Archives
If you thought Kurt Warner’s rags to riches story was great, think again. The Denver Broncos are now writing their own, and this time around, it looks very promising.
In a year that sees the Broncos set up for a substantial amount of success in comparison to the past few years, Denver’s current roster looks impressive at the present time.
Considering that the Broncos were one of the more unimpressive teams in the league last season, I think you’ll agree that this offseason has looked promising, given the dismissal of problem player Brandon Marshall, and the addition Tim Tebow.
For the most part, the Broncos look to be a solid team for the future. They have the youth and talent to go far, and even though Josh McDaniels is still taking a large power trip in the name of all that is right in Mile High, perhaps Denver’s hopes this season aren’t all that diluted, when it comes to visiting the postseason.
But to keep the terrible trend going, once again Denver has encountered a problem that may not be so easy to solve in a short space of time.
So who am I talking about? Why Brady Quinn of course, the troubled player that looked downright poor in week-one of the preseason, and failed to impress just about everyone that tuned in to see the Tim Tebow Show.
In the past, Brady Quinn hasn’t been all that fantastic. Sure, he isn’t on the level that JaMarcus Russell once was with the Oakland Raiders, but when Brady was a Brown, he caused a few fans to tear their hair out and question why he was drafted by Cleveland in 2007.
I guess the problem with Brady Quinn has been simple. Where has all this so called “talent” evaporated to in the past four years?
Well, to be quite frank, it’s now arguable that Brady Quinn never was that talented to begin with. After all, he did complete the 2009 season with 1,339 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions.
However, that was all in the past, and even though Brady Quinn looked totally out of place Sunday night in Cleveland, he may still stand up and perform at a high level.
While we are discussing Brady Quinn’s time in Denver though, perhaps the outlook on his expectations has changed a little after his disappointing start in preseason.
For you see, the entire purpose of Brady Quinn was to motivate Kyle Orton. Last year, Kyle Orton notably struggled, and was indeed in need of a kick start to help move not only his career along, but the entire Denver Broncos season along as well.
And has Brady Quinn provided that kick start? Of course not, heck, he is now fending Tim Tebow off for the back up starting role.
When it comes time to judge Brady Quinn, we may all be being a little harsh on him. Sure, he failed on Sunday night, but let’s remember Josh McDaniels does run a complicated game plan, and it doesn’t help when Denver is still lacking a No. 1 wide receiver that a young quarterback could rely upon.
Still, when Brady Quinn looks totally out of sync from the get go, some questions really must be asked, and that is exactly what happened Sunday night, after his ultimate no-show.
“Obviously, I could’ve done some things better here and there,” said Quinn two days later. “But that’s why we come out here to practice, that’s why we’re working on it…things are never always as bad as they look and never as good as they look on film.”
Although Brady Quinn’s positive spin is appreciated, there is no real cover up for his performance. He looked bad, end of story.
Luckily for Denver fans both Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow showed up in more ways than one, and that has perhaps saved Brady Quinn a little, as fortunately he isn’t the starting quarterback this season.
Brady Quinn is now facing a make it or break it year, and with JaMarcus Russell now out of work, Brady Quinn could easily be the next face to front up to the unemployment office.
Hopefully it won’t come to that, and hopefully Brady Quinn endures a nice tenure as the second string or third string quarterback in Denver. If his season starts off as poorly as he looked in week one…well, I hate to think what may happen for this still struggling player.
Ryan Cook is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also an NFL columnist for Real Sports Net and a Green Bay Packers writer for Fan Huddle and PackerChatters. Ryan is also a contributing writer for Detroit Lions Talk, Gack Sports and Generation Y Sports. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
After seven straight seasons of five or fewer wins, the Oakland Raiders finally have a reason to be optimistic. They said farewell to mega-bust JaMarcus Russell this offseason, and they brought in ex-Redskin Jason Campbell to be the guy.
