Ravens and Chargers impress; From Buffalo to Tennessee, the best and the questionable
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No one is talking much about Denver, but you could argue that they had one of the best five or six drafts considering where they were picking. There are degrees of difficulty when picking at No. 28, and Williams fell into their laps at that spot. He adds depth to a group that wasn’t as bad as everyone thought in 2012 (the team was No. 3 against the run). Williams should be an upgrade over Kevin Vickerson, and fellow 2013 pick Quanterus Smith is a close second on this list. Smith was a risk because of his durability, but Smith had three sacks against Alabama and its highly touted offensive line, so we know he can bend the edge.
Like Bucky Brooks, Todd McShay is a big fan of what Denver accomplished last weekend; the harshest thing he comes up with is that Vinston Painter is a talented player.
Lombardi: A champion of gay rights
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In 1969, the year before his death, the only year he coached the Redskins, Lombardi worked with at least five gay men—three players and two front-office executives, including David Slattery, who would come out in 1993. In his defining biography, “When Pride Still Mattered,” author David Maraniss described the scene of Lombardi charging an assistant to work with one of the gay players, a struggling back named Ray McDonald. “And if I hear one of you people make reference to his manhood,” Lombardi is quoted as saying, “you’ll be out of here before your ass hits the ground.”
“My father was way ahead of his time,” Susan Lombardi said. “He was discriminated against as a dark-skinned Italian American when he was younger, when he felt he was passed up for coaching jobs that he deserved. He felt the pain of discrimination, and so he raised his family to accept everybody, no matter what color they were or whatever their sexual orientation was. I think it’s great what Jason Collins did, because it’s going to open a lot of doors for people. Without a doubt my father would’ve embraced him, and would’ve been very proud of him for coming out.”
This news about Lombardi isn't new, but given the current state of affairs in professional athletics, it was bound to "come out" again.
It's quite evident from the reaction to the news of Jason Collins that we're going to see more than one NFL player out before too long--I give six months, at a maximum.
AFC West draft grades: Gap closing on division champ Broncos
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The Broncos add a blue-collar worker to the lineup with the selection of Williams. The former Tar Heel comes from comes a humble background (Williams worked at a factory for a while after high school before walking on at Coffeyville Community College), but developed into one of the most dominant defenders in college football by outworking the competition. Based on his previous drive and determination, Williams could become an unstoppable force in the middle for the Broncos. If so, Denver’s defense could go from good to great quickly in 2013.
Brooks is also a fan of the Montee Ball and Quanterus Smith picks, for what that's worth.
Before and after last weekend's NFL Draft, it was reported that the Broncos were $8.4M under the salary cap for 2013.
Given the matching info, we'll assume that figure does not factor in Denver's signing of Shaun Phillips, who will count for $1.4M this season, with any potential sack incentives beyond that impacting the 2014 cap.
Since we all know that the addition of Phillips's $1.4M cap number is partially offset by the removal of Duke Ihenacho's $480K figure under the Top-51 offseason accounting rule, that means signing the ex-Charger cost Denver $920K against the cap. That brings them to $7.48M in 2013 cap space as of today.
Continue reading "A post-draft look at the Broncos’ cap situation"
Ranking the AFC West UFAs
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McCray doesn’t show great top-end speed on tape and his lengthy injury history raises a red flag. His durability is the bigger issue because he has the skill set to contribute as a role player if he can stay healthy. He is an effective hand fighter whether he’s rushing the passer or defending the run, and he has an above-average motor.
Reed, the younger brother of Houston OLB Brooks Reed, isn’t a physical player. He needs to develop an edge as a run-blocker and improve his ability to make plays in traffic over the middle. On the other hand, he’s fast enough to work the seam and has a big catching radius. He has 10.5-inch hands, 35.5-inch arms and a 37-inch vertical.
Sounds like a pair of developmental guys, but given the reported bidding war for McCray, it may be tough to sneak him through to the practice squad. Of course, there are four months between now and that decision, and a lot can happen in the interim.
Happy Friday, Broncos fans! Presented without superfluous comment:
Good Morning, Broncos fans! After their many hours, weeks, and months of tireless work, it's often the days that follow the draft when NFL scouts and personnel execs lose their jobs.
Generally these changes are reserved for the franchises that have fared worst on the field and in procuring talent.
Neither has been the case with the Broncos, but they still have decided to move on without director of pro personnel Keith Kidd, whose contract has not been renewed after four years with the team. Kidd was brought to Dove Valley in 2009 by then-head coach Josh McDaniels, with whom he'd previously worked when both were in New England.
He's worked in the league for 18 seasons, with other stints with Arizona and Cleveland, and a three-year term working with Scouts, Inc. and ESPN prior to his arrival in Denver.
In the spring of 2007, University of Iowa junior Shonn Greene lost his academic eligibility and football scholarship. Uncertain of his life’s direction, he left school, enrolled in Kirkwood Community College (which doesn’t even have a football team) and worked just down the road from the University of Iowa at a furniture store, moving crates and tables, mattresses, beds and dressers.
That experience lasted until 2008, when he was able to return to college as a junior. He even missed spring football practice that year, but in the fall, he was back on the field with a very different attitude.
Up to that point, he’d had a couple of poor years as a running back, with just 37 carries for 173 yards his freshman year. As a sophomore, he still produced only 32 carries for 205 yards and one score. The realities of getting an hourly paycheck for long days of work, and nights of study, with the attendant backaches from moving furniture, provided a powerful force in his life. He knew things had to change.
Continue reading "Sylvester Williams and the value of hard work"
Good Morning, Broncos fans! In his latest mailbag, Mike Klis thankfully eschews assigning a grade to Denver's recent draft.
Of course, that didn't stop his colleague Jeff Legwold from doing so, but one out of two ain't so terrible, right?
Back to Klis, he says the selection of QB Zac Dysert (which we predicted in Kreskin-like fashion) is about prodding Brock Osweiler's development along, but not about providing him real competition. Obviously, that could be the outcome, but it's not the intent. Where each player was selected should speak volumes about what Denver thinks of them, were it not already clear.
As for the matchup safety Ted's been begging for, Klis says the team was enamored with LSU's Eric Reid, and he suggests that an impressive showing from Kayvon Webster could push either Champ Bailey or Chris Harris to safety.
Continue reading "Dysert is third string, end of story Lard"
Happy Tuesday, friends. I’ve had a few days to digest the 2013 Draft, and I have some thoughts on the class of players that the Broncos took. It’s not going to be like a grading exercise, or anything like that, because you can get that crap around the internet from any fool who has a keyboard, just like you can get mock drafts. For the most part, those grading exercises are worth about as much as the mocks are.
What we should be concerned with is how this group of players fits into this roster. The time to be worried about reaches and relative draft value is over; it doesn’t matter if you think that some other player who was picked in the fourth round was better than the guy the Broncos took in the third. Sunk costs are irrelevant to the team’s affairs and decisions of today. People who dwell on them are morons.
What is relevant is how these players can help the team, both now and in the future. That’s the topic of today’s article – how does it all fit together?
