Daniel Coats arrived in Denver on Monday and almost immediately started studying his new team’s playbook.
By this morning, the fourth-year tight end was adequately pleased with his progress.
“It’s difficult because it’s a lot different than what I’ve been doing, but a lot of it makes sense, so it should come pretty quickly,” Coats said. “Right now, I’m just working on it.”
As the Broncos began gearing up for the season’s second half Tuesday, they added Coats to the active roster and waived defensive lineman Le Kevin Smith.
Denver also added defensive lineman Jeff Stehle to the practice squad for the second time this season and dropped tight end Riar Geer from the practice squad.
Coats took to the Dove Valley field for his first practice Tuesday afternoon.
Coats, a former undrafted free agent out of BYU, spent most of his first four seasons in the league with the Bengals before being released on Oct. 26. The 26-year-old has 30 catches for 291 yards in 53 career games, including six games this season.
He joins a tight end corps that features veteran Daniel Graham and second-year players Dan Gronkowski and Richard Quinn.
On the day the first snow flakes fell at the Broncos training facility, the Utah native said he was happy to be back playing near home and grateful for the opportunity from a team he grew up watching on television.
“I’ve missed the mountains,” Coats said. “I can’t get enough of those. It is great being back this way. I’m just excited to be here.”
HEALTHY COMPETITION
Head Coach Josh McDaniels said the coaching staff spent a lot of time during the bye week analyzing game tape of the season’s first eight contests.
Although the coach did not talk in specifics, McDaniels indicated that reflection could result in changes along the offensive line heading into the second half of the season.
“I just think we are trying to find the most productive group that we can and that is happening in a lot of different places on our football team,” McDaniels said. “So, we are going to see how that pans out this week.”
Seven players have made starts filling the five spots on the offensive line this season, and just two players — left tackle Ryan Clady and center J.D. Walton — have started every game.
Clady, Walton, right guard Chris Kuper, left guard Russ Hochstein and right tackle Zane Beadles started the last three games before the bye week, marking the first time this season the team used the same lineup in consecutive weeks.
McDaniels continues to preach the value of competition within the roster, and he hopes that attitude will help produce a consistent lineup that can help the NFL’s last-ranked rushing attack improve going forward.
“We have certainly shuffled some things around in the first half of the year upfront, but I think the more we can settle in and get a group playing together for as many straight days as we can, the better off I think we will play,” McDaniels said. “Knowshon (Moreno) is probably as healthy as he has been all year, which is a plus for him and for us. Hopefully, we can start to see some strides made in the running game.”
TEBOW TELLS HIS TALE
Midway through his first NFL season, Tim Tebow has announced he will take his first crack at writing a book.
The Broncos quarterback will team with author Nathan Whitaker to write an inspirational memoir, “Through My Eyes,” to be published by HarperCollins.
Tebow hopes the first-hand account of his personal story will give fans a unique perspective on his rise to become a Heisman Trophy winner, first-round pick and NFL quarterback.
“I am extremely excited about the opportunity to share my story of faith, family and football and look forward to taking readers inside my life, both on and off the field,” Tebow said in a press release. “As a kid, you always dream of becoming something great. Whether that dream is to become an astronaut, a famous musician, the CEO of a large company, the President, an NFL Quarterback or anything else, you will undoubtedly face all kinds of adversity on your journey. This is my story about how I was able to fulfill my dream and I hope it can inspire people of all ages that are aspiring to fulfill their dreams.”
To learn more about Tebow and his upcoming book, fans can visit www.TimTebow.com, www.TimTebowFoundation.org , his official Facebook page or his official Twitter feed.
- Eric Detweiler, DenverBroncos.com
Below are some photos from Tuesday’s workout:
Tags: 2010, Daniel Coats, Denver Broncos, Head Coach Josh McDaniels, Tim Tebow, Week 10
Great to see some familiar faces in practice,is it me or would anyone else start McBath over Hill.
I hope we run a 4-3 Defense and put Mays and Hunter outside and DJ and Woodyard in the middle.I think that might be a better lineup.