Campbell gives the Raiders a huge upgrade at the quarterback position. The Raiders were in desperate need of a more accurate passer after watching Russell complete just 47.8 percent of his passes in 2009. Campbell, who is coming off a season in which he completed nearly 65 percent of his throws, gives them that.
If the defense can find a way to stop the run, Oakland has a chance to post its first winning season since 2002.
Offense: Campbell has shown improvement each year in the league, and I have no reason to think progress will halt in Oakland. He has a great work ethic, and he won’t rest until he proves the doubters wrong. Last year, he threw for over 3,600 yards with 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
Campbell has a great tight end to work with in Zach Miller. This guy caught 66 passes for 805 yards while playing mostly with Russell, so he could really have a big year now that Campbell is on board.
Louis Murphy and Darrius Heyward-Bey are two more targets Campbell will have to work with. Murphy was a huge steal in last year’s draft while Heyward-Bey was perhaps the biggest bust. However, I’m not ready to count Heyward-Bey out. His biggest asset is his speed, and he was plagued by a hamstring injury last season. I’m anxious to see his world-class speed on display with healthy legs this year.
The health of Darren McFadden is also critical. He has the potential to be one of the most versatile backs in the NFL. He will combine with Michael Bush to form a solid one-two punch at the running back position.
The offensive line must perform better in 2010. Having monstrous guard Robert Gallery healthy will go a long way toward achieving that goal.
Defense: Oakland’s strongest unit is its secondary. Led by Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, the Raiders finished with the seventh-best passing defense in the NFL last season. The passing defense could be even better in 2010 if Kamerion Wimbley and Quentin Groves finally realize their potential.
Wimbley hasn’t been able to come up with more than 6.5 sacks in a season since he burst onto the scene with 11 in his rookie campaign. Rejuvenated by a fresh start in Oakland, Wimbley could be poised for a big year.
Richard Seymour is likely this season’s defensive MVP, but first round draft pick Rolando McClain may finish a close second. Big things are expected right away from the Alabama prospect. He’s a born leader capable of making plays all over the football field. His presence in the middle gives the Raiders an upgrade over Kirk Morrison.
The Raiders allowed 155.5 rushing yards per game in 2009. It’s foolish to think they can completely solve their woes against the run in one season, but they have some nice steps toward getting better with all of their additions.
Prediction: 2nd AFC West - Oakland’s offense has the potential to be better with the addition of Campbell. Plus, there’s a good chance Denver will take a step back after trading Brandon Marshall and losing Elvis Dumervil among others to injury. Oakland likely won’t finish better than 8-8, but I like their chances of playing second fiddle to San Diego. Be sure to check out my 2010 NFL predictions to see which teams I have picked to win the other seven divisions.
If you’ve had trouble beating the NFL odds in the past, world champion handicapper Jimmy Boyd is here help you find the black in 2010!
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
As drafts and auctions are ramping up for leagues across North America, fantasy football fanatics are being inundated with information on how to pick their teams.
Some of it is useful, some of it is not. Some of it is boring, some of it is not.
This article has two of those four features. I leave it to you to decide which two they are.
1. Aaron Rodgers had 304 yards and five touchdowns rushing last year and the 60 fantasy points that provided is the reason why he was fantasy football’s top ranked quarterback.
2. There is no reason to suggest why he won’t accomplish both feats again in 2010.
3. Andre Johnson has topped 1,500 yards and eight touchdowns in each of the last two seasons.
4. I believe that the best predictor of future performance is past performance.
5. Larry Fitzgerald had the 15th most receiving yards in the league in 2009, but was the fourth-ranked fantasy wide receiver courtesy of his 13 touchdowns.
6. Kurt Warner retired and has been replaced by Matt Leinart.
7. Whereas Warner’s career completion percentage was 65.7% and his yards per attempt were 7.8, Leinart has compiled a completion rate of 57.1% to go along with an average yards per attempt of 5.6.
8. Reggie Wayne is 31 years old and only had 385 yards and two touchdowns during the last seven games of 2009.
9. Overall, I’m a lot more concerned about the top 15 fantasy wide receivers than I was last year.
10. The San Diego Chargers traded to move up in the first round of the NFL Draft in order to select Ryan Mathews and they have a very good offense.
