The Broncos were assigned linebacker Alvin Bowen from Jacksonville via waivers Monday.
Bowen was originally drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 2008, but missed his rookie season after being placed on injured reserve due to an injury in training camp.
Since then, he has seen time with the Washington Redskins, Seattle Seahawks and Jacksonville Jaguars. In his career, Bowen has a tackle in two games played.
Tags: Alvin Bowen
Now Klis is jumping on the bandwagon that we will run more than we will throw and smartly so:
John Fox plan in motion to run and run some more.
That’s the plan. An NFL plan sometimes becomes a Plan B, but the idea behind Denver’s defensive-minded head coach John Fox is for his offense to have more Moreno-McGahee, and less Kyle Orton-Brandon Lloyd.
Defensive coaches love it when their offense shortens the game. It’s one reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens traditionally have two of the league’s top-rated defenses each year. There are other reasons to be sure – like James Harrison and Troy Polamalu for the Steelers and Ray Lewis and Ed Reed for the Ravens.
But it’s no coincidence that rugged, physical defenses often are complemented by rough-tough, run-oriented offense. They go together.
About us having big TEs playmakers, I honestly don’t think so since both rookies are a year away at best and the oher ones are ok average receiving TEs at best, but they are decent blocking ones telling me for this season our TEs will be here mostly for the running game in my opinion but of course you may know that folks like 4HOF strongly disagree with that.
This is Klis view of the TEs:
I think tight end is the toughest call the Broncos have for the 53-man roster. Teams usually only keep three
Daniel Fells will start at the “big” tight end position. And rookie Julius Thomas, a fourth-round draft pick with over-the-goalpost upside, is also a cinch.
That would leave Dan Gronkowski, Dante Rosario, Richard Quinn and seventh-round rookie Virgil Green competing for one spot. All are keepers which is why it’s such a tough call.
The Broncos may keep four tight ends. They may even keep four on the active roster and slide a fifth, Green, to the practice squad. I think it would make some sense to have Quinn, who is out two to four weeks with a MCL knee strain, start the season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. This would keep him out until at least Game 6 at Miami but it would also give the Broncos insurance at the blocking tight end spot. Thomas, Gronkowski and Rosario are receiver types. Quinn is the better blocker.
While I strongly disagree that Gronkowski is a keeper, totally agree that Green is the odd man out and not sure about that Quinn must be put on the PUP, maybe his injury is more severe than I was led to believe.
Klis is also trying to put to bed the trade Tebow talks, at least for this season:
As for the suggestions of trading Tebow, money is a pertinent fact. Here’s the deal: First-round picks collect the bulk of their contract money in year two. Tebow, as a first-round pick in 2010, got a five-year, $9.7 million contract. He draws $6.7 million of that $9.7 million this year. A backup QB making $6.7 million is untradeable.
Buffalo gave up on No. 11 overall pick Aaron Maybin after his second season, and Jacksonville cut No. 8 overall pick Derrick Harvey after his third year but you almost never see a team trade or release a first-round pick after year one because of the financial ramifications. Even JaMarcus Russell made it three years before the Raiders cut their losses.
Besides all that, the Broncos have not given up on Tebow’s development. There is zero chance he will be traded this year.
thanks for that bay……..interesting.
And about the QQ and if Tebow or Quinn will ever get to take reps with the first team in preseason, still Klis:
It’s doubtful Tim and Brady take a first-team rep, unless Orton tweaks an ankle. Tebow might take a Wild Horse snap if that’s still in the Broncos’ playbook, but Fox doesn’t strike me as one who shows “gimmick” plays in preseason.
The one chance Tebow or Quinn would have of taking a first-team rep is in preseason game No. 3 against Seattle. It’s still not likely the QB rotation will change during the preseason, but if Quinn outplays the other two Saturday against Buffalo, he might shake things up.
Basically what Klis is saying without saying it is Quinn might move to #2 ahead of Tebow but no way Tebow moves to #1, while I respect your opinions Klis have the rocks to say what you mean for gosh sake.