It wouldn`t hurt to start McBath. Hill needs to remember to turn around and play the ball. Just turn around for the ball please.
McBath,when healthy shows signs of greatness at times.I think he will be a great Safety.
@ BeastFromEast92,
Josh McDaniels indicated today that the Broncos will be moving away from any 4-3 looks since this team was built for the 3-4. With defensive pieces beginning to get healthy, e.g., Kevin Vickerson and Wesley Woodyard (Ayers in a few weeks), the Broncos won’t be playing 4-3 fronts out of necessity like they did against the Jets and at times against the 49ers.
Additionally, I like Daniel Coats a lot having watched many of his games (including close to ten of them in person) at BYU. He is a great blocker with underrated hands and is a fantastic teammate. That said, I hope the Broncos haven’t officially given up on Richard Quinn–especially considering that they gave up get him to move into the second round of the 2009 draft. If the Broncos haven’t given up on Quinn, I wonder if that means Graham’s time in Denver will come to an end this offseason if he does not restructure his contract in light of the Coats signing?
I just wished one of the young guys would step up and take over as the leader,Dawk is a great leader,probably one of the best thats ever played,but he won’t be around too much longer,he’s old,the young DBs need to be learning all they can from Dawk and Champ.
In the last blog I was just asking where I could buy some of that faith stuff some bloggers keep talikng about, and wouldn’t you know it, I just found it here, I can buy it in Tebow’s book, small world…
Man, I wonder how much longer they`ll play. And champ will be a free agent.
BFE, me and you bro. Only thing im excited about is that McBath is back. My Fave pick of 2009 draft. Kid is nice and YES I would play him Over Hill anyday. Lord knows I play him over Hill in Madden LOL. McBath as FS and Dawk as SS. Dawk too old to play Free. Need young legs there. Put Dawk at SS and blitz him every down and use for run stoppage.
Coats YAY …. sarcasm for those who missed it. You know we had a very good recieving TE. All he lacked was blocking capability. He was an above average blocker but needed to step it up. We traded him. Cuz apparently, Branson, Quinn, Grownkowski, and Now Coats were supposed to be good enough. If it aint broke dont fix it. So basically we traded Phonzy for a TE that is probably about to get less playing time…Nice, put him right next to the 2nd round TE from last year that we dont hear about anymore.
Everytime they talk about making adjustments and blah blah blah. I always get a quick glimmer of hope for the 10 seconds im reading the line but then I remember the reality of the situation. A lot of promises and no follow through. One can hope tho I suppose. Maybe McDaniels met with the Dali Lama and recieved true enlightenment over the bye week.
I guess I didnt pay enough attention in preseason and training camp, but what is Richard Quinn not doing correctly? I’m assuming his blocking skills must be terrible because i thought he was supposed to be a fantastic receiving TE coming out of UNC. What’s the scoop. Does this kid just need time?
Dunno what the deal is theotheredge but he was ANYTHING BUT a fantastic receiving TE. He is a blocking TE through and through not unless i am mistaking and cant remember but who knows. Probably in McDaniels doghouse. Probably doesnt know playbook or something. McDaniels went off on him in the first game against JAX. Last we ever saw of him.
Excellent blocking tight end who improved as a receiver.
which leads me to believe its a playbook problem. or behavorial or mcd doesnt like him and dog house him. Maybe he will emerge late like Vernon Davis but wouldnt hold my breath. He has good Measurements however. 10 bucks says the next coach that comes in will utilize him well, either that or we trade him and he is a top TE next year
Year Rec. Yards Avg. TD LP
2007 4 27 6.8 1 11
2008 8 97 12.1 1 32
Totals 12 124 10.3 2 32
Richard Quinns numbers in college. Why everyone hated the pick. you dont draft a BLOCKING TE in the second round, reciveing yes, blocking….NO.
