How long do you see our SB window

[Dr Cyanide 28]

In today's NFL the Super Bowl Window can open and shut each year. That is what Free Agency does, and that is the way the NFL wants it. The really good teams are good at drafting the players that can work in their system. New England is so good year in and year out, but most of their players are not good when they go to other places. They seem to find players that fit a role and they use them to the max of their talent. That is great coaching. I dislike New England for a lot of reason, but they are the road map for how to have a Super Bowl window open for an extended time.

Last years Broncos were missing 2 things from the year before:
1. Another DE that made plays. Jackson was outstanding for us and his departure hurt.
2. An ILB that could cover someone. We missed Travathan a lot last year.

To me this is a miss by Elway. He knew these guys were potentially leaving via FA, and didn't have guys that could fill the void without a major drop off. Green Bay and New England both seem to have outstanding depth every year. We need to get there.

they also have arguably the best QB ever on their team which can help cover up for the lack of skill at some positions.

 

[cdumler7]

In today's NFL the Super Bowl Window can open and shut each year. That is what Free Agency does, and that is the way the NFL wants it. The really good teams are good at drafting the players that can work in their system. New England is so good year in and year out, but most of their players are not good when they go to other places. They seem to find players that fit a role and they use them to the max of their talent. That is great coaching. I dislike New England for a lot of reason, but they are the road map for how to have a Super Bowl window open for an extended time.

Last years Broncos were missing 2 things from the year before:
1. Another DE that made plays. Jackson was outstanding for us and his departure hurt.
2. An ILB that could cover someone. We missed Travathan a lot last year.

To me this is a miss by Elway. He knew these guys were potentially leaving via FA, and didn't have guys that could fill the void without a major drop off. Green Bay and New England both seem to have outstanding depth every year. We need to get there.

I would say he had a competent replacement for Malik. The problem being though Vance Walker got injured before the season started. From what I read he was having maybe the best training camp of any player on the team before he tore his ACL. So not like the Broncos tried to leave the position high and dry after Malik left it just had some bad luck happen. Then you throw in Wolfe going down for a bit, our rookie still trying to recover from his injury and it just was a lot of bad luck to a critical position.

ILB yes I agree they did not plan as well as they could have. They thought a little too highly of their guy Todd Davis and well he just wasn't the answer. Doesn't help then Brandon Marshall being hurt part of the year really testing our depth at the position.

 

[Mingo]

That reminds me - how much I miss Danny Travethan - playing opposite of Brandon Marshall. These guys had an instinct for each other that made them each better on the field.

 

[CEH]

That reminds me - how much I miss Danny Travethan - playing opposite of Brandon Marshall. These guys had an instinct for each other that made them each better on the field.

They did but trev was too injury prone to get a contract

 

[nflbronco]

That reminds me - how much I miss Danny Travethan - playing opposite of Brandon Marshall. These guys had an instinct for each other that made them each better on the field.

He went on IR with da Bears. Loved the guy but, I'm glad Denver passed on giving him big money due to injuries.

 

[Mingo]

Just because he got injured with the Bears doesn't mean he would been injured with the Broncos. I take the point Trev was an injury risk. My point is - his talent and coordination was missed in the D.

 

[nflbronco]

Just because he got injured with the Bears doesn't mean he would been injured with the Broncos. I take the point Trev was an injury risk. My point is - his talent and coordination was missed in the D.

Agree on the missed part. Any good FA guys this year to get us another trev type?

 

[fightinredantz]

they also have arguably the best QB ever on their team which can help cover up for the lack of skill at some positions.

I agree, but they have had double digit guys on IR multiple times and are still competitive. That says something about the players and the coaching staff.

