A pair of undrafted wide receivers are drawing some attention from Offensive Coordinator Mike McCoy during offseason practices.
Gerell Robinson is one of three rookies on the Denver Broncos from Arizona State University.
Robinson impressed McCoy and staff when they checked out quarterback Brock Osweiler during a pre-draft workout. McCoy said the young guys will continue to get lots of reps in offseason drills, and with a new playbook and a quarterback in Peyton Manning who keeps a rapid pace, Robinson will have an opportunity to earn his keep this summer.
“We’re throwing a ton at them, and we’ve told them from Day One we’re not waiting for them,” McCoy said. “So they’ve got to get in their books and study extremely hard every day and they can’t miss an opportunity. They’ve got to take all the mental reps in the world because we’re going at the quarterback’s speed. And the quarterback has played a long time so everyone has to keep up with him.”
Mark Dell is an undrafted wideout who the Broncos picked up last July. McCoy spoke of Dell and another undrafted player, running back Mario Fannin, as two guys who came in last year as rookies and looked good initially, but never made it to the regular season due to injuries. Now, they’re trying to pick up where they left off.
“They did a great job last year of making the most of their opportunities,” McCoy said. “Unfortunately they both got injured last year but they did a great job of coming in as young players in our system, they bought into what we were doing and they did it the way they were getting taught. Injuries are all part of the game. They’ve worked extremely hard.”
Dell still came to team meetings throughout the year, continuing to ask questions and study the playbook.
“That’s going to pay off before long enough for both those guys,” McCoy said.
Fullback Chris Gronkowski was another fresh name discussed during Wednesday’s press conference at Dove Valley. Gronkowski was acquired via trade from the Indianapolis Colts on May 23rd. McCoy especially likes the team’s latest acquisition because it’ll be easier to use some of the formations that the offensive coordinator and Head Coach John Fox used when they were together at Carolina.
“He fits what we do and what we’ve done in the past — whether it’s here or in Carolina, where we were more of a two-back offense,” McCoy said. “He’s that fullback you’re looking for.”
But Gronkowkski won’t be used only as the fullback in dual-back formations. Coaches say he has the versatility to play in several different spots on the field. After all, his little brother Rob in New England and older brother — and former Bronco — Dan have shown that there’s plenty more than blocking in the family genes.
“We can flex him out a little bit,” McCoy said. “He’s athletic enough to expand the formations and he’s got some position flexibility if you don’t want to just line up in the I-formation all day long. We can move him around.”
-Sam Davis
Tags: Chris Gronkowski, Gerell Robinson, Mario Fannin, Mark Dell
man i just got hit by lightning ouch
sorry lord i love allen
ouch ok ok i love tebow he rules !!!!
i think the fond feelings for allen will cease the 1st time the raiders come in and beat us or play us hard. liking him now is okay he’s freshly gone.
I hate Belichick, and will still argue his so called “drafting prowess” any day. Lol. I’m out too, late here, and early morning..
Ok, forget that. I will miss Royal forever, even more than Tim, even after he runs one back for a td against us. He is ONE classy guy. Not ready to let him go.
skillz, if I have to pick only one to miss, it’s Eddie. I’m sure Jesus struck me down a few times for being sarcastic, but it’s all good. He still has my back! LOL good night.
night cat. i’m out too guys. be back tomorrow. no more of this raider loving crap now!! kidding, kidding.
Here’s NE’s 2011 draft class:
3 73 New England Patriots Stevan Ridley RB LSU SEC from Houston [R3 - 3]
3 74 New England Patriots Ryan Mallett QB Arkansas SEC from Minnesota [R3 - 4]
1 17 New England Patriots Nate Solder OT Colorado Big 12 from Oakland [R1 - 4]
2 33 New England Patriots Ras-I Dowling CB Virginia ACC from Carolina [R2 - 1]
2 56 New England Patriots Shane Vereen RB California Pac-10 from New Orleans [R2 - 7]
5 138 New England Patriots Marcus Cannon OT TCU MWC from Houston [R5 - 2]
5 159 New England Patriots Lee Smith TE Marshall C-USA
7 219 New England Patriots Malcolm Williams CB TCU MWC from Oakland [R7 - 8]
Yikes… Now I’m out…..
my poo smells better than that draft
gn
Nate Solder’s a stud!… GO BUFFS!!!… Other than that it’s pretty weak though
not only do i hope Gerell Robinson makes the squad, i hope he gets some playing time. He reminds me of brandon marshall when you think yards after catch.
i hope our recieving core be (not in order) Demariyus Thomas, Eric Decker, Andre Caldwell, Gerell Robinson, Brandon Stokley, Mark Dell
going into training camp, im really focused on seeing how our LBs, DBs, and RBs are going to play out. I hope Nate Irving take the reigns and Travethan gets more than special teams playing time. I hope Hillman be the #2 option out of the backfield and be the change of pace behind McGahee. and most of all i want to see if Rahim Moore will step up with the rest of the DBs and hopefully the whole unit can be stingy
That video was hilarious TIcat.