RSH…even if we are healthy,even with Doom,we are still no good at playing a 34 Defense,we have been going at it for a year and a half,and it’s not getting even a little better,like beating your head against the freaking wall,if it don’t work,for Gosh sakes change it back,we brought in what was supposed to be a great NT in J.Williams,and Bannon and still no luck,go with what works,and I don’t know about anyone else but the 4-3 we ran against the Jets looked a lot better than our 3-4,just saying.
TRB…Agreed….Cincy drafted Greishem in the 1st round,I think,but like you say he’s a receiving TE,dumb to draft a blocking TE even in the 2nd round,IMO.
All in all we have traded away better talent than we have drafted period.
If McD dosen’t get canned,we better at least get a GM that can evaluate talent,cause Xanders sure can’t,and I don’t think we have the right coaches in place to utilize our players skills.Hillis and Phonzy left here as busts,but now both are making headlines,man that pisses me off!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not to mention Weigmann and Kern.OH BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!
RSH….The article I read stated that McD said he WANTED to play 3-4,because that was what we practiced in the off season and preseason,and when we played it,it WAS effective????I must have missed those games,anyway McD said they will practice both schemes in case they have to play 4-3.
I would like to know why the fastest player we have,which is Vaughn,is not being utilized,at least put him at PR or KR.
Beast,
We do not have the pieces to play a 4-3. Bannan and our other defensive ends are not quick enough to play the three technique. The Broncos played the 3-4 just fine when they shut down Chris Johnson in Week 4 when they had a healthy Vickerson and Ayers. Those two make a huge difference in the 3-4–especially against the run.
Bottom line we all know why McD made Martindale the DC, so McD could run the D however he wants. And with Nolan gone there is no real option for a mid season coach replacement if Bowlen decides to let McD go, real smart move on McD’s part as far as job security if you ask me.
Bay that is correct Nolan has the Miami D looking good. last year when he was up in the box he just looked smart . This guy WINK not so much it looks like he is rolling dice and tring to get 7 or 11 nope just snake eyes
Yeah, and Nolan had head coaching experience, a real threat there in case of a mid season shake up, with Nolan gone there isn’t a soul left on the coaching staff who could take over interim coaching duty if McD was let go before season end, so obviously McD is here until year end even if we go 2-14, smart indeed, self interest smart, not team smart, but smart nonetheless. Or it simply turned out that way and he never gave it a thought and I’m probably giving him too much credit.
Either way he put the screws to us in many more ways than possibly imaginable, he has rendered this team so inept at so many things that I can see Bowlen and Ellis thinking he is the only one who can get us of that mess now in a reasonable amount of time, anybody else brought in and it will be years before the necessary talent is built up again to be able to compete, and the Tebow thing, that’s his baby, most everyone in the business thought it was a big mistake. If you really look at how McD has done things here it shows a pattern of I’m the only one who can figure this mess out since I created it and you just need to give me the time, just extrapolating a bit here since most the talks usually cover the same things. And going beyond the obvious is always what I try to do anyways….
McD has one thing that made the team a dumpster fire an EGO that is why he took a team that Shany built and instead of winning he blow it apart
i live by some rules and you cant trust a guy with a twitch eye
Well said Baylin, Cuz Nolan would have been a VERY worthy interim and possibly full time coach. And also accurate about wink, McD is a control freak, Nolan wouldnt give him full control so he needed a puppet. Same goes for Orton, orton is a puppet. Woulda loved Nolan as an Interim and possible future coach, with what he did with our defense in the 3-4. Woulda loved to see how he drafted. Woulda been amazing.
I thought 4-3 was a good Idea. Without Elvis AND Ayers, 3-4 was pretty much shot. At least thats what I thought. At this point in time. All we would need is 1 more man on the line with DJ, Haggan, and Hunter or something. But RSH said soemthign about technique and i dont know too much about that. At this point however, it would be easier finding a dline fill in for the 4-3 than trying to run a 3-4 with sub par personell. Besides if we wanna be honest, Jamaal Williams maybe able to do it all but he is really more of a DT than a NT. But, whatever works. Start Tebow. Start Thomas. Start Decker. And lets just have fun for the rest of the year, lol.