What did everyone think of Fox’s interview on NFL Total Access?
He wouldn’t name Orton the official starter for the season yet…….think he was just being PC or is Orton still competing for the number one spot?
Well today is a huge day finding out about Warren’s MRI, cross your fingers type of day…. We are DT challenged that’s for sure, nothing new there.
He honestly still doesn’t know, that’s what I always claim and I stick by it. No one in the organization nor the entire world knows about how our QQ will unfold, probaly some of this and some of that as the season moves on, he will adjust with it on the fly as the world turns, that’s what happens when you have a QQ and no one you are sold on long term….
I think he starts with Orton, and gives him a fairly long leash. Not an infinite one where by he’ll stick with him the entire season, but long enough to prove beyond doubt that he’s just not the answer at QB and being ineffective.
Say if we start the season at 0-5 or 1-4, I think Fox will shorten the leash bigtime and we could see TT start some games to evaluate his progress and give him a chance to develop.
But then again……….I could be totally wrong. lol
If we start the season out horribly and Fox gives Tebow the nod then we might as well trade/cut/release Orton at that point. 1) Orton won’t like it because sitting out games hurts his stock in FA, and did you see him on the sidelines for the last 3 games last season 2) Keeping Orton and starting Tebow I think will cause some un-needed locker room drama.
However if we start the season off horrible it won’t entirely be Orton’s fault.
But that bad start won’t happen since 3 of the 4 or 5 games we can legitimately win this year are played in the first 3 weeks, Oakland, Cinci and at Tenn.
And if it does happen that we start 0-3, then we are in the front runner position for Luck because we will win only one game, or two at best, just saying.
I think it will be more a case of the 2009 season where we start 3-0, not 6-0 mind you, haha, and folks will be starting talking playoffs, and then the meat of the schedule comes on and tighten your seatbelts.
Not often you say that the first game of the season is a must win, but in my eyes, it is.
To be beaten by the Faders in our own house again will just be horribly demoralizing!
That 2009 season still leaves a digusting taste in my mouth. We get off to a crazy start with that tipped ball to Stokely for the TD and W and cruise to a 6-0 start……….then the wheels fall off. How a team that starts that well only wins 2 of its remaining 10 games is STILL beyond me. PUKE!
Not only that but on “Monday Night Football” would just add salt to the wound. I think we’ll actually do better this season than I anticipated.
In my opinion I think everygame is a must win, whether mathmatically or not.
It’s because McD didn’t check the tire pressure and didn’t change up his strategy at all and became too predictable and was too stuborn to change it up.
Take a good close look at the schedule, the first three games are must win games because the final 13 games stretch is brutal, totally brutal.
We have the third hardest schedule in the NFL I believe and many folks seem to conveniently dismiss that fact when they tell us of the grand results we may have this season.
Why does a team that finishes 4-12 with the second pick in the draft end up getting the third hardest schedule in the league? Is it because we’re in the AFC West?
It’s like some folks don’t think the current depth chart means anything but I do, call me weird but who we play in the schedule is an important fact to me as far as our chances are concerned, I guess I’m not a Faith guy that way, show me what’s on paper and I can get a better grasp of things. I’m materialistic that way…
Trial and Tribulation. I guess playing a tougher schedule is going to make us feel better when we get our butts kicked. “We lost but we lost to a good team” type of thing.
The AFC West is what we always play and they’re not that good, so no, it’s mainly because this year is our turn top play the entire NFC North, arguably the best division in football, that along with playing all of the AFC East and we’re screwed.
Well, I hope that wasn’t too much insight on my season record prediction to be, LOL.
Just thought I’d throw this out, but any reject of the Bengals is not very appealing, specially Tank:
Bengals terminate contract of DT Tank Johnson
Who do you think will be our biggest challenge in the division this year? I think it’s a tough one to call. The Chargettes seem like they’re always favored to win the division…..and it’s prob no different this year. I hate Rivers……..so, so much! I don’t think the Cheifs will repeat their success from last year and the Faders will def slip in their division record from last season.