11. I think Ryan Mathews will win the NFL’s Rookie Offensive Player of the Year award.
12. When the Buffalo Bills selected C.J. Spiller in the first round, Fred Jackson became the unqualified biggest fantasy loser from the NFL Draft.
13. I think C.J. Spiller will finish the year with 1,050 total yards and five touchdowns.
14. Amongst tight ends, Jason Witten had the second most receiving yards with 1,030, but finished tied with 17 other players for 25th most touchdowns with only two.
15. In seven seasons in the league, Witten has averaged fewer than four touchdowns per year.
16. The average size of the Cowboys top three wide receivers is just under 6’3” and 218 pounds.
17. Ronnie Brown has missed 20 games over five years and finished two of those years on injured reserve.
18. Ricky Williams is 33 years old and had his highest average yards per carry in 2009 to go along with the second most touchdowns of his career.
19. During the last 12 weeks of the 2009 season, Ray Rice had 42 red zone touches while Willis McGahee had 16.
20. McGahee had a surprising 146 fantasy points last year but 113 of them came in five games, including the first three games of the season. In one of my leagues, he was on the bench for all five of those games.
21. During the last four games of last season, Chris Wells had 14 red zone touches while Tim Hightower had six.
22. During his two years in the league, Tim Hightower has 96 receptions (63 last year) to go along with 18 touchdowns.
23. There are fantasy football leagues that award a point per reception.
24. Owen Daniels would have been the top ranked fantasy tight end in 2009 had an ACL injury not ended his season.
25. Of Jamaal Charles’ 189 fantasy points, 85 came in three games against the Bills, Browns and Broncos during weeks 14, 15 and 17.
26. The Chiefs signed Thomas Jones during the off-season.
27. Jerome Harrison did nothing for three years, and 89 of his 150 fantasy points came in three games against the Chiefs, Raiders, and Jaguars.
28. The Browns drafted Montario Hardesty in the second round and general manager Tom Heckert said he views Hardesty as a feature back.
29. I am always sceptical of running backs who get a large portion of their fantasy points either at the end of the season or in a few games against weak opposition.
30. I am a Rams fan and think that Steven Jackson is the third best running back in the league. Despite that, I can tell you that there are at least seven running backs I will take instead of him because they will have more touchdown opportunities in 2010.
31. Hakeem Nicks had 115 fantasy points on only 74 targets, ranking him fifth in that category (of players with at least 40 targets). That means he’s a big play waiting to happen and assures the Giants will use him more in 2010.
32. Average fantasy points per target is a statistic that you’re going to hear a lot about in the future, especially in articles focusing on dynasty/keeper leagues.
33. Jermichael Finley had 97 fantasy points in 13 games and averaged 11.5 fantasy points per game over the last five games of the 2009 season.
34. Mike Wallace had an exceptional rookie year with 756 yards and six touchdowns.
35. Ben Roethlisberger had the third most fantasy points per game amongst quarterbacks last year.
36. The Steelers traded Santonio Holmes to the New York Jets.
37. The Steelers threw the ball 536 times in 2009 while the Jets threw it a league low 393 times. That’s a difference of 143 or 8.9 fewer attempts per game.
38. Visanthe Shiancoe has caught 18 touchdown passes over the last two years but has never topped 600 yards receiving.
39. With Ben Tate on injured reserve, Arian Foster is the first string Texans running back (he was holding down that position before Tate was injured).
40. The Houston Texans will have an outstanding offense in 2010 and I like Arian Foster.
41. The Baltimore Ravens ran 128 plays in the red zone last year and 95 of them were runs and 33 were passes.
42. Of the 8,004 fantasy points the top-30 ranked fantasy quarterbacks combined to score, 31.1% of those points came on touchdown passes.
43. Joe Flacco didn’t get a lot of chances to throw touchdown passes last year and the Ravens aren’t about the abandon their run game in the red zone in 2010.