I loved reading about the undrafted guys. I like Garland as a sleeper as well. Maybe Mike Anderson-esq…. Siliga. Forgot about him. All of a sudden… Our middle doesn’t seem to be a pain in the neck. A bunch of blue collar, chip on the shoulder, ear to the pavement type of group.
Don’t like reading about McD, Black Sunday (I was at that unfortunate event…ick) or anything dealing with the raiders. Including their new coach. Hope he realizes hes in over his neck and that’s all I’ll say about that…
Broncos Country Strong 2012!
Has anybody noticed that picture above is from last year???
As per the Denver Post, this is the real Derek Wolfe on twitter, the other accounts are fake. Everyone with a twitter account, make sure to follow him and let DWolfe feel that Denver Broncos love! Right now he only has 2,145 followers… That’s unexceptible – show some love!
http://twitter.com/#!/derekwolfe95
I LOVE the fact that it seems JDR was responsible for selling the rest of the FO on Derek Wolfe. Not only is it great from a positional standpoint, as JDR is a great evaluator of defensive players, along with Fox, but it also says that John Elway is not the authoritarian leader who rules with an iron fist, as some of the pundits love portray. JE is smart enough to know that a great leader makes decisions more by committee, by using all available intel, rather than with blinders and going with your gut feeling. Just remember that there will always be negative press about Elway, b/c former players will always be jealous..
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_20756359/broncos-defensive-coordinator-jack-del-rio-has-keeper-derek-wolfe
sndvl – I only brought up Black Sunday, b/c I have not forgotten, and I hope our coaching staff is using it as motivation, b/c I don’t just want to beat the Raiders this year, I want to see us run up the score on them….
There will be NO mercy in this dojo!!!
OMG, Y’ALL HAVE TO WATCH THIS!!!! THIS IS A MUST SEE AND MAKE SURE TO HAVE AN EXTRA PAIR OF UNDERWEAR WITH YOU!!!!
http://blogs.denverpost.com/broncos/2012/05/31/internet-watch-manningtebow-gotye-cover-parody-video/13846/
Little late on the link post there freak………cat had posted it a while back. It is freaking hillarious though! Loved it!
Some heated blogging going on last night………..loved reading it.
TGIF……….it’s been one helluva long week and I’m glad it’s over. Heading out camping this weekend and I’m looking forward to it.
So glad to read that the O had a much better day yesterday. There’s gonna be good days and bad days……..and while these OTA’s are important…………they are not worth putting too much stock into. It’s more of a meet and greet and a get to know ya type thing.
Heated Kod? That was all tongue-in-cheek! LOL
These OTA’s amount to a ton of homework for players. It’s more mental. Even the field time is geared so that players make the transition from I-Pad to the field. It’s a lot more like walk-throughs with a timing element, just to get everyones head in the game. Because…football is a thinking mans game!
The thing with the OTA’s is that the competition for those 53 roster spots – is on!!!
Take away that competition for a spot on the roster – nobody really cares at-this-point whether or not they are in game shape or if the timing and the catching works. It’s all about learning the playbook – both O and D.
That’s what ticks me off so bad for Wolfe. His school is hurting his career.
So Cat?- is a ‘twit’ someone who ‘tweets’? Haha LOL
(Cuz I don’t ‘twit’ – ah… ‘tweet’ – [but it is very tweet when you call me a twit] but you do tweet/twit – so what is it??? LOL)
So where is Shaz? Anybody heard from Shaz since the draft?
Kod – unless you were talking about the stuff Turtle said – Turtle is just trying to get a reaction. There are a few here who feel the need to comply therefore they react. Pretty funny stuff!
yeah, it was entertaining to read none-the-less DB…………..cat is a feisty one! haha
The rookies are def out to make a good impression during OTA’s………..and I agree about Wolfe. He’s missing out on some important time……….but school is school and he has that obligation to deal with. First time I’ve ever heard of school actually hurting someones career! lol That was a funny statement to read.
I haven’t heard from Shaz since TT has been gone. Maybe she’s on the jet’s blog now? lol
So Manning is looking pretty limber and animated in the OTA’s like he’s feeling pretty good after a year and a half with no football. Anybody really think that he can last a whole season and not go statue on us – in the pocket?? Anybody really thinking that he won’t start to look beat down pretty quick once the hits begin to be laid on….
No – I was going to take the entire off season of the blog and Shaz chastised me into participating through the draft – which I don’t much care about helping them to pick or predicting the unpredictables. But then she was gone.
Wolfe’s college being on the quarter system ought to be evaluated. I’m certain that it has come up before but it does violate the purpose of the institution – it would seem.
Daddy out – stirred the cauldron all I can today. Have a great day – Bronco Country!!!