As the Broncos prepare for their Week 3 matchup with Oakland, the Raiders’ receiving corps certainly has the attention of Denver’s secondary unit.
Two rookies, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Louis Murphy, top Oakland’s depth chart at the position. While it’s unique to see two first-year players designated as a team’s No.1 and No. 2 receivers so early into their young careers, Champ Bailey said they are slotted in those spots for a reason.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that,” Bailey said. “Two rookies starting — it’s a rare thing, but those guys are capable.”
Their biggest asset?
“Speed,” Bailey said without hesitation. “You’re talking about speed, they’ve definitely got it. Young, fresh legs and a quarterback that can really sling it. They present a lot of problems.”
Through two games, Murphy has been the more productive of the rookie counterparts, totaling six receptions for 113 yards. One of his most notable plays was a 57-yard touchdown that helped the Raiders win at Kansas City in Week 2.
Heyward-Bey, the club’s 2009 first-round pick, hasn’t been quite as productive. After going without a reception in Week 1, the two-time All-ACC performer snagged one pass for 18 yards against the Chiefs.
Head Coach Josh McDaniels believes the wide receiver position is one of the hardest in terms of coming into the league and making an immediate impact after jumping from the collegiate ranks. With Heyward-Bey and Murphy already making waves in Oakland, he attributes much of their success to their talent levels and how the Oakland coaching staff has used the pair.
And like Bailey, the duos’ speed has caught the eye of McDaniels.
“They are both very dangerous players,” McDaniels said. “That to me is the biggest thing. They have great speed and they run them down the field plenty. You’ve got to be on your toes. I don’t care which one of them you’re guarding, you can name any of the receivers on their roster and it’s the same thing — 4.36, 4.29, 4.26 (40-yard dash times) – and they are all 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. I think they are making the adjustment nicely. They’ve made some big plays already this year and we’ve got to try and prevent both of them from making big plays on Sunday.”
BOUNCE-BACK EFFORT
Peyton Hillis’ resiliency was on full display Sunday afternoon during the Broncos home opener. After Hillis fumbled the opening kickoff against Cleveland, he did anything but sulk about the play. Instead, he remained focused and when McDaniels called his number for a goal-line carry early in the fourth quarter, he made up for his early error by rumbling into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown run.
“He put me back in there, had faith and confidence in me, and I made the most of that opportunity,” Hillis said.
McDaniels said turnovers happen to even the best returns in the game, and he still believes Hillis’ brings a lot to the team on special teams and offense.
“I do still trust him with the ball,” he said. “He obviously made an error on the first kickoff but that happens to most skilled players in their lives. But he was our goal-line back last week and we weren’t going to hesitate to put him back in there. We do have great faith in him.”
– Zach Eisendrath, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Champ Bailey, Oakland Raiders, Week 3
Come on, your a Kool-Ais Kid too!
Kool-Aid
baylin: I was thinking the same thing the other day. McDaniels may be a young Coach, but he is very sharp. I’ve been impressed with him for quite sometime. When he answers his questions, you know that he knows the game. He’s non evasive, yet tactful.
Have you noticed him constantly coaching from the sidelines during games, when players come off the field. Granted, they’re learning a new system, but it’s great to see him interact with his players. It is a change from what we had grown accustomed to in the past, especially during the last 4 or 5 yrs.
You’re losing me, I haven’t seen that stuff for 40 years…
I am serious Baylin, your drinking the Kool-Aid adn you like it, me to.
WHo cares the WR core cant catch and the QB cant throw! Doom to have another great outing!
royalbroncofan1, good point about the sidelines, I was loving to see him get that involved with all the players and going around coaching just like Belichick does sometimes. He’s got great energy and it carries right on over to the team. It’s definitely a key reason why the guys buy into his system, smart and energetic, super combo, he sold me. I am definitely a McD man.
OGB, either way whatever kool-aid we’re drinking, you’ll have to shoot me dead before I call my team with such a sissy name, LOL.
I definately think that McD is a smart coach. He is always talking to the guys when they come off the field and telling them what they did right or wrong either way. I can see us being a dominate team for awhile when we get it all together. We improve every week in all phases of the game. Just think about what we will be like in the final quarter of the season getting ready for the playoffs.