44. Most people think Greg Olsen is a talented tight end, but no tight end in a Mike Martz offense has ever topped 380 yards.
45. Mike Martz is a stubborn man.
46. People tend to think of Devery Henderson as a solid deep threat but he has 16 touchdown receptions over the last five years (excluding his rookie season when he played one game).
47. Robert Meachem scored nine touchdowns in 2009, the first year he received extended playing time.
48. The Seahawks have tried desperately this off season to replace Julius Jones as the team’s lead running back including trading for an out-of-shape LenDale White and an injured Leon Washington.
49. If I don’t think a team likes a player, then I don’t like relying on those players for my fantasy teams, especially in dynasty leagues.
50. At times, I have had to go against my own advice but I will not rely on Jones in 2010 (repeat ten times).
51. Justin Forsett had four games with 10 or more carries and accumulated 397 rushing yards in those games while averaging 6.3 yards per carry.
52. I like Forsett based on his current ADP of 6.01.
53. Coaches tend to talk up their players when there is a roster deficiency in order to drive down the trade value of players they are interested in. The Seahawks Pete Carroll sure has been talking up Forsett this summer and the Bills sure would like to trade Marshawn Lynch (despite what they’re saying).
54. The teams in the NFC North have to face the teams in the NFC East and the AFC East, which makes the Bears, Lions, Packers and the Vikings losers from a scheduling perspective.
55. The teams in the AFC West get to face the teams in the NFC West and the AFC South, which makes the Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders and Chargers winners from a scheduling perspective.
56. Most of Eddie Royal’s 2009 targets came on short passes yet he caught only 46.8% of his targets whereas Brandon Marshall had more deep targets and caught 65.6% of his targets.
57. Brandon Marshall was traded to the Miami Dolphins.
58. There is a reason why the Denver Broncos drafted Demaryius Thomas in the first round and Eric Decker in the third round.
59. Now you know what that reason was.
60. During his three years as the Texans starter, Matt Schaub has started 11 games twice and 16 games once.
61. I believe in the law of averages (so should you).
62. As a rookie, Mohamad Massaquoi led the Browns with 624 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
63. Massaquoi caught 35.8% of his targets ranking him 94th amongst wide receivers with at least 40 targets.
64. I don’t think that was entirely because of the quarterback play in Cleveland last year.
65. Roy Williams caught 44% of his targets in 2009.
66. The Dallas Cowboys drafted Dez Bryant in the first round of the NFL Draft.
67. Pierre Garcon caught 51% of his targets last year. Austin Collie caught 67% of his targets and Anthony Gonzalez caught 72% of his targets during his first two years in the league.
68. Peyton Manning connected on 72.2% of his targets to players not named Pierre Garcon.
69. Quarterbacks like to throw to receivers who catch the ball, especially really good ones like Peyton Manning and Tony Romo.
70. Tony Gonzalez and Greg Olsen tied for the most red zone touches amongst tight ends with Brent Celek finishing third.
71. The Falcons, Bears, and Eagles failed to acquire a big wide receiver during the off season (or more accurately, none who are expected to contribute in 2010).
72. Reggie Bush’s touches have declined three straight years, hitting 117 last year.
73. In any situation, success is a function of opportunity, ability, and motivation.
74. Fantasy success cannot be achieved with minimal opportunity and is rarely achieved by players with declining opportunities.
75. At the end of all of my job interviews, I finish by stating that success requires three components – ability, motivation and opportunity, if you can provide the opportunity then I will provide the ability and motivation. This applies to fantasy football as well.
76. Brandon Pettigrew had five receptions for 165 yards and two touchdowns in the three games before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.
77. The Lions traded for Tony Scheffler during the off season.
78. Panthers quarterback Matt Moore and wide receiver Steve Smith connected 20 times for 378 yards and three touchdowns in the four games they started together.
