Some time ago I wrote a blog in which I stated that fans might not have heard of a lot of the new players, but I just asked readers to remember that everyone is unknown until he makes a name for himself.
In the garden of the National Football League, it is not much different than our own yards. If you plant the seeds and provide them with sunshine, water, fertilizer and some degree of weed control, the flowers will bloom.
Saturday night we played the Dallas Cowboys, a team that is regarded by all as one of the best in the National Football Conference and probably in the entire NFL as well.
They are big, strong, fast, and loaded with star power and glitz. The Cowboys have 13 players on their roster who were selected for the Pro Bowl in 2007.
We all know that pre-season is for learning, refining, and looking at new players, but there remains a scoreboard in every stadium, and we still make judgments.
Certainly, it is just one game, but a lot of our fans went into it not knowing much about Eddie Royal, really, and by halftime they knew they hope to see a lot more of him.
Of course, Royal is going to be a kick returner–everyone knew that when he was drafted–but it is obvious that he has a great future as a wide receiver as well. And he joins a group that has a lot of youth and talent already.
While what Royal did was visible to all, the play of Ryan Clady at left tackle was very highly regarded by Broncos coaches, but the work in the trenches is often overlooked by fans unless it results in a sack.
Clady was outstanding throughout his time in the game, which is remarkable for a rookie–but of course, he came to the Broncos with a superb resume.
Ryan Harris, who had very limited play as a rookie last year, also continued his excellent development at right tackle. Anytime a team is getting performance, plus potential, from both of its offensive tackles, and factoring in the consideration that the tackles are both essentially first year players, this is really a tremendous plus for an organization.
Not only do the Broncos have a lot of new and young players, but they all acquitted themselves well, including rookies such as Jack Williams, who intercepted the pass that sealed the win over the Cowboys, and linebacker Wesley Woodyard made a nice knockdown of a pass in the red zone.
Woodyard is an undrafted free agent, and he presently is fifth in the entire NFL in preseason tackles. Again, it is preseason, and critics might say that stats don’t matter.
But it always seems to matter when you lose or don’t have the stats.
Jay Cutler, who had a great off-season and has continued his play during camp and preseason, is second in the NFL with a 110.7 passer rating.
Young placekicker Matt Prater leads the NFL in scoring after two weekends of preseason play.
There is a long distance to travel from here to the regular season opener, and key for any player is to keep working and trying to improve every day, focusing on getting better rather than giving any thought to last week’s game.
But the worst weekend of rain this summer still saw over 60,000 fans go to the game, and they liked what they saw and left happy with the Broncos’ performance.
That’s one of the first steps in the process.
Like those flowers in the garden, the young players are blooming, and it will be fun to see how tall some of them grow.
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Clady has been doing well, especially when you consider that he had to go against Marios Williams the first game and Demarcus Ware the second. Those two guys are big-time pass rushers and he held his own against them. Denver has a bunch of really promising young players. They’ll probably have to cut some good players to get down to the 53 man roster unfortunately, but I would say the future is bright for the Broncos. Let’s just hope that injury bug get’s the heck out of Denver this year!
I think Darrell Hackney should be our number 2 quarterback. He has shown alot of potential.
d jack has had a really quiet pre season so far……it says that he is second on the depth chart and i dont think that he has had a catch yet…….has he not been playing or something?
d jack has had a really quiet pre season so far……it says that he is second on the depth chart and i dont think that he has had a catch yet…….has he not been playing or something? i hink that he could be good with jay at the helm but eddie royal has taken his spot at number two reciever
yea i was thig the same about d-jack also is there any word on champ yet.
Does Prater lead the NFL in missed field goals?
I like Prater cuz his leg rocks but i hope he can be accurate. My favorite young players are tim crowder and jay cutler. I really hope those guys play well this year.
rev79, go back to Oakland. We do not need negative jerks like you.
Prater can not lead in missed if he is 8 for 10. DA
Jackson has a leg injury and has not seen time. If he is not practicing this week the by next Tuesday he maybe gone. I do not think he could beat out Royal, Stokley, Colbert, and Marinez.
I did watch the O line and I was impressed with Clady – for a rookie he is doing very good. I would like to see Larsen play more. He had a very impressive resume in college and would like to see if he can play at this level. Our kickers are doing fine – let’s just hope Prater doesn’t always need a warm up kick and if so, lets’ do it early in the game.
Spencer Larsen had his moments as well, Jim, don’t forget about him! Additionally, I think Eddie Royal can be a modern-day Eric Metcalf, perhaps even a quicker version. Clady has improved by leaps and bounds as well after being manhandled by Mario Williams as he stonewalled any Cowboy who faced him. Hopefully, the progression ensues as at the present moment, things are improving nicely.
Seems like our draft has been good thid year and whith the last 2 years , it seems like we are building a very young and competitive team for the next five ( ten ? ) years . Kudo to Mike . Some tough decision have been made ( Sunquist among others ) . Only time will tell but i’m confident the Elways years are soon to be seen again in Denver !
Royal is looking really good. With better route running ( Compliments of Rod Smith mentoring hint hint) his speed would demand a safety over the top because most corners would be slayed on an island by themselves. I cant wait to see his full potential. We would have a very fast wide out in Royal and monsterous beast of a wide out in Marshall and one of the best slot receivers in Stokley.
Very observant Professor. We need the speed and quickness Eddie provides at Wide out. This receiving unit rivals any in the league in my opinion. Marshall – what else need be said? – Royal’s speed – Stockley’s experience and proficient play in the slot, in my mind the best receiving TE in the league in Scheffler – if he’ll just stay healthy – not to mention having other good receiving TEs in Brett Pierce, Daniel Graham and Nate Jackson. This may turn in to one of the biggest aerial assault teams in the league.
I think a lot of people are mistaken when referring to D Jack. He might not make the roster due to his age and ankle injury, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a better receiver than either Martinez or Colbert. He was sensational in Seattle and has a good resume and deserves more respect than he is getting from these critics. He went to San Fran for the past couple of years and we all know of their QB issues so I don’t think it’s fair to judge him on his last couple of seasons when he has proven to be an upper echilon receiver in the past when provided a good QB/ system.
Film Analysis(wish I had coaches tape)
O-Line
Kuper can accelerate well, and is playing well with only one hand. However,When pass blocking, his feet go quiet, and gets left behind. Head down and high pad level at times.
Harris and Clady are doing a great job, but will have their rookie mistakes, but they look like athletic bookends for a long time!
Hamilton looked rusty, hes better than that. I think the same with Weigman.
Cutler helps his O-Line a ton when he makes his reads and gets the ball out quickly, A+ grade for him.
Scheffler and Nate Jackson-are we getting better in the blocking department?
D-Line
I think Thomas and Robertson will do well. To me it looked like Thomas needs to learn double team skills.
Engleberger is a hard worker/character guy, but my lord, get some pash rush moves please!!! Effort alone makes plays sometimes, but use some skill!! I did not see any basic swim or rip or anything!! If you are not a high quality bull rusher, develop other skills please.
The first thing I notice in the secondary was that Bly was not locked up with T.O. This tells me something…I think Fox did a nice job, and I would call it a battle for starter with Bly and Fox.
If the front four doesn’t get a pass rush, blitz D.J.! Its great having him in coverage and running down plays, but he proved last year that he can bang inside and play in the middle. I havent seen enough of Niko to make a grade, seemed to be in decent position enough.
Having Stokely and Royal is a huge help for the Offense.
Stay Healthy!!