—GO BRONCOS—
Okay – Okay
peace and goodnight!!!
baylin: the Team also seems to have a great air of confidence about them. This is apparent during their interviews as well. You’d see a kind of “dear in the headlights” look on there face…. especially last year. Don’t see that in them at all this year….especially the return players.
broncosfan01, with all due respect, I hope we’re getting ready for the Raiders, not the playoffs, you’re scaring me a little here, the playoffs!!! playoffs!!!!, you’re kidding me??? playoffs!!!! A little coach Mora imitation. LOL
Night OGB, hope you” ll feel great in the morning…ahahahah
I am with ya Baylin, point taken. I am a very optimistic person and i get ahead of myself sometimes. I guess it’s just the excitement i have for them that drives me that way. As long as they don’t get ahead of themselves we will be alright.
rbf1, it’s obviously because they know what the mission is, last year the D had no idea what was coming or going as far as game planning for anybody was concerned, we were awful, even Bailey would tell you that. It’s so great that we have made such an improvement on D so fast, I just can’t believe it. I mean Shanny tried for the last 3 years with different coordinators for zero results! And here in 2 games this D is 10 fold better than those, please don’t wake me up…..
And, remember, the majority of fans were upset because we hired an O coordinator as a head coach when they all wanted a defensive guy like Spagnuolo. I guess they’re speechless right about now. NO, actually they’re complaining about the O and Orton, LOL.
No bashers tonight, it’s so quiet, I could hear a pin drop…
The point is that we need to respect all the talent other teams have. When we do that, we tend to go out, execute and play solid Bronco football. We will go 3-0 because we won’t overlook the Faiders. Naturally, when they’ve got our full attention, JaMarcus Russell will only complete 20 percent of his passes and Darren McFadden, Justin Fargas and Michael Bush will only combine for about 75 yards. Meanwhile, Orton will only continue to improve and the offense will more fully grasp McDaniels’ playbook. The division lead will be ours indisputably around 5:30 MDT Sunday afternoon. GO BRONCOS!!!
Hey, i have to agree with you people. it will be a good game and one for the highlights..
Hey guys,
I’ve been reading this site for a while but just signed up (probably because I’m sick of all the haters trying to get rid of McDaniels before he even coached a game). Been a Broncos fan from D.C. since I was 5 years old in 1985 (just before The Drive and The Fumble, etc… Super Bowl XXII was particularly rough on me being from D.C. and all my friends being Redskin fans).
I was a Bronco fan who was “cautiously optimistic” before the season opener against Cincy because I thought McDaniels was gonna be a good coach (and I knew Nolan would be a good D Coordinator), but was still skeptical about how long it would take for results to show up.
It’s only 2 weeks in, but I really love the attitude of this team. Dawkins has been amazing (even more off-field as a leader and a professional), as has Andra Davis, Goodman, Hill, etc..
But I think the best sight I saw last week (besides Doom’s beastly performance) was Moreno celebrating with both Scheffler and Buckhalter when they each scored. I haven’t seen that type of genuine enthusiasm from a Bronco since Rod Smith retired. I think when Moreno starts getting his feet wet, he’s gonna be great. Hillis tried to revive the Mile High Salute last year, but I have a feeling that Knowshon will break it out once he hits paydirt.
Shanahan will always get love from all Broncos fans for what he did (and will be in the Ring of Fame, as should Dan Reeves in case Bowlen, Collier, etc. are listening) but it was probably time for a change after 10 good (but not great) years. Shanahan was a perfectionist, and I think he would even agree that the Broncos were far from perfection since SB XXXIII (with the exception of maybe 2005).
Look forward to talking you with this year.
GO BRONCOS!!
P.S., I also agree that the Raiders should be taken seriously this year. They are pretty physical, especially on the D-line. But I’m sure McDaniels, Nolan and everyone else knows that.
what i like about mcdaniels is that, even after we win their is always something better that could of done, winning means nothing unless we play perfect football, so i can only see our team getting better. seeing mcdaniels believing in his team shows that we have everything we need in our team, so its just up to our players to do their part and it looks like they are doing a good job so far.
60 minutes of football go broncos!!!
welcome Gtownbronco – thanks for the post – it was a good read!
I agree, the Raiders are no slouches on defense, and if you allow their receivers to get by the secondary devastating things can happen.
However if we can move the ball effectively and shut down those wide outs, it should be a cake walk in the black hole. If we struggle – that will reflect on the only stat that really matters – the score board!
DD – sounds like you have some enemies after all! get better bud!