 

[iknowftbll]

Something to remember about the defense is that while the run defense ranked 28th overall, they were 18th in yards per attempt. While that's still not great, it's indicative that the run defense was still decent and not the dumpster fire the overall ranking may suggest. Given the dominance of the Broncos secondary teams just ran the ball more against the Broncos than they would have against other opponents. That our offense insisted on going 3 and out more than any other didn't help: that defense had to come up with a lot of stops just to keep the team in the game. Something that hasn't received much mention but is downright incredible when the ineptitude of our offense is considered, and that is of the 7 losses only 3 were by more than 1 score and only one was truly a blowout. The defense is far from broken. We're a solid run stopper away from it being top 10 against the run again. That threshold with this secondary is bad news for anyone on the Broncos 2017 schedule.

As for the offense...

I am really curious to see what happens this off season. With all the rumors swirling about Romo in Denver I think what's lost is the Broncos may still make a move for Joe Thomas and run with what we already have at QB, while dedicating some draft capital to the O-line. I also think both Siemian and Lynch, whoever wins the starting job, stands a better chance playing out of the shotgun more in McCoy's system. But like this year, if there isn't some serious upgrades on the line this team may be just marginally better in 2017.

 

[randymon]

Something to remember about the defense is that while the run defense ranked 28th overall, they were 18th in yards per attempt. While that's still not great, it's indicative that the run defense was still decent and not the dumpster fire the overall ranking may suggest. Given the dominance of the Broncos secondary teams just ran the ball more against the Broncos than they would have against other opponents. That our offense insisted on going 3 and out more than any other didn't help: that defense had to come up with a lot of stops just to keep the team in the game. Something that hasn't received much mention but is downright incredible when the ineptitude of our offense is considered, and that is of the 7 losses only 3 were by more than 1 score and only one was truly a blowout. The defense is far from broken. We're a solid run stopper away from it being top 10 against the run again. That threshold with this secondary is bad news for anyone on the Broncos 2017 schedule.

As for the offense...

I am really curious to see what happens this off season. With all the rumors swirling about Romo in Denver I think what's lost is the Broncos may still make a move for Joe Thomas and run with what we already have at QB, while dedicating some draft capital to the O-line. I also think both Siemian and Lynch, whoever wins the starting job, stands a better chance playing out of the shotgun more in McCoy's system. But like this year, if there isn't some serious upgrades on the line this team may be just marginally better in 2017.

Agree 100 % on your D assessment.

 

[CEH]

Something to remember about the defense is that while the run defense ranked 28th overall, they were 18th in yards per attempt. While that's still not great, it's indicative that the run defense was still decent and not the dumpster fire the overall ranking may suggest. Given the dominance of the Broncos secondary teams just ran the ball more against the Broncos than they would have against other opponents. That our offense insisted on going 3 and out more than any other didn't help: that defense had to come up with a lot of stops just to keep the team in the game. Something that hasn't received much mention but is downright incredible when the ineptitude of our offense is considered, and that is of the 7 losses only 3 were by more than 1 score and only one was truly a blowout. The defense is far from broken. We're a solid run stopper away from it being top 10 against the run again. That threshold with this secondary is bad news for anyone on the Broncos 2017 schedule.

As for the offense...

I am really curious to see what happens this off season. With all the rumors swirling about Romo in Denver I think what's lost is the Broncos may still make a move for Joe Thomas and run with what we already have at QB, while dedicating some draft capital to the O-line. I also think both Siemian and Lynch, whoever wins the starting job, stands a better chance playing out of the shotgun more in McCoy's system. But like this year, if there isn't some serious upgrades on the line this team may be just marginally better in 2017.

Most NFL games are won by an average of 4 points or less. This is why I'm a big proponent of a guy like Christian who can provide that 3-5 explosive plays a game that will make a difference In this offense . According to Peter Schaefer , Thomas agent , Denver came within a eyelash of trading Shaq Barrett and draft picks for Thomas . I too think he is still in play.

 

[iknowftbll]

Most NFL games are won by an average of 4 points or less. This is why I'm a big proponent of a guy like Christian who can provide that 3-5 explosive plays a game that will make a difference In this offense . According to Peter Schaefer , Thomas agent , Denver came within a eyelash of trading Shaq Barrett and draft picks for Thomas . I too think he is still in play.

