Issues to be adressed asap

[bouloux29]

After watching the game i'm not a happy man, but i always try and be as logical as possible in situations like this, so instead of having a knee jerk reaction i'll try and list what i think the issues are, why we have them and what i think needs resolving. Feel free to add to the list in your posts, but i ask that ppl don't spam with one liners eg sack everyone.

Problems:
Defence:

We rarely, if ever in a game penetrate the line to take runners down for a loss, enabling big and intermediate rushing plays.

Leading on from this , we need to stack up to 9 playes in the box to stop the run, and even that doesn't work.

Clearly there is still a great lack of pressure put on the qb on passing plays, which puts or secondary and coverages under too much pressure, resulting in passing yards.

A smaller issue is the inability to cover tight ends, today it was zach miller, but on the whole we seem to find it tricky to cover a dangerous TE for a game.

Offence:

Bad red zone conversion is something we've had for a number of years and it costs us gamewinning points too often.

Lack of big plays for scores, except marshalls against chicago, have meant we exert a lot of energy in getting relatively short distances.

Special teams:
Terrible field position hinders our offence a lot, costing us a number of points.

Allowance of too many yards for the opposition is too common, consistently they get to the 40-50 yard lines, which is a massive handicap to our defence.

Misc:
Injury proneness debatable whether it should be considered a fixable problem but will explain later on)

Why?

Defense:

The scheme we employ wants our ends and linebackers to penetrate, yet we don't have the ends our backers to do this, resulting in a whole lot of nothing.
This accounts for the pass and run problems. This means we need more players in the box.

I'd also say that dumervil plays too many downs per game; he should be used more sparingly to use his explosiveness. He is not good at stopping the run yet he's exposed to too many running plays.

Our linebackers aren't good in coverage, particularly webster (i would say gold but he can be good in passing situations)

Offense:

Playcalling in the redzone has been questionable, particularly a lack of the fade route (marshalls a beast why not use him) as well as the lack of a runner who can smash it consistently (for whatever reason, including injuries).

We miss walker for his double moves to get us deep down the field, and marshall is better used to break tackles closer to the line, a lack of a real burner is something that could be said about us.

Special teams:

Insufficient depth , we use far too many starters in special teams and seem to lack specialist players for these situations

Lack of a returner as well as specialist players as stated above.

How can we fix it:
Defence:
The loss of ekuban was huge imo because it meant we lost a dt/de hybrid who could come in on first down to plug the run, so we lack a runstopper on an end. I think we have to consider getting someone through draft or FA who can fulfil his role as a runstopping DE.

I think we need more youth at big fat DT (instead of Sam adams), if we want a clogger lets get some power as well to anchor this young line (FA or draft). I think the scheme can work but itll take another offseason. I liked coyers scheme, i thought another DT and passrusher would be enough combined with his philosophy. Just look at the bucs this year.

I think our linebackers are overworked, depth in this position is a must (which would help my ST as stated above). Also, we shouldn't expect our lb corps to all be able to do everything, we need a few specialist runstoppers and a few coverage guys who can cycle in to compliment our starters. Drafting another starting linebacker and perhaps getting another one in the later rounds would suffice.

Offence:

Using our height better with playcalling and getting a red zone back (a kevin faulk clone plz) would help us a lot.

Draft a speedster who can stretch the field and score tds from 60.

Special teams

If we do as i said above the depth will come naturally; athletes and generally talented footbal players can be drafted in late rounds for special gifts; big hitting, great speed; great blocking etc these guys are soo important. The whole point is that they dont need to be great position players, just have good general skills.The pats are superb on ST and it makes their lives so much easier.

Misc

Stop playing our starters in ST its one of the reasons why they're injured. Fatigue, as well as cumalative punishment causes injuries. This an explosive sport, we should try and make sure our players our explosive all the time by using them sparingly, and not stressing their bodies!