79. I don’t think Jimmy Clausen is going to unseat Moore in 2010.
80. LaDainian Tomlinson’s current ADP is 9.10.
81. Tomlinson backs up Shonn Greene, who had 541 rushing yards as a rookie.
82. The Jets ran the ball far more than any team in the NFL last year.
83. I like veteran running backs backing up largely unproven players playing in offenses that run heavily.
84. There are plenty of backup running backs being drafted before LaDainian Tomlinson.
85. I don’t know why that is.
86. Michael Bush of the Raiders has received 15 or more touches in six games over the course of his career.
87. He has averaged 122 total yards in those six games.
88. Darren McFadden of the Raiders has received 15 or more touches in five games over the course of his career.
89. He has averaged 93 total yards in those five games.
90. The current average draft positions for Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree, and Vernon Davis are 1.06, 4.06, and 5.03 yet Alex Smith’s ADP is 12.03.
91. Alex Smith averaged 17.7 fantasy points per game during the eleven games he received extensive playing time last year.
92. I don’t know why Alex Smith isn’t being viewed as a sleeper at quarterback.
93. Ryan Grant is the undisputed lead running back for the Green Bay Packers.
94. The Packers had an explosive offense in 2009 and figure to have one again this year.
95. Ryan Grant’s is currently being taken 13th overall, amongst running backs, and that represents excellent value.
96. Marcedes Lewis has increased his yardage total every year but has never scored more than two touchdowns.
97. You have not read anything yet about kickers.
98. You have not read anything yet about defenses.
99. That’s because there’s no point wasting your time guessing how kickers and defenses will perform. Use the last two selections in your draft or your last two auction dollars to fill these positions.
100. If you liked this article, then you should check back regularly for fantasy tips and advice to help you win your league.
Dave Stringer is a staff writer at FFToday.com, home of the popular Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy custom cheatsheet and draft tracking software.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
Miami Dolphins
Miami isn’t the most talented team in the division, but they are well-rounded. They finished 7-9 last year even with Ronnie Brown missing most of the year, average receivers, and a new quarterback who was playing a year ahead of schedule.
Miami’s original plan was to have Chad Pennington start all 16 games in 2009, and then gradually bring in his replacement: Chad Henne, their ‘08 2nd round pick out of Michigan. However, Pennington went down in Week Three, and Henne was forced to take over.
With respect to Tom Brady, Henne is not the best QB in the division. But that doesn’t mean he’s some slacker. After struggling a bit in his first couple of games, Henne improved drastically as the season wore on.
He led Miami to two wins over the Jets and a comeback victory over New England. Henne is strong-armed and will be one of the better quarterbacks in the AFC this season.
Part of Henne’s eventual success will have to credited to Miami’s new acquisition: Brandon Marshall. Marshall has been a terrific, if troubled, wide receiver over his pro career.
But like all troubled wide receivers, he’s very talented and immediately raises the value of every offense is enters.
He turned Jay Cutler into a Pro Bowl QB while they were both in Denver, and is capable of doing the same thing Henne.
With Miami’s Wildcat offense, and their double running-back tandem of Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, the offense should be rolling at a pretty effective level this season.
Miami’s defense isn’t terrific, but it isn’t bad enough to absolutely kill them in games. They are about average all the way around.
Their big free agent pickup was Karlos Dansby (Linebacker, formerly of the Arizona Cardinals); he’s averaged around 100 tackles a year throughout his career and will perform well.
Record: 11-5; 1st in the AFC East
2. New England Patriots
New England has been controlling the AFC East for a near decade at this point (except for that odd year when Brady went down in Week One). They are getting older, however, and it is believed that this season is going to be an end of an era.
Randy Moss’s contract runs out this season, and there is good reason that Moss will look elsewhere to play. He’s getting older, and the New England office has never been one to reward large sums of money to aging players.
Brady’s contract also runs out at the end of this season. Hopefully, by the time that the season starts he will be locked up for a few more years.
However, he’s past 30 and is two years removed from that gruesome knee injury that knocked him out for ‘08.
