Few topics have been more debated in the comments section of this blog than the status of Domenik Hixon as the Broncos’ kickoff and punt returner, as the Broncos’ special teams in general have failed to generate much momentum so far this season.
With the struggles on kick coverage and runbacks, perhaps change was invevitable, and on Tuesday, the victim of the change was Hixon, who was waived. The Broncos re-signed Brian Clark to take his spot on the 53-man roster; Clark had been waived on Saturday when the Broncos brought Steve Cargile and Glenn Martinez up from the practice squad; both of them played in Sunday afternoon’s loss to Indianapolis.
Hixon averaged 22.0 yards on his five kickoff returns Sunday, but dropped one kickoff. He also called for fair catches on both Hunter Smith punts and has taken fair catches on five of 12 punts in his direction.
Through four games, Hixon ranked ninth in the AFC and 24th in the league with an average of 4.6 yards on seven punt returns. His kickoff-return average of 22.8 yards on 12 returns placed him 14th ithe AFC and 22nd in the league.
Clark led the Broncos in kickoff-return yardage last year with a final season tally of 512 yards on 23 returns — a 22.3-yard average. Several others on the roster have regular-season experience on kickoff and/or punt returns, a diverse group that includes fullback/running backs Mike Bell and Cecil Sapp, cornerbacks Dre’ Bly and Champ Bailey and wide receiver Glenn Martinez.
What do you think of the move? Comment below …
Tags: Brian Clark, Domenik Hixon, Special Teams
As a University of Akron alum I am sad to see Hixon go. It was also a necessary move. Hixon just wasn’t getting the job done, and while you can accept imperfection of a guy is going hard, it just didn’t look like Hixon was. He was tentative into the hole, and returning kicks in the NFL is part Kamikazee.
I wish the former Zip the best and look forward to Brian Clark doing a much better job….
TSG
http://www.milehighreport.com
and can we waive O`Brian?
what does it really matter? its not like clark is devon hester or dante hall! put selvin young back there or b-marsh, and let them make a play!!!
[...] to Andrew Mason, Hixon is out. Clark is [...]
I think this move was absolutely necessary. On every single punt and kick return Hixon attempted I was hoping he would just pick a hole and hit it hard. He never did, nor did he seem like he wanted to. I think Shanahan should let Mike Bell get in there for the return job. I bet Bell is anxious to get the ball, no matter where he gets it.
The aggressiveness we saw during the Pre-Season disappeared after the Keven Everett play….I don’t think Hixon ever really recovered…
TSG
http://www.milehighreport.com
Well I am still not sold that it was all Hixon’s fault, I would question the blocking on those returns as well. Seemed as soon as he fielded the ball, he had one or two defenders in his face, where were his blocks?
This is a cute story between two OK players that will have little to no affect on our season. When will the defensive coordinator be held accountable? I heard all the hype about the switch from Coyer to Bates but I can’t tell the difference. Last Sundays game looked like the same defense I saw in all the playoff beatings at Indy years past. I have faith the offense will get into gear but the defense looks pathetic. If we hold LT under 150yrds rushing this Sunday I will be surprised. These next few games determine our season.
Well I said in one of my last week comments,Hixon is slow to get started and not the guy for that job. Lets use Sevyn,Quick first step and not afraid to get hit. Our weakness is Defense and special teams,especially on punt returns. Bates should be OUT
Quincy Morgan underperformed last year after being brought in for his “extensive return experience” and lost the job. Cecil Sapp and I believe Mike Bell also saw some time in kickoff returns but fumbled away the job. Brian Clark mustered the best returns last year, and mustered an average less than what Hixon is currently getting. I am beginning to believe the return problems are not the fault of our returners.
I don’t think anyone can really blame Hixon for having a little hesitation after the Everett incident, that would scare the crap out of anyone, but I also think he was a pretty decent returner. There was at least one return in each of the first three games where someone barely was able to trip him up or else he could have gone the distance. I think he lost his job because he fumbled another kickoff. You just can’t keep doing that and expect to be the returner.
Punt returns are a crapshoot anyways in the NFL. The ball is in the air so long that you rarely get a legitimate chance to return a ball. Look at one of the better returners in the game, Dante Hall, until his 85 yarder this week he was only averaging 5 yards on punts, and he is only averaging 24 yards on kickoffs.
However, I do think returns are an issue we need to address. Our battle for field position has again been terrible this year.