These sound like very general solutions in some cases, but i don't believe that suggestions like shanny out are of any use. If you have a problem and a solution i'll listen but to suggest no fuller course of action makes your point less valid.

[Broncosinindy]

The linebackers play a gap. the line funnels the LBs the ball carrier. that is hard to do though when YOUR LINE gets pushed off the ball. we see it time and time again. DJ williams and Nate Webster had good games for the most part. they flowed to the ball made the tackles. and to be honest if the line gets pushed off the ball cannont sustain the offensive line or other blockers we are gonna have our linebackers making tackles five yards off the LOS


How effective would elvis be if he was asked to play 3rd downs. My Oponion is that he said it himself. he sets up his man a couple plays earlier. with out this ability to do so you are gonna see teams shut him down like they did last year after he got some attention.

I like your opptomisum but it is gonna take more then one year to fix this D.

As far as depth i like ours at LB i am not thrilled about our starters. They also make good ST'ers. I DO NOT think we can replace Ian Gold this offseason IF WE want a top tier player or two in this upcoming offseason.

Which of our starters are playing ST??

[elevation INC]

The linebackers play a gap. the line funnels the LBs the ball carrier. that is hard to do though when YOUR LINE gets pushed off the ball. we see it time and time again. DJ williams and Nate Webster had good games for the most part. they flowed to the ball made the tackles. and to be honest if the line gets pushed off the ball cannont sustain the offensive line or other blockers we are gonna have our linebackers making tackles five yards off the LOS


How effective would elvis be if he was asked to play 3rd downs. My Oponion is that he said it himself. he sets up his man a couple plays earlier. with out this ability to do so you are gonna see teams shut him down like they did last year after he got some attention.

I like your opptomisum but it is gonna take more then one year to fix this D.

As far as depth i like ours at LB i am not thrilled about our starters. They also make good ST'ers. I DO NOT think we can replace Ian Gold this offseason IF WE want a top tier player or two in this upcoming offseason.

Which of our starters are playing ST??




champ, gold, schef, sapp, abdullah, im not sure who else, i think there are a few more im not fully sure though


i agree it will take more than 1 offseason to fix this d, but the colts won a superbowl with a less than stellar run d so who knows maybe we could get lucky next year.

we could get lucky if we trade fox for a second or 3rd rounder it would give us a lot to work with on day 1. he is a starter on another team guarenteed

[Broncosinindy]

Fox is a AVERAGE CB. He may hold a smidgen more value due to his ability to fill in at S in a pinch

[elevation INC]

Fox is a AVERAGE CB. He may hold a smidgen more value due to his ability to fill in at S in a pinch



i really think teams like carolina, miami and minnesota would be willing to part with a decent draft pick for him, i guarentee he would start as a second corner on one of those teams.

[Mat'hir Uth Gan]

Foxworth would fetch a 3rd or 4th round pick at best. He's undersized in a lot of people's minds, and his play has not stood out this season, though he's been out of position alot at safety.

There are several things to keep in mind....


1) Our D-line is young, so it will improve just as a matter of course next season. And our D-linemen have a ton of talent. We're much better off, especially at DE, then we appear this year, because our 2 likely starters next season (Ekuban and Moss) are out injured, which has a chain effect on everyone else.


2) If we can get a solid Nose Tackle, and I maintain Frank Okam is that guy, then along with the maturing DE's and Marcus Thomas, our D-line will transform OVER NIGHT. We have zero DT depth though, so we really need to get on top of that position.


I'm as critical of defensive line play as anyone, and I feel really good about our D-line for next season, even though we are experiencing ugly growing pains this year.


3) As the D-line improves, we won't need to keep a Safety up in the box as much, and our entire secondary can improve as a result.

4) As the D-line improves, the play of our LBs will improve instantly.


Really, all we need are some Nose Tackles, at least one dominant starter (Okam), and a Free Safety. Then, if we can get a decent KR/PR to help flip field position and our young offense improves its scoring, which would put our defense in more one dimensional situations, things could change for us very quickly.

