Vince Lombardi, Zane Beadles, and building a football team through the power of love

I love the history of football. In its beginnings a brutal sport nearly banned at many colleges, it took over 30 years to reach a level of maturity and acceptance by the American public in the 1950s and 1960s. The growth in the sport since then has in many ways reflected the positives in the evolution of American culture.

Football has increasingly outgrown its often brutal and unquestionably racist roots, beginning with the entry of players of color in the 1940s. It has seen the iron fist of Vince Lombardi, demanding in Green Bay that he not have a single member of his teams that bore racist, cultural or religious prejudice. Lombardi was an icon in many ways that most casual fans of the sport will never hear or read of.

Bill Walsh once had a player’s locker packed in the box delivered to his front door for simply implying that the details of his contract were based in racial discrimination by Walsh. Walsh was right - the player was playing a race card that in this case did not exist.

Continue reading "Vince Lombardi, Zane Beadles, and building a football team through the power of love"

Scouting the Broncos: Duke Ihenacho

Duke Ihenacho has gotten plenty of pre-camp media attention, more than most college free agents that I can recall offhand. Rob Rang, Pat Kirwan and Doug Farrar all named the ex-San Jose State Spartan among their top undrafted rookies. The safety, who will wear #38 #39 for the Broncos, played 47 games for SJSU and finished with 268 tackles (15 for loss), seven interceptions, three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and three defensive scores.

Head coach John Fox and new DC Jack Del Rio both talk about aggression; they both prefer to dictate to the offense, rather than utilize a read-and-react style. I’m glad about that.  Del Rio was well known for that quality as a linebacker, and he’s also sincere to the point of a religious belief about it as a coach - Elvis Dumervil describes him as having a “fiery side.” That’s a well-crafted understatement from Doom, who knows a thing or two about focused aggression. I expect, from the draft and from the form of the team right now, to see a lot of very aggressive, attacking play from their front 7. Ihenacho seems like the kind of player who might find a niche with Del Rio fairly quickly.

One reason is that while Duke’s not a man cover burner, he’s a player with a lot of different uses. He’s not the kind of guy you leave out by himself on an island, but he is the type who likes to blow up defenses and defenders, to cause and jump on fumbles, grab interceptions, and even blitz the quarterback. He’s fearless when hitting and tackling, is solid in run support, and with the Broncos’ emphasis on getting to the QB as part of protecting the defensive backfield, Ihenacho has the size, power, and aggressive nature that could become a successful part of that.

Continue reading "Scouting the Broncos: Duke Ihenacho"

Scouting the Broncos: Philip Blake

There has always been a push within the game of football to find ever more rare and unknown players. The 1940s brought an effort to permit black players into the league; as bizarre as that seems now, it wasn't that long ago in real terms, and teams like the LA Rams led the way. The AFL All-Star game was moved in January, 1965 because the original city's hotels (New Orleans) wouldn't allow black players to stay or eat at the players' hotel there. Modern experience tells us that scouting traditionally black schools changed the game. By the 1950s there were teams like the Cleveland Browns who were also scouting the smaller schools and bring in big name players from them.

Now, the NFL is increasingly looking at players from Canada. Danny Watkins moved from British Columbia to Oroville, California, to take part in the firefighter's academy at Butte College, planning a career in that brave profession. Now Watkins is a former 2011 first-round pick out of Baylor who's starting and playing well for the Philadelphia Eagles. Philip Blake, a guard/center for the Denver Broncos, was one of four players from Canada selected in last month's draft. Boise State's Tyrone Crawford (Dallas Cowboys) is a defensive tackle (6-4, 275), as is the 318 lb Akiem Hicks (New Orleans Saints); both went in the third round. The 6-5, 290 lb DE Christo Bilukidi (Georgia State) went to Oakland in the sixth round.

Continue reading "Scouting the Broncos: Philip Blake"

Discerning Denver’s offseason forest from the draft trees

I walked out of the draft nonplussed. If I'd been plussed, I'd have been much happier, but some days you just can't get plussed to save your life. The draft was so different from the energy of the free agent period (which was moderately ecstatic), that several moves during the draft took me completely off guard. Rather than go to the draft board, though, I took a somewhat different approach. I went back to the team - the one the Broncos had in February, and then I looked at the one they have today and how they put those pieces in place. I'm still getting my head around all the CFAs and I'm going to be buried in film for a while, but a pattern soon occurred to me that I couldn't ignore.

I was recently asked by a reader who's also a friend to consider looking at this year's FA/draft/CFA period in terms of what the Eagles were doing last year - they were supposed to be the winners of the Offseason Olympics in 2011, and Denver was in 2012. What were the basic approaches of each team? What I found - and I'll probably publish this at some point with supportive evidence - was that they really did a little preemptive striking; getting new and upgraded players into the positions that they could handle financially when the current players were near the end of their contracts and/or underplaying, aging, or asking for too much for their performance. It wasn't what the media made it out to be -  and, no shock there.

Continue reading "Discerning Denver’s offseason forest from the draft trees"

Doc’s Musings: Finally, an under tackle

Within minutes of the Denver Broncos' choice of second-round under tackle Derek Wolfe, It became clear that this was not your average NFL prospect. He was already on the radio and said that he had just come in from working on his farm.  He was elated to be a Denver Bronco and was whooping and hollering. He wanted to get to Denver and he wanted to get to Denver right away.

And I laughed. No, I don’t mind the pick. I was mildly surprised at first, but there’s a sensibility to it that a lot of media types are going to miss. Denver didn’t.

