adds pas rush abilities but the main thing is we have to stop the run , Rice will be of no use if the opponements can run over our D time long !
From the breakfast diner with its offerings of 50/50 and hash to Sacks Fifth Avenue with its offering of Simeon Rice seems a good step for the Broncos gateway into the 2007 football season! To go from simmer to roil for the Broncos defense could be an excitement for our new year, beginning in just a few days. Let’s pass the bills (and other inconveniences), oh trusty steeds, on our new avenue to gridiron success. Yeah, team. Yeah, “seasoneds.” Yeah, “newbies.” Yeah, young and old. 9/04/07
Tuesday 7:10am mdt Loveland CO USA
GO BRONCOS WE ARE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS YEAR. WE HAVE AN AWESOME TEAM . MCMINNVILLE TN.
To all Bronco fans. I live in az and was here when rice was playing for the red terds eeerrr birds. He is a hell of a player when he is not a head case and he is healthy. BUT he made a statement that makes me kind of wonder if it was a lie or truth. For all of you that do not know az cards practice up in flagstaff, Its the az version off mile high (altitude that is) and rice said that the ALTITUDE effected him????? If that was true then I have to wonder. I just think that he hated the cards so much that he would use any reason not to practice or play for the cards. I am sure we will all find out soon. GO BRONCOS
I hope the acqisition of Rice will shore up the loss of al wilson at mlb. Seems to be an open sive there that other teams are having a heyday with. What about Alibaba or whatever his name is is he a headhunter and smart enough for MLB
I THINK RICE WILL MAKE AN IMPACT ITS BETTER THAN WHAT WE HAVE KNOW! I THINK MOSS IS A BUST! HE CANT GET PRESSER ON ANYTHING WE SHOULD KEEP ARE EYES OPEN FOR A DE FOR THE OTHER SIDE OF RICE. BUT THAT NOT GOING 2 HAPPEN THIS YEAR! I JUST WANT 2 BEET THE CHARGERS FOR WHAT THEY DID TO US LAST YEAR! GO BRONCOS
I like this move, but on the other hand, it puts a hold on the developement of our younger defensive ends(possibly).
I just dont want to see elvis dumervil or jarvis moss or tim crowder loose reps and experience this year because of someone who just walked in and will boost our defense. As long as rice produces, i think the move will be worth it, but if he doesnt, and he starts because of his name and reputation, the broncos will be left saying, well, “what if”. “What if” we would have played Elvis Dumervil down in and down out. “What if” we would have given the rookies a chance.
We’ll have to see how this move pans out, but whatever the outcome, now is the time our D-Line(mainly the DE’s) produce.
Does anyone know if the Broncos will be starting Moss as a Right DE or a Left DE, and will Engelberger or Dumervil get the start opposite him.
I am guessimg Rice on one side and Dumervil on the other side with the rookis and Engelberger working in and out? What do you guys think?
they did the right thing broncos are the greatest football team in the world
Hey Andrew,
I saw you deleted my last comment (dont blame you)… Anyway Do you think Rice’s abilities as the type of end he is would be close to the same as Javis? If soo I really think it was a great pick up, and I smell home field in the playoffs!
This is a great move.
Rice will get more time to get to the QB than he did in Tampa because of our great DBs. Look for between 15 – 20 sacks this year. If Travis Henry can keep healthy we have a good chance to get to the play off and even win the Super Bowl this year.
When do the Broncos leave for Buffalo? Does anyone know?
Getting rice is the best decision the broncos have made since the draft. We need more pressure and he is just the guy we need to show these young broncos how. I feel a lot better with him on the defensive going into the regular season sunday
This signing reminds me of when we signed Neil Smith. Hopefully things work out the same.
It looks like a different defence scheme this season, at trhis point anything will help our D
I LOVE IT !!!!!!! Brings some power and a teacher for our a #1 rookies on line! I think people will under estimate what we have as a whole team. I also think brandon marshall will break out this year with hixon and clark. henry is back in full plus watch out for youg !!! maybe hall if he’s here. OOOOOHHHHHH watch OUT for the DEFENSE THEY WILL GET IN A GROOVE !!! OH BYE THE WAY JAVON WILL HAVE A BIG YEAR $$$$$ GO RICE GO !!!