It has taken me some time to get over what happened at the end of the Denver Broncos football season. I know, I sound like a baby but I bleed orange and blue and while I was pleasantly surprised with the 2009 team…I walked away disappointed. Here is how the year went in my eyes, with some breakdowns of different positions along with some random other things from the season.
My preseason prediction: 5-11
Denver’s actual record: 8-8
My predictions against their actual record: 9-7
Defensive ranking: 7th (3rd against the pass, 26th against the run)
Offensive ranking: 15th (13th in rushing, 18th in passing, 20th in scoring)
Most memorable moment of the season: How can it be anything other than the first game against the Bengals? The “immaculate deflection” touchdown by Brandon Stokley to win a game that was all but over has to stand out. The Gus Johnson call alone is worth listening to!
Honorable mention goes to the Brandon Marshall touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys…
And Eddie Royal for his performance in the return game against the San Diego Chargers…
Most forgettable moment of the season: There are many to choose from but I have to go with the loss to the Washington Redskins who, at the time, were absolutely miserable and we needed to beat them. Orton was injured and Simms showed us why he shouldn’t start for any team in North America at any level.
A close honorable mention goes to being drilled by the Kansas City Chiefs…at home, in the last week of the season. It wouldn’t have mattered in hindsight, but at the time of the game it was a must win for Denver to have a playoff shot and they gave up. Losing to the Chiefs just makes it sting more.
Offensive player of the year: I think I have to go with Brandon Marshall. Sadly, this is probably the last time I mention him with the Broncos but Brandon set NFL records (22 catches in a single game) and won games (Dallas) and finished the season with 101 catches for 1,120 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was a bright spot for the team amidst a lot of drama that has now continued where it left off in preseason.
Honorable mention here goes to Kyle Orton. He got it done, even with a lot of people showing hate and a lack of confidence in him.
Defensive player of the year: How can it be anybody other than Elvis Dumervil? He was absolutely amazing at the linebacker spot in the new 3-4 scheme and set the franchise record for sacks, breaking Simon Fletcher’s mark of 16 to finish with an NFL high 17 for the season.
Honorable mention goes to Brian Dawkins who brought an intensity and sense of leadership to the team we have not seen since Al Wilson left.
Special Teams player of the year: Matt Prater. I will eat some crow on this because I was personally pretty tough on Prater coming into the season. He showed me a lot this year in terms of his ability in both field goals and kickoffs.
Honorable mention goes to Eddie Royal who had a nice season in the return game including one of the greatest memories against San Diego I can think of with a kick and punt return for touchdowns.
Grading the positions:
QB - Overall, I am grading this a C. Individually I would give Orton a solid B. I think he played well and can do even better next season with a year’s experience. Simms, he gets an F. The F stands for many things, not the least of which is Fail. He had a shot in relief when Orton went down against the Redskins and gave the game away. He started the next week against the Chargers and sucked just as bad, only to be pulled for Orton who was suffering a severely sprained ankle. That’s right kids, we would rather start the guy that shouldn’t be walking over our healthy backup. We did not get to see Brandstater play this season, so i cannot fairly grade him but he looked promising in preseason. We must dump Simms, that is the bottom line.
RB -- Overall, I will grade this as a B. I am actually pretty happy with rookie (not anymore) Knowshon Moreno. I know a lot of people are not, but given the situation I think he had an outstanding season. I also have to say I am thrilled with the production and ability that Correll Buckhalter brought to the table. He was a pleasant surprise that a lot of Denver fans questioned when he was signed. I thought that the one-two punch there was dynamic and effective. LaMont Jordan and Peyton Hillis were pretty unimpressive to me overall. I am not sure why Hillis was in the doghouse this year and behind Jordan in every situation but he was. I don’t see him being a Bronco in 2010, and I hope Jordan goes with him.
WR -- This is a tough one to get a grasp of because of the offense they ran. A lot of screens and not much down field action really makes it difficult to know what we have to work with. I am going to grade this a C+, and mainly because of Brandon Marshall. I think there is going to be a significant change in the offense in 2010, and I hope that involves using Eddie Royal in the slot like he should be. The question is, what else will we have? Marshall is probably not going to be a Bronco, but I could be wrong there. Even if he stayed, Jabar Gaffney is a nice option as is Brandon Stokley but are any of them really a true #2 guy? I think Royal is a great #2, but is best in the slot which leaves a gaping need in my opinion.
TE -- I think that we will see some changes here also. Overall, I will say I think this deserves a C. Scheffler is a nice receiving option at tight end, but not a great blocker and also on his way out of town for running his mouth. No big loss in my eyes, nice knowing ya’ Tony. Graham and Quinn are good in the blocking game and Graham is a capable receiver but I am not sure about Quinn just yet. I think McDaniels likes to run two tight end sets, so this is a relatively important position. I am curious how the Scheffler void (c’mon, we all know it’s coming) will be filled and with whom. Truthfully, he wasn’t used that much in the current system anyhow, not like he was when that other QB who won’t be named was here.