I think the division is totally up for grabs. Now, us taking it is a completely other story.
I think our biggest opponent in the division is ourselves. If we can’t get it together and work as a team to make plays and shoot ourselves in the foot with drive killing penalties, turnovers, and settling for FGs in th redzone well I don’t think we’ll be very efficient. We just need to get the stuff on our end that we can control tightened up..and I mean water tight like a dolphin’s..well you know what LOL!
Biggest challenge: SD by a long shot because of Rivers, the true leader we wished we had at the helm (not Rivers per say, just any leader).
Also KC because they are still doing it right in upper management with Pioli and will be able to run the rock better than anyone specially now that they got RonMcClain to open lanes for their awesome backs.
Meaning if we can beat anybody it should be the Raiders because Al still runs the team.
I wonder what the results are on Warrens MRI?
Yah, as much as I hate him……..I can’t dis his QB ability. And he ALWAYS seems to up his game against us. You can tell he hates the Broncos.
Al Davis needs to give it up already and let go the reins….
In fact this is some of the odds in Vegas for winning the AFC West:
SD (-200)
KC (+350)
OAK (+450)
DEN (+1,000)
So I guess I’m pretty much in line with the money….
The Raiders will have to pry the reins out of Davis’ cold dead hands.
For as much as I hate Rivers, I think Tebow could turn into a QB like Rivers, the similarities are there.
What’s you opinion on the second four games bay? I see us coming out of that with 2-2 split. All depends on how our defense is playing.
I was actually thinking the same thing brian…….Rivers is unorthadox, has weird mechanics and throwing action, but can scramble and throw on the run and always seems to get the ball where it needs to go.
“your opinion” sorry.
Meaning you think we can win at Miami and against Detroit, but both of those will present major challenges, the one at Miami because we hardly never ever win there, but that would be the easiest one to take of the two due to a QQ of their own, but the one against Detroit is going to be a mountain of a game just like the mountain size folks they have assembled on their lines, the Lions ar no longer walkovers and will give us all we can handle.
I wouldn’t call myself a strong believer in having playmakers at the tight end position. I just want both rookies on the activer roster as to avoid losing them to the waiver wire. Do I think Thomas will get mixed in on passing downs and have an impact on each game? Yes. But Fells and Rosario are going to be out there the majority of the time because they are more complete tight ends.
Quinn over Green would just leave me very disapointed.
Depth chart does mean something. Trusting it to the fullest at this point in camp is just something I don’t see any relevance in. Also, considering our first one was the result of basically 10 days of camp, it is likely to change and with each one that comes out, they will obviously be more trust worthy.
Talk about creating a good team by drafting…Detroit seems to be doing it right.
To tell you the truth, after the first three games as possible wins, I see the one at Miami as another one and that’s about it because the other two I see us having a shot at, at Minnesota and at Buffalo represent major road challenges, one is in a dome the other on a frozen field on Christmas eve, maybe one other win I could see is against KC in the last game if they are either in or out of the playoffs, but if they are fighting for a spot we will be hurting at year end with what should be an awesome running game of theirs and a yet unimproved D against the run of ours.
Let’s see here…
The Steelers and Ravens reference in the earlier post. Both of those teams do run the ball yes. Do they run it 60/40 run to pass? Hardly. They have balanced attacks and run well on first down. Both teams utilize their tight ends in the passing game as well. So like I’ve been saying we should work for a 50/50 split and not just use our tight ends as undersized offensive tackles. Seems to work for the Ravens and Steelers year after year.
Yeah you’re right – those are the two I was thinking, but good points. If we can stuff Miami’s run game, we could keep it close and possibly win with a field goal.
Detroit will be a big challenge as they’re vastly improved. Again if Stafford is healthy, it might make the difference. Historically, they’ve never played well in Denver, (Not that I remember anyway). but then again a new Team.