One could not imagine the Patriots ever possibly releasing Brady to free agency, but if they don’t want to reward him with a Manning-size contract (which Brady deserves), then he should find a team that will.
New England will always be a good team if Belichick is running them; he racked up 11 wins with Matt Cassell at quarterback. Wes Welker’s injury from last season is something to be slightly concerned over.
The Patriots say that he’s fine, but one never knows. Julian Edelman is a fine replacement, but he’s no Welker. The running game has never been great with Laurence Maroney.
It is always odd that NE has never fixed the issue through the draft (passing on Chris Johnson and Rashard Mendenhall in ’08 to take Jared Mayo; OL Sebastian Vollmer over Shonn Greene in ’09; TE Rob Gronkowski over Ben Tate and Montario Hardesty in ’10).
New England will not win the division but they are still a good team and they will get a Wild Card spot.
Record: 10-6; 2nd in AFC East; Wild Card
3) New York Jets
Let’s be honest with ourselves: the New York Jets had no business being a playoff team in 2009.
They were an average team that just happened to play Indy’s backups in week 16 and Cincinnati’s backups in week 17. Their playoff win was admirable, but they were lucky in being given that easy final schedule.
The Jets like a mini-disaster. It’s questionable that Rex Ryan is even a good coach. He’s a loud personality and he knows how to get his team fired up, but his team is too up-and-down to really evaluate them.
They started hot last year (wins over Houston, New England and Tennessee) and then dropped three in a row (New Orleans, Miami and Buffalo).
I have doubts about Mark Sanchez. I know he was a rookie last year, but he was average at best (12 touchdowns, 20 interceptions).
They have a collection of troublesome wide receivers: Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes. Holmes and Edwards could either be amazing or they could fail horribly. Cotchery is an average talent, but not somebody to rely heavily on.
They also made the odd decision of releasing Thomas Jones…and then picking up LaDainian Tomlinson.
At first, it seemed reasonable to release Jones and just hand the running game reins over to Shonn Greene because Greene is good and is ready to be a starter at this level.
It made no sense to then pick up Tomlinson, who is not as good as Jones and has a reputation of not showing up for playoff games.
If they were going to keep a veteran, then they should have just kept Jones and rolled with him getting 40 percent of the carries.
If Greene has to miss a couple games for injury, then Jones would be a capable replacement. But there is no way that Tomlinson can still handle the duties of a starting running back if asked.
The Jets game plan revolves so much around their running game, and they’ll be screwed for a couple games if they have to hand off to LT 20 or 30 times a game sometime this season.
The Jets defense will always be good. Rex Ryan made his name as a defensive coach and his schemes slow up opposing offenses.
David Harris and Bart Scott are in on the action. Harris especially…he’s great. He’s the best player on the best defense in the league.
He should be getting the attention that Patrick Willis (SF) or Ray Lewis (BA) gets, but doesn’t for some reason.
The Jets have some concerns with the current Darrelle Revis holdout. Revis played extremely well last season and he deserves his money, but that doesn’t mean the Jets will back down and give it to him.
It could be settled by the time season starts, but currently there is no movement on either side. Revis is excellent, but with the Jets new acquisition of Antonio Cromartie (SD), they aren’t forced to give Revis anything.
Cromartie is capable of covering the Mosses and the Waynes of the league, and they have already gone on record in saying that they will not be reworking Revis’s contract.
Record: 6-10; 3rd in AFC East
4) Buffalo Bills
Terrible team currently. They are going to able to compete in most of their games, but there really isn’t too much to like on the defensive or offensive side of the ball.
Their first round pick of C.J. Spiller was odd, especially since they already have two backs in Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch.
If I were GM, I would have tried to trade down and taken a QB (Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen would’ve been a good option). But they took Spiller instead.
Not to say that Spiller won’t be great, but he was unnecessary given that Buffalo has so many holes in other roster spots.
Trent Edwards is not a capable starter in the NFL. Lee Evans and James Hardy would be good third receivers on other teams; they have average talent.