I dunno…what I’ve seen of the Raiders this year doesn’t have me too awful worried about their WR’s. I think if we play two deep with the safeties and man coverage underneath we ought to do well. Jam TE Zach Miller at the line because I don’t care what anyone says: he is their biggest offensive threat and Jamarcus’s go-to guy. I’m more concerned about their secondary, Asomugah and ball-hawking Michael Huff. I’m surprised no one has talked about them in this thread. Combine them with Richard Seymour up front, beast that he is, and Oakland’s defense is easily the biggest obstacle Denver must overcome to hit the 3-0 mark. I think McD has a plan for them though…GO BRONCOS!!!
So yeah, what do you guys think? Are you really worried about a couple of rookie WR’s who have speed? I’m not saying they should be overlooked, because Jamarcus might have the same arm strength as Cutler (just not the accuracy), and they could torch us…but do you think they will? Love to hear your thoughts.
in my eyes they’re all threats. I say kill them all and sort the bodies later!
I totally think I might be drinking the kool aid… Orton has no interceptions through 2 games and defense looks amazing… I might be drinking the kool aid as well. We can definatley start this season 3-0 and I even think it’s possible that we could go 4-0 when Dallas gets to town.
All it will take is one good hit from Dawkins to welcome those rookies into the NFL, then they’ll be scared to catch anything.
Jamarcus Russel looks like a major dud, I’m looking to see our skilled seconday to take advantage of his lazy attitude and the youth that he’s throwing to. On offense I think it’s going to be another rough one, hopefully we can run the ball. I love our defense though.
Go orange!
I’ll stand by what I said in the offseason when I wanted us to go out and get a defensive guy like Frazier or Morris. With us converting to a 3-4 and having the same offense in tact would have been deadly. Just imagine the defense we have no with the offense we had last year… but with that said I’m very happy with McDaniels and I realize that bad character guys like Cutler needed to go and he’s turning this team into HIS team. So I’m not a hater by any means but I think we should have gone with Frazier or Morris. McDaniels is doing a great job and I hope he continues to prove me wrong.
I think we are going to be in really good shape when Marshall and Royal get involved again in the offense and when we get Larsen back on D/Special teams.
Maybe this will sound a little weird, but I think the outcome of this game will be decided by the offenses, not Ds. The O that gets a little bit more from the opposing D will get the W. But I see it very close defensively. Both defenses seems to be motivated and competitive, with very good players in both sides.
Still, I see our O doing the necessary to get that 3rd W.
Go Broncooos!
Oh I forgot to mention i really like McDaniels no BS attitude. It’s his way or the highway and I really respect that.
I’m thinkin we win 24-9 this week and Moreno gets his first TD
rest assured, Mcdaniels will be,if not THE, then one of the most coveted HC in the years to come.
people cant admit that right now, since they all bashed him too early..i’m talking about “experts”,,lol,,game 3 closing in.
While I expect the Broncos to win Sunday, there’s two things that really concern me:
1) The Raiders came into the season with a better than average defense. The addition of Seymour has elevated that a notch or two.
2) Russell has had his best games against the Broncos. Several TD’s , no INTs, lots of passing yards.
LOL Champs face is sooo funny. He’s like “what????”
Hey DD are you writing for Bleacher report if so give me the link Thanks!!!
cutlersucks8:
he is writing for fanhuddle.com – it does not start up until oct 1 tho
Okay, here is my sunday matchup!
The Raiders are very fast and AL Davis always seems to want to go long on the Broncos. I would look for The Raiders to be prepared to let Russel make a lot of downfield throws, knowing that Denver is certain to key on run D. The Raiders will be somewhat successful and score one big TD and then get a field goal to end with 10.
(We need to watch out for Richard Seymore, he knows too much about McD and we need our gameplan to contain him.)
The Broncos will gun for the runners and force Russel to throw. Elvis will get 2 sacks and disrupt Russel into one INT (Champ for a pick-6) and one lost fumble. The Bronco Offense will move the ball with relative ease. Eddie Royal will get his 100 yard game and one TD to go with a Graham TD and Moreno’s first NFL TD. Three Prater FG’s to round out a score of 37. WOW!
Broncos 37
Raiders 10
STONE COLD ORANGE CRUSH LOCK!!!!!
My Bad!!
you guys are hilarious, did they change the drinking water in Denver to kool-aid?