We just need that starting Nose Tackle and better Safety play.

[MindField]

Foxworth would fetch a 3rd or 4th round pick at best. He's undersized in a lot of people's minds, and his play has not stood out this season, though he's been out of position alot at safety.

There are several things to keep in mind....


1) Our D-line is young, so it will improve just as a matter of course next season. And our D-linemen have a ton of talent. We're much better off, especially at DE, then we appear this year, because our 2 likely starters next season (Ekuban and Moss) are out injured, which has a chain effect on everyone else.


2) If we can get a solid Nose Tackle, and I maintain Frank Okam is that guy, then along with the maturing DE's and Marcus Thomas, our D-line will transform OVER NIGHT. We have zero DT depth though, so we really need to get on top of that position.


I'm as critical of defensive line play as anyone, and I feel really good about our D-line for next season, even though we are experiencing ugly growing pains this year.


3) As the D-line improves, we won't need to keep a Safety up in the box as much, and our entire secondary can improve as a result.

4) As the D-line improves, the play of our LBs will improve instantly.


Really, all we need are some Nose Tackles, at least one dominant starter (Okam), and a Free Safety. Then, if we can get a decent KR/PR to help flip field position and our young offense improves its scoring, which would put our defense in more one dimensional situations, things could change for us very quickly.

We just need that starting Nose Tackle and better Safety play.


....but MUG, you have to add in poor LB'er play.

Our LB's have not been very good, there is no way in my mind you can ever remotely argue our LB'ers have gotten the job done on any level.

If you can't stop the run, and we can't, you cannot absolve the LB's.

It's impossible.

All you have to do is watch the games without prejudice, and see all of the missed tackles (and there were a bunch again today) by the LB's to know what is going on.

The Broncos need to evalute their personnel, and determine what they can reasonably address in the Draft, as well as Free Agency to realistically get better.

A player like Albert Haynesworth is a pipe dream for the Broncos....but I don't not believe a player like Lance Briggs is.

He is a player that will actually be available to the Broncos.

Boss Bailey is also a Free Agent, if I am not mistaken.

That means, in Free Agency, the Broncos could address a need area, without spending a Draft pick to do so. We only have two Day Ones picks, and that, along with two fourths, will not be enough to plug all the holes.

As you have mentioned, Frank Okam seems to be the only candidate as a legit first round DT...so what if we don't get him, then what?

Are there any Free Agents worth signing at DT?

I also view the O-line as a major problem. We got our collective asses kicked today against the Raiders, and with Lepsis at 33, our O-line is not getting any younger, nor is Tom Nalen, and you would have to wonder about Ben Hamilton after what has happened to him.

Erik Pears and Ryan Harris are still question marks at OT.

I know Safety needs to be addressed, but I believe the Broncos think they have found at least part of the equasion in Hamza Abdullah, who has been a bright spot on Defense, and I think you could do worse than John Lynch next year...and I like Steve Cargile and Nick Ferguson as backups, so all in all, you might be able to put the Safety question on hold for a year, especially when compared to the needs at other positins.

Not to mention RB....Travis Henry, even if he is allowed to play, has to be viewed as a disappointment....his running-style requires that he take alot of punishment, which is why he has spent alot of his career dinged up, and I'm sorry, but I don't get excited about the idea of Selvin Young or Andre Hall as anything more than backups....so RB will have to be addressed as well.

Too many holes, not enough picks to fill 'em.

What to do?

[Mat'hir Uth Gan]

....but MUG, you have to add in poor LB'er play.

Our LB's have not been very good, there is no way in my mind you can ever remotely argue our LB'ers have gotten the job done on any level.

If you can't stop the run, and we can't, you cannot absolve the LB's.

It's impossible.

All you have to do is watch the games without prejudice, and see all of the missed tackles (and there were a bunch again today) by the LB's to know what is going on.