OL -- The one area I thought the team was set at, was disappointing this year to me. I give the overall line a C, and they absolutely have to address some GAPING holes this off season and through the draft. the two Ryans (Clady and Harris) played well….Harris until he was injured. They are the reason it is a C…otherwise it would be much worse. Other than that, it was a crap shoot. The interior line play was absolutely dreadful. Ben Hamilton alone made me insane with the bull fighting routine. In fairness to everyone, the team did go to a power scheme this season for the most part over the familiar zone-blocking scheme of old. Even with that, they were pretty bad. I look for guys like Seth Olsen to play a bigger role next season at guard and hopefully someone else to help out on the inside. The line was dreadful in short yardage situations and gave up almost 3 times as many sacks as the previous season.
K -- A solid A here. Matt Prater exceeded my expectations and was very encouraging. It is nice to have a guy that was accurate and has a big leg on kickoffs.
P -- F. This season’s punting game was just awful. Brett Kern wasn’t great when he was here, but he was miles ahead of Mitch Berger who replaced him. Berger flat out sucked. The team signed Britton Colquitt towards the end of the season and he will be the guy to beat going into camp. In hindsight, they never should have let Kern go.
S -- I am giving this position a B-. Brian Dawkins makes this a position that Denver was all set at, and Renaldo Hill played well also. One player I was excited about this season was David Bruton who proved to play well at this position as well as special teams. The team will need Darcel McBath back also, who showed a lot of promise, and develop him and Bruton for the future.
CB -- I have to give us a B+ here. I was going to say an A, but I think there are some depth issues. Andre Goodman was phenomenal this season opposite Champ Bailey. That was great to watch. Rookie Tony Carter played well at the end of the season when given the chance, but how about the other rookie everyone wanted to see…Alphonso Smith? He struggled at times and showed flashes at times. I think he will be fine with a season under his belt, and they will need him to be every bit of what they hoped for. The Ty Law signing was solid in my opinion, and added some nice experience and depth but Denver has to start developing the young guns here.
DL -- I was not nearly as disappointed here as I thought I would be, and give this group a solid C+. It is a veteran, and “thrown together” group of cast-offs but they played well I thought, well enough to bring a few back for sure. Now that being said, they have to improve here this off season and draft. I truly think Denver is a monster NT away from being scary good on defense. The run defense towards the end of the year was pretty bad. I love the addition of Vonnie Holliday.
LB -- This was an area where the Broncos really seemed to use the transition to the 3-4 with their talent the most effectively. I grade this a B+. Elvis Dumervil gets an A-, he was a monster in pass rushing, but is still a liability in run defense. Even with that, he is awesome…and I hope he stays a Denver Bronco for years to come. While I believe he benefited most from the new scheme, DJ Williams is a close second. Williams led the team in tackles and really started to come into his own towards the end of the year. He appeared lost many times but honestly the guy has undergone so many changes in assignment and coaching (another one now, yay) that I am not sure it is fair to judge him yet. Color me a DJ fan though, he is a solid player. Andra Davis was great this year and proved to be a nice pickup last off season. 2 players I want to see develop more are Mario Haggan (a REAL nice surprise this season) and rookie Robert Ayers. Ayers has the talent, there is no doubt about that. Now he needs to show why he was so highly touted.
KR/PR -- I will give this a B. The return game seemed improved this year although other than the Eddie Royal domination of San Diego there was not too much to get excited about. I actually was surprised we did not see more consistency here and the staff seemed to experiment a lot. McKinley seems like a really nice option as well as Alphonso Smith. Royal would still be my guy, even if he is the #2 or slot receiver. You put the ball in special player’s hands…period. He showed what he can do, let him keep doing it I say.
Coaching -- This is the toughest for me. I will start by saying, I am a supporter of Josh McDaniels and think that he has some good things to bring to the Denver Bronco organization. The first six games of the season were brilliant and exceeded any expectation I could have dreamt of. Coach Nolan was superb in his defensive coordinator role, and I personally hate that he is now gone. What he did with so many new players in an entirely new scheme was astoundingly great. Denver was top 10 in total defense all season despite a late-season collapse. I think coach McDaniels has a lot of growing up and learning to do. He made some gutsy calls and some mind-boggling stupid calls. I am not sure if all of the screens and stubbornness to stick with certain plays (I am looking at you short yardage runs) was a result of trying to establish a plan or if they failed because of the personnel but he has to adapt. The “wild horses” formation was awesome for example. Running up the middle and failing to gain a yard or never throwing down field or throwing bubble screens on third and long are examples of not being awesome. People can blame the players all they want to, but it comes down to one universal fact. You have to play the cards you are dealt. They are playing the game he laid out for them and it worked for a while. I think it can work in the future also, which brings me to my final point about the coach. He simply has to nail this off season or he will be gone next year. Another 8-8 season won’t cut it, and more change and stubbornness won’t either. He has basically put himself into a position that he has to nail free agency and the draft. Marshall will be gone, Scheffler will be gone and Hillis (all guesses mind you) will be gone. The coaching staff has seen 2 long-time coaches leave (Dennison and Turner) and their defensive coordinator leave within a month’s span. It is going to be a problem if he doesn’t figure out how to work with players and peers. So my grade for the coaching staff overall this year is a C-. There is a lot of room for improvement and a lot to be optimistic about. All I know is, I am sick of .500 football and no playoffs.
Overall team grade: The overall grade for your 2009 Denver Broncos in my opinion is a C. This is a team that is in transition and while they made some tremendous strides needs a lot of help.
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