Forget about the special teams for a minute and focus on that terrible run defense!!! We rarely have any tackles for losses from our linebackers and we get alot of miss tackles. You can’t tell me that Joseph Addai runs that hard!! Where is Al Wilson!!! I wished he could’ve pass that physical!!!
Mr. Mason,
Welcome back from Indy. Thanks again for the blog work you did during the game. I know raised this question and you have gone a long way to doing everything you could to answer it but I still don’t see that this is going to greatly change things. When you and I started blogging back and forth regarding the special teams play you made some excellent points regarding what it means to return punts and kickoffs in the Mile High City. But ultimately we haven’t heard a word from Broncos Special Teams Coach Scott O’Brien in relation to the blocking scheme used to protect the returners. He went a long way to describing his philosophy for the returners but that’s it. Hixon kept repeating the sentiment of his coach over the last two weeks. “I have to make the first man miss.”. I appreciate this sentiment but it is of little value when there are five or six guys converging on you, all of them unblocked. As you have stated it does matter that we have faced some talented kickers and when they hammer a kick whose hang time is measured by a calender then there really isn’t much you can do to effect a good return. When you look at all of the other teams that are scoring touchdowns on special teams it seems unthinkable. I can’t remember a time when there were many scoring special teams units. I do know that this does have to do with the increase of teams drafting specialty players whose only responsibility is returns. I have also noticed though that when these returners field the ball they have the time to make that first cut, get up to speed, get through the lane, and turn on the jets. For the Broncos returners they have the time to field the ball, scream and expletive, then get hit. In the first blog that started our dialog I said it didn’t matter who we put back there if the blocking didn’t improve. I don’t think that Clark is any faster then Hixon but I do believe he may be more assertive in getting up field. I just hope it’s enough for now.
Mike in San Diego.
As I stated for the first time this week, Hixon needed to go and he has, I tried to be patient bt this week made me realize he needed to be replaced, he does not run with agression and seems to play a bit scared. However, that was just a small problem, our defense is what needs to be fixed immeadietely, Does anyone else see the 5-2 being a good option to run for us on 1st and second downs? We have the Defnesive lineman in numbers to stack 5 of them up front and put dj and webster in there for help/ coverage.
Jeremy Bloom
we cant have mistakes like dropping balls on kick returns
good move by the broncos
When I watch the Broncos defense, several things are apparent to me:
1. It all starts at the defensive line. The Bronco D-line always seems to penetrate too deep into the backfield against the run. As a D-lineman, you have to stick your block, and then come off to make a tackle. This is a big part of the “gap” control problem the Broncos are referring to. Furthermore, if you don’t stick your man as a d-lineman, and get too deep into the backfield three things happen:
a. You’ve taken yourself out of position to pursue. When was the last time we saw a “gang-tackle” or a pile of Bronco jerseys in on a tackle together?
b. You’ve left your linebackers hung out to dry because now that O-lineman can get up field and make another block.
c. It creates an opportunity for the running back to cut back, because no-one is home to contain. Addai did this numerous times to us on Sunday.
2. I’m also not sure why we won’t line our D-tackles up over the guards. That’s asking a lot of our linebackers to chuck offensive linemen. The new defensive scheme we have in place is designed to have our D-lineman free up our linebackers to make tackles by sticking their blocks. Since this isn’t happening, our linebackers are getting blocked by O-linemen, and that’s why we’re seeing so many tackles getting made by our secondary.
3. You can see this same trend of being out of position in the linebackers. I think it is one reason the tackling looks so bad, is because the linebackers are constantly having to leave their feet to make a tackle, because all of their tackles seem to happen in the “open field” because there is no D-line to prevent the running back from running left to right.
4. Good defenses create turnovers and score points. Right now, our scheme is predicated on having 4 D-Line studs, which we just don’t have. A good Coach always has a scheme that reflects the actual personel, and not what he thinks would work in a perfect world. Right now, the Bronco defensive scheme is undermining the personell. Our 2 corners are the best in the league, yet the 4 man pass rush is not good enough to pressure the opposing QB into making the kind of throws that will allow our corners to make interceptions. In fact, as we saw Manning do against both Bly and Bailey on Sunday, our two corners have started to make stopping the run their priority (and who can blame them) which is why they are getting beat on play action. We have some D-Linemen (namely Dumervill, and to a lesser extent Moss and Rice) who can create some turnovers by sacking the QB and stripping the ball, but with a 4 man rush, the D has to have a “coverage sack” and let the QB hold the ball for 4 seconds before this can happen.