RSH….We have the talent to play a 4-3,we have like 4 OLBs that used to be DEs,so we have the speed.Vickerson played in the 4-3 against the Jets.I agree we did play a pretty good 3-4 against the Titans,but can you count 1 game,when we’ve played 8,and are record is 2-6,I just liked the way we looked when we played the Jets in a 4-3,just saying.
BFE
TRB…I agree bro!
Lets turn Tebow,Thomas,and Decker loose,and tell TT to go into Beast mode.LMAO
Thomas should be starting anyway,he’s healthy now and is our #1 pick,and is a lot better than Gaffney,play the players we drafted!!!!!!!!!!!
Our 3-4 defense last year was a prize possession but by the bye week they had been on the field, literally not figuratively, for an entire year. The problem has and will continue to be our offense. We do not control the ball on the ground, therefore we can not control the time of possession or flow of the game. With our offense doing the magical three and out dance for what seems like every series our defense is and will remain exhausted. The play calling on the offense doesn’t help. I remember last year someone blogged that McDaniel’s offense was “Throw the bubble screen, throw the bubble screen, then try to run it up the middle”. The tale has not changed. Bringing back Scheffler wouldn’t help if McDaniel’s wouldn’t get the ball in his hands. All you need to do is look at Eddie Royals stats to figure that one out. Even Orton’s improved long ball game is amiss. All of the deep balls to Lloyd aren’t going to help unless a great deal more start landing in the end zone. If our long ball offense was more effective in this way we may have been a 7 win team coming into the bye. All the numbers in the world between the 20′s aren’t going to win games.
Mike in San Diego
You talk about not having the pieces to play a 4-3,we have never had the pieces to play a descent 3-4,for that you have to have a dominant NT,which we don’t,because J.Williams isn’t dominant anymore,that’s why SD dumped him.
Our Dline is just as bad or worse than our Oline.
We have brought in players,changed the lineup,and flip flopped the schemes on Offense and Defense,and it still isn’t working,when will people realize IT IS THE COACHING THAT’S KILLING US!!!!!!!!!!
BFE look at the chiefs they have some new players but the change and why they look good is coaching good point
archangel
You also forget, even when we score this year, we score so fast because all we do is pass. so whether we go 3 and out or score, we do it really fast. D cant catch a breath. I wrote on this a few blogs back. Not so much the Team giving up. More liek the D giving up on the O because the O does them no favors. Sure the D has its own issues but the O is making it REALLY bad. When you got gramps on your D, u need to give em rest LOL
Jeornia
Thats what weve been saying, many young teams are succeeding, thats not an acceptable excuse for us. Some rather just make excuses. From Chiefs to lion to whoever, they are succeeding young. Not to mention how people who supposedly sucked under McDaniels get traded and realize their potential. Its coaching. A coach need to prepare his squad, motivate his squad, and help them realized their potential. Our current staff isn’t cutting it. And I like tuten but I think he is the one that is cursed more than the Broncos. Many pieces and staff have been changed but the injury bug continues, lets change one more thing. Lets change strength and conditioning coach.
TRB that coach should have been gone three years ago. i know more of you guys feel like me im tired of hearing give it time. i hate to say it but the worst bronco team with the most talent in a long time
Can anybody tell me why we gave up on Alfonso Smith after giving up a 1st round pick for him. I think the guy has 5 or 6 picks already this year.
Archangel and TRB. I have been saying that the Offense is the Defense’s biggest problem for a long time. Since last year actually. It is nearly impossible to win when the offense gives the ball back too quickly or scores too quickly. The Defense needs to rest. Otherwise they start to wear down and then huge plays start to happen for our opponents. Now, lets see if McD can admit that.
We suck at time of possession, running the ball, and scoring in the red zone. Not a good formula for success.