The Broncos need to evalute their personnel, and determine what they can reasonably address in the Draft, as well as Free Agency to realistically get better.

A player like Albert Haynesworth is a pipe dream for the Broncos....but I don't not believe a player like Lance Briggs is.

He is a player that will actually be available to the Broncos.

Boss Bailey is also a Free Agent, if I am not mistaken.

That means, in Free Agency, the Broncos could address a need area, without spending a Draft pick to do so. We only have two Day Ones picks, and that, along with two fourths, will not be enough to plug all the holes.

As you have mentioned, Frank Okam seems to be the only candidate as a legit first round DT...so what if we don't get him, then what?

Are there any Free Agents worth signing at DT?

I also view the O-line as a major problem. We got our collective asses kicked today against the Raiders, and with Lepsis at 33, our O-line is not getting any younger, nor is Tom Nalen, and you would have to wonder about Ben Hamilton after what has happened to him.

Erik Pears and Ryan Harris are still question marks at OT.

I know Safety needs to be addressed, but I believe the Broncos think they have found at least part of the equasion in Hamza Abdullah, who has been a bright spot on Defense, and I think you could do worse than John Lynch next year...and I like Steve Cargile and Nick Ferguson as backups, so all in all, you might be able to put the Safety question on hold for a year, especially when compared to the needs at other positins.

Not to mention RB....Travis Henry, even if he is allowed to play, has to be viewed as a disappointment....his running-style requires that he take alot of punishment, which is why he has spent alot of his career dinged up, and I'm sorry, but I don't get excited about the idea of Selvin Young or Andre Hall as anything more than backups....so RB will have to be addressed as well.

Too many holes, not enough picks to fill 'em.

What to do?


1) I look at the LB play perhaps differently then others, and I look to history to make sure I'm looking at things correctly. I really focus on the Baltimore Ravens and what happened when they lost their DTs, how their LBs including Ray Lewis starting playing poorly after years of success. Then I looked at how they drafted one guy, Haloti Ngata, and all became well again. This type of scenario has played out all over the NFL. We even saw it with Haynesworth this year due to injury. One dominating Nose Tackle can be the spark plug to make the entire defense work.

So, I think our LBs are fine. I think DJ is exactly where he should be and is playing very well now. I think Gold is excellent in what we ask him to do, which is extensive coverage and zone dropping play. I haven't seen him miss many tackles other than on Vince Young **the 2nd half of the season**. And Nate Webster is a good LB, whom is playing out of position. Nate has the same problems as DJ in that they can't cover whatsoever man v. man down the field. Ideally Nate backs up DJ next season at MIKE, and we find a SAM backer that can cover. In our current defensive scheme, SAM and WILL are almost identical, so any OLB will be effective, though if you want to have a physical option on the TE, you need one with some weight on him.

Anyway, the point, in my mind, is that our LBs have been playing well, when not asked to do things that is beyond their ability. Such as Nate covering TEs down the field, or Ian covering #1 WRs down the field, or DJ covering anything at all without safety help. Those missed tackles will be few and far between if our D-line actually starts making tackles.

Statistically, I think we might have the worst tackling D-line in the NFL for a 4 man line. That's bad. But we went with a youth movement and injuries did not help the cause either.

So, I do absolve the LBs for alot of our poor run defense. I tend to focus on D-lines, and that's their responsibility to stop the run, not the LBs. The LBs are there to blitz, drop into coverage, or clean up misses by the D-line. When they are dropping into coverage and have other responsibilities, they can't be expected to make every run tackle as well, especially when running across the field to make a diving attempt at a player, or having to engage blockers to even sniff the ball carrier.

I, therefore, would give the D-line 85% responsibility for our poor run defense, and our LBs 15%.