I had Wolfe as being available a little later, and he probably would have been unless another team was seeing the same need that Denver has. When I wrote up penetrating under tackles, he was among my top few. As we were waiting for the pick to come, I asked Ted about Wolfe. Ted's responded, “I like Wolfe better than Worthy, but I think he's a situational inside pass rusher early. I like inside pass rushers, and think they're hard to find.”

Continue reading "Doc’s Musings: Finally, an under tackle"

Scouting the Draft - Worthy versus Still

You never know what choices you’ll have in the draft when you’re at #25 - or wherever Denver ends up making their first pick. I expect some movement - GM Brian Xanders has moved around a good deal in all three drafts he's run for Denver, and likely will again, so the first pick could be one other than 25. 

I’m a bit DT-centric in general at times, but a bit more so at the moment. I’ve made no secret of my feelings about the trenches, and DTs often take a few years to develop. Denver hasn’t made the move to deal with that in a long time, and the people they've wanted haven’t dropped to them. I understand that. Even so - each year you can’t find the right one, you are another year away from having one developed and in place. It puts more emphasis on free agency.

In the short term, that’s fine. I have no problems with the FA approach as long as it’s intentional, planned and generally fairly brief. However, it’s not a great approach long term to stick guys into holes because time is running out, and that’s shown for a long time with Denver. I’ve said this before - I think Denver should take two DTs in this draft. There are likely to be good RBs available in most rounds. The better DTs, though, are at the top. Like Willie Sutton, the famous old bank robber, said when asked why he robbed banks, "because that’s where the money is." That’s true of DTs, too, and it’s an unusual and deep year. Denver needs to fill their slots with the kind of talent that’s available this time. Claiming that this or that guy doesn’t fit your scheme has been overplayed. There are plenty of good guys this year that do.

Continue reading "Scouting the Draft - Worthy versus Still"

Overspeed and Luke Kuechly

Take a likely top-15 pick at middle linebacker and add one trip to the Combine and what do you get? Good form on the testing. Luke Kuechly (KEEK-lee) produced such an outcome two months ago, and in doing so he showed exactly why the Combine’s best functions are to get medicals and interviews, look for outlying anomalies and serve to make sure that time will reward those expected to become higher draft picks with expensive semi-private training at the top facilities in the country, courtesy of their friendly, hopeful agents. His elite status also permits elite training. It showed. 

I say hopeful agents because those representatives put out the cash for that training, which runs to 20 thousand dollars, and sometimes higher. They front other funds as well, and often lose money on the endeavors, but they’re hoping enough good will to get the next contract to negotiate as well. Much as it surprises no one who’s been in business, the best agencies usually take the lion’s share of the top market. Everyone scrambles to try to be the next success story - among both the athletes and their agents.

Continue reading "Overspeed and Luke Kuechly"

Scouting the Broncos: Tracy Porter on film

Bill Walsh pretty much had it covered, even over 20 years ago. He said this about cornerbacks:

Ideal size: 6-2, 195, but good ones come in all sizes

You would prefer a good-sized cornerback, but fortunately they have come in all sizes. Some of the best coverage men have been extremely small and dwarfed by their wide receivers and still were able to cover because of quickness, explosion and anticipation.

But the great cornerbacks have been able to play a physical game with receivers. They can bump the receiver on the release, but more important go up for a ball and not be overwhelmed or knocked off the pass by the receiver.

Of course, you need quickness and explosion. Full-sprint speed is important, but there have been cornerbacks who have overcome a lack of sprinters' speed and played many years and become Pro Bowl participants. You'd like to think of the cornerback being able to run 40 yards in under 4.5 seconds.

He must be able to do the kinds of things receivers do when they go up for a ball.

My emphasis added. Now, let’s walk through some game film and start seeing who Denver has this year, starting with new CB Tracy Porter.

Continue reading "Scouting the Broncos: Tracy Porter on film"

Justin Bannan and life on the line

“I feel like I belong in Colorado,” said Justin Bannan recently. A lot of us feel the same way - and felt that last year as well.

Justin Bannan went to UC Boulder for college, played very well for the Broncos in the ugliness that was the 2010 season, and has been a consistently solid locker room presence wherever he goes. Now he’s back in Dove Valley, with a chance to play in the 4-3 front that he has said that he prefers.

“Home is the warrior, home to the hill, and the airman we shall soon see.”

Although badly misquoted from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Requiem, it does describe both the return of warrior Justin Bannan, who Denver let go to avoid paying him a roster bonus, as well as the upcoming first time that Broncos fans will get to see another possible defensive lineman in former Air Force Falcon Ben Garland.

Continue reading "Justin Bannan and life on the line"

Valuing new Denver cornerback Tracy Porter

As the draft continues to draw nearer, I've been pondering the Broncos' depth and potential need at cornerback. There’s obviously still the issue of Champ Bailey, who will probably leave or move to safety in a couple or three seasons, but if the right CB is available - and it’s a fairly deep class - is it worth using a high pick? You could say the same about safety, after all - Mike Adams is 31 and not all DBs have Champ’s longevity. Denver just picked up Tracy Porter, though. How do they view this guy? Does he reduce the need to draft a CB this year?

My goal was to get an overview of the relative value of the Tracy Porter pickup, as well as to do a short examination of last year’s starters and see if anything else stood out. Obviously, Syd’Quan Thompson was on IR last year, so he was out. Cassius Vaughn made the report but he also spent a lot of time injured, so his sample is small, and Andre’ Goodman apparently decided that he’d heard enough about his tacking, because he started hitting like a mountain ram in springtime. His coverage stayed good, too, and he had his best overall season as a Bronco, but he, like Champ, will turn 34 this summer. It’s just normal business to look at how the team needs to grow.

Continue reading "Valuing new Denver cornerback Tracy Porter"