5. Injuries: When the Defense is out there for that long, it’s only a matter of time before the players just get beat up, worn down, and ultimately injured. Our D does not have much depth, and some critical injuries will only worsen what is a struggling defense.
6. Game-planning: The defensive game plan for Indy was quite weak. Everyone knows that you can’t cover Dallas Clarke with a linebacker, so the scheme obviously did not create the match-ups we needed. Furthermore, the lack of adjustments was appalling. The Colt defense adjusted to our offense, but we stayed the same. That’s a lot to ask of your players: to leave them hung out to dry on national TV as the other team keeps embarrassing you.
7. Team Moral: The “bend but don’t break” mentality has it’s place, but it takes the aggression out of the defense. The biggest thing about the way the D is playing is the way it affects team moral. You could see it on the faces of the Coaches and the players on the sidelines. Furthermore, it affects the way the offense is asked to play. The offense is forced to play a much more conservative game in regards to controlling the clock; the offense is so scared of having a “3 and out” that it prevents the offense from taking more chances down the field, which would ultimately loosen up the defense to make our running game more effective.
Changes will have to occur on multiple levels for the defense to improve, but it all starts with how the players are being coached to play this defense.
As far as Offense, I think that everyone agrees that things are much more optimistic:
OFFENSE:
1. 3rd and short and goalline difficulties are the same. We pride ourselves on being a running team, but usually rely on either passing or an innovative play call on third and short or the goalline. Our running backs have to change their style a bit in these situations. They have to hit the hole sooner than they usually do on the zone blocking we use to take us up the field, and they have to hit that hole hard and keep feet moving. Henry is brilliant at reading his zone blocks, but in short yardage situations, I think Selvin Young is a better back.
2. I also think that Selvin Young has the chance to bring something back to the Offense that Shanahan did successfully with Ricky Waters in San Francisco, and to a more limited extent, with Terrel Davis, and that is to get the ball to the running back in the open field with the pass.
3. Daniel Graham is slowly becoming one of the most important players to the Bronco Offense, and rightly so. If you look at the most successful running backs in the league, they often run behind one of the best Tight Ends in the league: LT and Antonio Gates, Addai and Clark, Larry Johnson and Tony Gonzales, Terrell Davis and Shannon Sharpe. The reason for this is simple: If the Defense plays the run with 3 linebackers, then you know that the linebacker can’t cover a Tight End of that caliber, and so the Offense chooses pass. If the Defense decides to cover the Tight End with an extra defensive back, then you run the ball and let your Tight End block that DB to the sidelines. This is also a key ingredient to short yardage and goaline success. In fact, Dallas Clark aptly demonstrated this against Ian Gold on the goalline on Sunday.
I think this offense is starting to gel, but I think they are missing one key thing: Leadership. In those 3rd and short, and / or goalline situations, whose the guy in that huddle who slaps everyone else upside the helmet, and tells them to reach down and find that extra gear? Hopefully, the return of Rod Smith can provide this when he comes back. In the meantime, someone needs to step up and fill this role.
Maybe the Broncos need to switch to a 3-4. I know they can not change schemes in the middle of the season but perhaps next year. Then they would not have to worry about defensive linemen. They could sign Al Wilson and that would give us the four linebackers and find a good nose tackle. The Broncos could perform a wide variety of blitzes that would confuse quarterbacks. The Cowboys, Patriots, Chargers, and Steelers all have a 3-4. Just an idea.
Go Broncos
Deeeezam ThinkingBronco, That was a little long winded to read, but pretty much hits the nail on the head. Our d-line sucks at stopping the run, personnel changes need to be made. Period. Bates needs to pull his head out of his A55 and make some adjustments.
Maybe us fans should be put on the payroll as advisers. The way I see it, we are studying harder than the players and coaches. And a little advice for coach Shannahan. Stay home and prepare this upcoming by-week. Don’t come to the Bellagio in Las Vegas, where we know u like to come on bye weeks. Yea, Yea, I’ve seen you here during the bye weeks and trust me most years it wouldn’t matter, but this year??? It will be an all year project. No time for bye-weeks. A lot of work needs to take place in the bye-week. But as good as a coach as you are, I don’t need to tell you that. Go Broncos, I’m dissapointed, but won’t give up.
I don’t think it’s personnel.