Razer,
cuz he couldn’t catch a cold as a bronco. I loved the pick of Alfonso Smith last year unlike most people, he was a helluva college player, but he played awful last year and looked horrible this year in preseason. Plus with Nate jone, cox, vaughn, and syd’ quan thompson all looking better than Alfonso in preseason, the broncos thought he was the weakest link among our CB’s. Some people have credited Smiths new found success with the Lions great pass rushers forcing QB’s to put up the ball in bad places. Only time will tell what we missed out on.
People keep criticizing McD and Xanders for drafting a blocking TE in the second round last year. The way I see it, the Broncos running and passing game sure could use a stud blocking TE right now. I don’t blame them for reaching for what they thought was the best blocking TE in the draft, I do blame them for not picking a better blocking TE! I don’t know if Quinn is in the dog house for his play or for the legal trouble from last year. I hope he comes through for the Broncos at some point.
Daniel Graham (sp ?) is suppossed to be one of, if not the best, blocking tight ends in the league. And that is a major reason people were bothered by us taking a blocking TE so high in the draft. Maybe we will see some of Graham and Coats in double tight end sets. But McD seems to be happy with Grankowski’s blocking ability. We don’t not really have a legitimate pass catching TE. JMHO.
Omit “not” in my last sentence.
Daniel Graham will be 32 years old this week. He ain’t what he used to be. You can’t blame them for wanting to have Graham train his eventual replacement.
As far as not having a legit pass catching TE, I wonder what Nate Jackson is up to these days?
Sorry guys but McDaniels isn’t going anywhere soon. Bowlen has serious health issues and his focus is NOT on running the Denver Broncos organization. Also they are still paying millions of $ to Shanahan and McD has a 4 yr. contract. So if they were to sack him and hire a new head coach, then the broncos would be paying salaries to 3 head coaches simultaneously. That just isn’t going to happen. And that kind of decision has to come from an owner and in the case if Bowlen is suffering from Alzheimers (rumor) its not a decision that will get made.
My guess is they will limp through this season elevating their future draft picks and into contract negotiations with players and coaches after the season.
The only attrcative head coach prospect is Coach Bill Cowher and his availability is the only factor I see that would alter this. Brad Childress will also become available but he’s not a good fit.
Coach Casey, many of us have also put John Gruden’s name into the mix. I would love to have him as the Broncos coach. Only problem is that he has a contract with ESPN for Monday night football for the next year or two. But there has to be some way for him to get out of that. But your points are definitely valid, Bowlen is still paying Shanny and McD is under contract for the next 2 seasons. And to put icing on the cake it appears that Bowlen is suffering from some kind of medical issue, most likely Alzheimers. So unfortunately the situation seems a bit sticky.
No thanks on Childress.
What’s up fellas. Bay you’re telling me McDaniels got rid of Nolan because he planned on doing this badly in 2010 and was worried he’d take his job halfway through. You can call him stubborn, you can question his leadership abilities and his ability to evaluate skill players. I’m even starting to realize that those are vaild questions to ask, but this conspiracy theory you’ve concocted is a little over the top don’t you think? Your Tebow comment was funny though.
I personally want to see how the second half of the season goes before I start worrying about a new coach. After the start we’ve had it is certainly understandable that many of you are asking for his head. Yet I still think there’s a chance we can turn it around. No I’m not saying we’re gonna run the table. I’m not saying we’re gonna make te playoffs. No 2-6 team has done this in the history of the NFL. What I’m saying is that we have 8 games left and if we can win 4 or 5 of those in the toughest part of the season I’d like to see what next year brings. If he gets fired I certainly can’t blame the brass though. And Big D I have to agree with you on Childress. No Thanks.
Well, now Coats has been cut after one day. The Broncos did this so they could move Ball to the 53 man roster. It appears that the Colts were interested in getting Ball, so the broncos put him on the active roster to prevent that. Wow.
So basically the premise of this particular blog has been thrown away.
The 1971 Bengals started 2-6 and made the playoffs
Really Rebel? Thanks for the info. I thought they’d said it’d never been done on playbook but I must have misunderstood what they were talking about. Wow Coats is already gone? Crazy.