The biggest problem is if we can’t plug up the middle of our D-line its going to be a long…long season. Espcially going up against premier backs such as Johnson and Peterson. Also guys like Charles and Matthews aren’t pushovers.
I don’t think we’ll ever see Stafford reach his full potential. He’s gonna be one of those players who will be plauged with injury. I hope that’s not the case but his track record hasn’t been very good so far into his pro career. He is a gamer though!
Unfortunately, long story short, we could very well find ourselves in the same exact position as at the end of last year, in a “battle” for the top draft picks, I know it’s rather depressing to hear but those odds to me are much greater than finding ourselves fighting for a playoff spot position. It will take time, more than one season, I have patience so I can take it and anyway hopefully I’m all wrong.
That’s one of the aspects of the new D I’m most curious about…….how will we be against stopping the run? They’ve been run over year after year and it has to stop!!! Force the QB to make throws and let Doom and Miller eat them for breakfast!!!!
Yea the Lions were hardly even on the radar for Fairley during the draft but when he dropped that far, the value was too great for them to pass up. Lions management is finally starting to understand how to draft. Value over need
I expect the run D to be much better. I mean we ran a 3-4 the past two seasons without a NT. A 3-4 without a nose tackle is basically just begging teams to get to our 2nd level of defense. I think we will be somewhere in the 15-20 range for total defense this year. Which is not amazing but definitely an improvement.
I think we’ll need to watch out for Suh and Fairley. They are tough in the middle but they are also a little dirty. Suh has shown he gets a little carried away after the play and Fairley was dirty in college. Hopefully our guys come away from that one rather unharmed.
Atwater4HOF: Looks like the TE’s Coach Fox keeps will have not only be good pass catchers but great blockers on the line, as we know by now, he likes to run and run some more.
Therefore I see Fells, Rosario and Thomas making the squad. Thomas will be the project for blocking as we know he can run routes and has great hands. Don’t know what to make of Quinn with his injury, or Green at this point. I’d be surprised if we keep Gronkowski but he was brought in to run block as well, (last year). Should be interesting to see the final cuts. IMO.
Yeah, the first cut is like weeding before you mow the yard, gotta trim the tree to see the forest kind of thing.
Well, here we go, the news we were anxiously waiting for:
Marcus Thomas, one of the Broncos’ two starting defensive tackles, will miss the rest of the preseason with a strained pectoral muscle. There is hope Thomas will be ready to play in the regular-season opener Sept. 12 against the Oakland Raiders.
That’s the not-so-bad news. The bad news is an MRI revealed that Ty Warren, the other starting defensive tackle, does have a tear in his triceps.
The Broncos’ football operations department, headed by vice president John Elway, head coach John Fox and general manager Brian Xanders, are currently discussing options on how to proceed with Warren’s injury.
At present, the Broncos have not given up on the possibility Warren could play at some point this season.
Both Warren and the Broncos have incentive to put off surgery in hopes he can heal enough to play. Because Warren is 30 years old and missed all of last season to recover from hip surgery, surgery to repair his latest injury could threaten not only his season but career. Why rush into that?
The Broncos also have reason to be patient because Warren was their centerpiece acquisition in free agency. Warren was once a standout interior defensive lineman for the New England Patriots until he was released last month. The Broncos immediately went after Warren and signed him to a two-year, $8 million contract that will pay him $4 million this season — $2.5 million in guaranteed bonus and $1.5 million in salary.
Until a final determination is made on Warren, and until Thomas recovers, the Broncos’ starting defensive tackles figure to be Brodrick Bunkley and Kevin Vickerson.
I don’t see much good news in there, Thomas with no chance at any more prep work and holding onto Warren just because of his huge contract is what it sounds like, I mean no way he can be ready by the 6th week sounds like so why even put him on the PUP, seems like ultimately Bowlen will be having to eat the 2.5 mil for zero production this year, tough pill to swallow so I can see why they are not rushing the decison, need a big glass of beer to make that pill go down, maybe Bowlen can use my 2 liter growler, haha.