2. Lance Briggs is having a decent year in Chicago, and Chicago is almost as bad as we are against the run. Lance Briggs would not help us one bit against the run. It's all about the DEs and DTs. Briggs is not even in the same ballpark as Gold in coverage ability, but he is a better tackler. Regardless though, opposing O-lines are crushing both him and Urlacher this year because the Chicago D-line is very weak at DT. It's a picture-in-point example of how stellar LBs dont mean very much to having a good run defense. It's all about the D-line, specifically DT. Look at the top 4-3 run defenses (Minny, Jax, and Baltimore) all have huge, elite DTs and marginal LBing corps.



3. Boss Bailey is not very good. He has been injured extensively almost every season. If we can get him cheap, he would be a good backup OLB, which is his position on the craptastic Lions defense WITH a dominating D-line.


4. If we can't get Okam, we go for Red Bryant in the 2nd round or whereever we think he's worth drafting. I really do think Okam is key though, he's smart enough and physically gifted enough to start from day 1. He's probably the smartest DT (maybe Amobi Okoye as well) that will play in the NFL.


5. I dont think there will be any FA DT that will be worth signing to help us. Grady Jackson and re-signing Sam Adams could be decent stopgaps as 2nd string NTs. The only possible starter worth considering that I can think of for Nose Tackle would be Randy Starks, but he comes with baggage.


6. Offensive Line. I agree with you for the most part. Pears is a question mark, but at worst, seems like a very capable swing tackle. I still have faith that Ryan Harris will be a good tackle for us, and I think Lepsis has a few more years left and will be much better next season as he will be fully recovered. Nalen does not appear to be slowing down at all. Bruce Matthews played at a Pro Bowl level until his mid 40s at Center, I think Nalen might do the same.

So, it comes down to perspective really. Mine is that we are fine at O-line, as I believe in our older players and our younger players. If one doesn't, then yeah, we need help.


7. At Free Safety, we are terrible. We have a small cornerback playing free safety for us, and while Foxworth is a good player, his size limits him at safety. We really need to find a ballhawk. Someone like Reggie Nelson would have been great last draft, and if Kenny Phillips or Nic Harris come out, they would be great this draft too. I agree that Abdullah looks very good as our future strong safety, and I wouldn't mind keeping Lynch around another year as depth. But, the other guys listed, Ferguson and Cargile, are also strictly strong safeties and liabilities in coverage. We don't need 4 Strong Safeties, we need some ballhawks back there somewhere.


8. At RB, I'm not worried about it at all. With our ragtag bunch this year, we are still one of the best rushing teams in the NFL. The ONE permanent luxory of having Shanahan coach us is that we dont need to spend early picks on RBs or big dollars. We've proven we'll be one of the best in the league with whatever we use back there.

[Warhawk]

3. Boss Bailey is not very good. He has been injured extensively almost every season. If we can get him cheap, he would be a good backup OLB, which is his position on the craptastic Lions defense WITH a dominating D-line.

Yes, people should forget this "Bailey connection" garbage. This is a great draft for linebackers (particularly OLBs) - if that is a priority, we could get a very talented player in round 2.

4. If we can't get Okam, we go for Red Bryant in the 2nd round or whereever we think he's worth drafting. I really do think Okam is key though, he's smart enough and physically gifted enough to start from day 1. He's probably the smartest DT (maybe Amobi Okoye as well) that will play in the NFL.

Okam has great size and nice stats this year, but both his motor and leverage are a little questionable. I can see him cracking the line up right away, but it would take time and effort for him to develop into a stud NFL DT.

This is one reason I think the team may try to remedy DT through FA... to get a proven player who can make an immediate impact on the DL.

7. At Free Safety, we are terrible. We have a small cornerback playing free safety for us, and while Foxworth is a good player, his size limits him at safety. We really need to find a ballhawk.

I agree 100%. The problem is this is a weak draft for safeties. Kenny Phillips is likely to go earlier than warranted. Reggie Smith from Oklahoma is an interesting prospect as either a CB or S.