Since I, living in Southern California, can’t even WATCH a Broncos game (the Raider game was televised for me but a transformer blew at my house and boom no Broncos).
But based on what I keep reading and seeing I’d say it has to do with a scheme that isn’t compatible with our players. We have a ridiculous secondary and yet we’re not blitzing? Wasn’t that why we picked up Moss, Thomas, and Rice?
I mean I could be wrong on the no blitzing thing since I haven’t actually watched a game, but if we aren’t brining the pressure then it makes sense that we got burned by Manning and keep getting burned on the run game.
The way I see it we have Lynch(?), Ferguson, Bly, and Bailey in the backfield. Depending on the situation receivers and the offensive formation we could have Lynch and Ferguson playing a shallow zone and Bailey and Bly playing man or zone. With that we can send SEVEN in to decimate their RB or QB or at least HOLD them.
If we’re getting burned in the middle or on play action we can have DJ Williams drop back in a short zone/QB spy and have Bailey play and Bly play man.
However, if we are sending six or seven regularly and we’re still getting dominated then maybe we do have personnel issues. I understand Al Wilson didn’t pass the physical but Warren? I don’t get it. Sam Adams just doesn’t seem to be cutting it. Three games and two tackles? Warren is boasting SEVEN tackles and THREE sacks!
But this is all speculation. I haven’t actually seen the games.
why not bring quincy morgan back
ITS OK! WAIT TILL THE DRAFT!! I WANT DESAUN JACKSON FROM CAL!!!!! THEN SPECIAL TEAMS WONT HAVE A PROB! lol..BUT LIKE I ALWAYS SAY TEAMS HAVE TO RUN WHEN WE ARE SHUTTING DOWN THE PASS. I DONT THINK A RUN GAME BY ITS SELF CAN BEAT OUR TEAM. BELIEVE IT OR NOT WE PLAYED THE BEST FOOTBALL IVE SEEN IN THE 1ST HALF OF THE COLTS GAME!!!! IF WE PLAY LIKE THAT THROUGHOUT THE GAME AND THE SEASON SUPERBOWL HERE WE COME! BESIDES FIXING THE LONG RUNS THE DEFENSE GIVES UP… WE STOPPED ADDAI PRETTY GOOD EXECEPT ON THOSE 8-15 YD RUNS. SOME ARE OK BUT WE’RE GIVING UP TO MANY! PLAY LIKE YALL DID IN THE 1ST HALF ON SUNDAY AND WE WILL WIN BALL GAMES….WE LOST THE GAME AFTER CUTLER THREW THE PICK! IT WAS TOO EARLY TO MESS UP. THEN WE FUMBLE IT. THAT GIVES MANNING 2 FREE OPPORTUNITIES WHERE HE HAS TO BARLEY GO 30 YRD. TO SCORE. THATS HOW THE COLTS WON!
-3RD- gET At ME YaLL
Mr. Mason,
Looks like there is no getting out of talking about our D. Now I think there is a problem with guys trying to make the big play and not staying on their assignments. There has to be somthing that will make the D trust their group… Cough, Cough Al Cough Wilson Cough. Al is truly a Bronco town guy. Oh and uh Mango8 just a heads up if he were to pass his phys he would be a NY Giant, and then we wouldnt have that little hope that he will come play here!
Oh and I hope we can get Hix on the practice squad as a reciver because when Stokley is gone we are going to need someone to go over the middle… Who better than the guy who stood up a tight end after a big hit. It was sad but showed some toughness. Oh and other dude give up on Bloom, he is and always will be a Joke
Wow…some of your readers post a comment nearly as long as your blog!
Al Wilson, aparrently is not going to be back this year or he would have been on the team with rod smith doing exactly what rod is doing. However I do think we could throw a 5-2 defense in there on 1st downs and maybe second downs when playing teams with good running backs, with Peterson back we have an easy 5 good defensive lineman who can play well and DJ plus gold would be good linebackers to have in to help cover incase of a pass or DJ and Webster since our secondary is pretty set at corner. I just dont see how throwing 5 D lineman in on 1st downs cant hurt us unless we still fail to plug the holes and stop the run.
With the injury to Javon and the low production of Hixon at returns, I think this is a good move. It gives us a very qulified back up reciever in Clark who I thought had a great pre season. He may not be the choice for Punt returns , but hes as good if not better than Hixon has been on Kick offs. I for one would like to see Dre’ or Champ try a few punt returns althought I dont like the thought of exposing your best athletes as punt returners. But at least they would make it fun. If not them then maybe Mike bell or Stockley as punt returnes,at least with Stockly we wouldnt have to worry about him dropping it.