I love Fred Jackson. Lynch’s career in Buffalo (and probably in the NFL) is winding down. He had a couple good years, but got in trouble last season and the Bills gave up on him.
Jackson is a hard-nosed runner and he’ll put up good stats in a bad offense. He averaged 4.5 yards a carry last season.
The defense has some good individual players, but there are too many weak spots for them. ILB Paul Posluszny is very good and he will lead the team in tackles.
They also lucked out in Jarius Byrd (Safety). He grabbed nine picks last season and was one of the better defensive rookies in the league.
This will be a rebuilding year for Buffalo. There is a very good chance that they will have the number one pick in next’s year’s draft. If there ever was a year to totally suck, then this is a good one.
Next year’s draft will have some good quarterbacks: Jake Locker (Washington), Ryan Mallett (Arkansas), Christian Ponder (Florida State) and Andrew Luck (Stanford) are all be pro-ready guys.
Things will eventually look up for this team, but there will be struggles first.
Record: 3-13; 4th in AFC East
I write a weekly mailbag (similar to what Bill Simmons does on ESPN). You can email me anything sports or pop-culture related.
It is published every Friday.
Email questions to sherwoodanderson@rocketmail.com
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
The Denver Broncos were all smiles through the first 6 weeks of the 2009 season when they got off to a fast 6-0 start. But those smiles were quickly wiped off their faces when they lost eight of their final 10 games and missed the playoffs.
Improving on last season’s 8-8 record will not be an easy task for head coach Josh McDaniels, especially without last year’s two best players. Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who caught 101 passes for 1,120 yards and 10 scores, is now a Miami Dolphin, and first-team All-Pro linebacker Elvis Dumervil, who led the NFL with 17 sacks, could miss the entire 2010 season with a torn pectoral muscle.
Offense: The Broncos were just the 20th-best scoring offense in the NFL last season, averaging 20.4 points per game. Led by quarterback Kyle Orton, they did most of their damage through the air. Orton put together a solid 3,802-yard, 21 touchdown season while leading the 13th-best passing offense in the NFL.
Despite the additions of Brady Quinn and Tim Tebow, Orton is expected to remain the starter. However, his leash will likely be short. Whoever is getting the snaps will certainly miss having a playmaker like Marshall. His departure opens the door for Eddie Royal to have a big season. The team is also expecting big things from first round draft pick Demaryius Thomas.
The Broncos would like to run the football better to take some of the pressure off of their quarterback, but that could be hard to do with such an inexperienced line. Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter are promising backs, but they could find yards tough to come by while running behind a pair of likely rookie starters in J.D. Walton and Zana Beadles. The Broncos are hoping left tackle Ryan Clady, who suffered an offseason knee injury, will be ready for the opener.
Defense: The Broncos finished a respectable 12th in terms of scoring defense last season, but that stat is a bit deceiving when you consider how poorly the defense performed down the stretch. In fact, the Broncos allowed 27 or more points in seven of their last 10 games.
Led by the ferocious pass rusher Dumervil, the Broncos did rank No. 3 in the NFL in pass defense, allowing only 186.3 yards per game through the air. Having a pair of Pro Bowl defensive backs like Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins didn’t hurt matters either. But we will likely see Denver’s pass defense struggle now that Dumervil could miss the season.
Denver’s biggest weakness was its run defense. The Broncos ranked No. 26 in the league against the run, giving up 128.7 yards per game. They were in desperate need of a big run stuffer in the trenches, and they were able to land ex-Charger Jamal Williams.
Prediction: 3rd AFC West – Losing a playmaker like Marshall hurts, and now the team has been dealt an even bigger blow with the injury to Dumervil. Without these two key guys, I can’t see the Broncos challenging the Chargers. I also think it will be difficult for them to hold off the Raiders now that Oakland has upgraded the quarterback position. Check out all of my division winners picks in my 2010 NFL predictions preview.
Jimmy Boyd’s expert NFL picks will keep you crushing the NFL odds all season long!
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