[...] Source: DenverBroncos.com [...]
I think it was wise to get rid of hixon returning the ball. We need someone with a lot more explosivness to return the kickoffs. but our offense has lots of weapons but needs to learn how to use them. We need to start using our receivers better and involving the tight ends. Also where is al wilson. Shannahan should seriously think about him in the future!!!
ThinkingBronco:
Thanks for taking the time and for your insights. Wish I could watch a game with you sometime - you also seem to be a true student of the game. While everyone else in the room (bar/yard/hot tub…) is screaming about their RB streaking up the sideline, I’m trying to figure out why OLB bit on the TE cross pattern to create the hole. And they look at me like I’m crazy.
I also like what Young brings to the table - he’s also compact enough to give returning kicks a shot. Not punts, just kicks. Interesting point about leadership. Where’s Tom Nalen when you need him? Oh, wait…
Some outstanding thoughts … love the lengthy comments here, and I’ll respond with a lengthy post of my own later today when I get about 30 more minutes to post.
we need to improve the return game but more importantly the covearges in the return game !! see the field position of the colts , especially in the first half , that allowed them to score two touchdowns , should they have started inside their 20 maybe ( juste maybe ) we would be able to go in the locker whith the lead .
Amen Broncofrance!
so what? until they learn to tackle, and stop the run, nothing will help - there is no “magic wand” that will cure what ails them!
AM does it again - I bet you like watching us Bronco fans bicker over the “little” things… Hopefully we can keep enough talent this year to pick up an explosive returner in the draft!
i think that move was necesary
dang good move. i did not see any intensity in hixon on the returns. think he was shook up ever since the buffalo incident
I Say give Jeremy Bloom a crack at it
we just need a good d-fense to cover clark, if there is no d-fense how are we gonna look on our next up coming games? go broncos I will always stay on your wagon….
aj
i think that they should look at either trading ian gold or finding someone that can cover a tight end for instance a safety. against the colts harrison was hurt and we did nothing to gain an advantage. bailey could have blanketed reggie wayne while bly could have played zone and let ferguson cover dallas clark. plus we are not putting any type of pressure on any qb, giving peyton all the time in the world to throw they should have not even played the game and just gone home with another loss. we could easily be o and 4. DEFENSE NEEDS TO WAKE UP!!!!!
another thing i forgot to mention , who is calling the plays on OFFENSE!!! C’mon now we pounded the ball down the colts throat in the first half they even knew what was coming and couldn’t stop it lining up with 3 tight ends and no receivers. i must say it was working but it was called a little too frequently. cutler has an elway like arm and it rarely gets used. i know we want to control the clock against manning and the colts , that’s all good and fine but if we would use cutlers cannon once in a while and score some points with that supposedly powerful offense we could let the other teams play catch up. even throw the long bomb once in a while. since we’re losing the battle of field position why not try it , we might get an interference call and maybe get some momentum going. we are playing very lacks on both sides of the ball. last time i checked , there are 4 quarters , looks like we’re quitting after 1 or 2. looks like there might be a conditioning problem as well. c’mon shanahan and the rest of you soft coaches let’s get FIRED UP, i mean why do we play the game? to WIN!!! GO BRONCOS we’re better than this!!!
wud happened to the D-fense?if we thought dallas clark was making too many plays on us last weekend, we should think harder about what Antonio Gates, their leading receiver so far, could do this upcoming weekend. The defensive coaches should snap out! Put a safety or a nickel on their TEs. Our LBs were so busy worrying about both run plays and pass coverage that Manning picked apart our defense easily. Put up some pass rushing, and call in a few blitzes once in a while for a change. Our DBs can certainly hold up the passing coverage.
I was wondering wud happened to the run offense in the second half. Our backs were really pounding them hard. Probably because the plays were called too often. We should mix it up more often. Let Cutler throw it deep and high, thats where Marshalls size comes into play.
As for the special teams, more blocking and more tackling. I would love to see the Broncos draft a return specialist in next years class ( Cal’s Deshawn Jackson) and an OLB(someone as talented DJ Wil at that position).
GO BRONCOS!!WE STILL BELIEF WITHOUT A DOUBT!!!show the Chargers wud a real talented team can do..
we want AL WILSON back
Sports Illustrated
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting
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