That deal was in 2015 and as I understand it was about to go through but the Browns insisted on Barrett being part of it and the Broncos backed out. I think that was a good move, actually. You can't have too much young depth.

As for Christian I have to admit, I was so turned off by his refusal to play in his team's bowl game for fear of hurting himself for the draft that I question his dedication to the team. I'll support any player this team brings in, and if you're right about him I'm sure he can easily earn my forgiveness (no doubt a top priority for him) by making the difference between some wins and losses, but until he's selected by the Broncos my preference is the team look elsewhere for talent.

 

[randymon]

That deal was in 2015 and as I understand it was about to go through but the Browns insisted on Barrett being part of it and the Broncos backed out. I think that was a good move, actually. You can't have too much young depth.

As for Christian I have to admit, I was so turned off by his refusal to play in his team's bowl game for fear of hurting himself for the draft that I question his dedication to the team. I'll support any player this team brings in, and if you're right about him I'm sure he can easily earn my forgiveness (no doubt a top priority for him) by making the difference between some wins and losses, but until he's selected by the Broncos my preference is the team look elsewhere for talent.

My understanding with Christian was he wasn't healthy and possibly re- injuring himself was major concern. Don't blame him or Fournette for that reason. As for all those who were concerned that there was going to be some flood of players dropping out of bowl games non- injury related, we saw how that never materialized. Once again the media over sensationalized it.

 

[CEH]

More may do it next year depending on where jake butts falls and how much money he loses

 

[randymon]

More may do it next year depending on where jake butts falls and how much money he loses

Maybe. I think the human element plays a lot into a players decision to play or not to if their healthy. Most of these young men know it's the last game they'll play with their brothers, their coaches, etc and that means a lot to them. Heard also many of these guys agents actually encouraged them to play for those reasons and the regrets that they would feel if they didn't. Most of them are smart enough to know that the special memories out weigh the odds of injury when they know that the could very well get injured at combine or training before draft anyway. Can't say I heard any other big injuries from the top prospects in the 42 bowl games played. Didn't Butt get hurt in pregame warm-up anyway ?

 

[cdumler7]

Most NFL games are won by an average of 4 points or less. This is why I'm a big proponent of a guy like Christian who can provide that 3-5 explosive plays a game that will make a difference In this offense . According to Peter Schaefer , Thomas agent , Denver came within a eyelash of trading Shaq Barrett and draft picks for Thomas . I too think he is still in play.

I like Christian McCaffrey. What I don't like is that it would take a 1st round pick to get him. I see at least 2 other players in this draft that have very comparable abilities to him on the field that have a lot less wear and tear on their bodies and won't cost us our 1st round pick to get. So I would rather invest that 1st round pick in another spot then pick up one of those dynamic players later in the draft.

 

[fightinredantz]

Something to remember about the defense is that while the run defense ranked 28th overall, they were 18th in yards per attempt. While that's still not great, it's indicative that the run defense was still decent and not the dumpster fire the overall ranking may suggest. Given the dominance of the Broncos secondary teams just ran the ball more against the Broncos than they would have against other opponents. That our offense insisted on going 3 and out more than any other didn't help: that defense had to come up with a lot of stops just to keep the team in the game. Something that hasn't received much mention but is downright incredible when the ineptitude of our offense is considered, and that is of the 7 losses only 3 were by more than 1 score and only one was truly a blowout. The defense is far from broken. We're a solid run stopper away from it being top 10 against the run again. That threshold with this secondary is bad news for anyone on the Broncos 2017 schedule.

As for the offense...

I am really curious to see what happens this off season. With all the rumors swirling about Romo in Denver I think what's lost is the Broncos may still make a move for Joe Thomas and run with what we already have at QB, while dedicating some draft capital to the O-line. I also think both Siemian and Lynch, whoever wins the starting job, stands a better chance playing out of the shotgun more in McCoy's system. But like this year, if there isn't some serious upgrades on the line this team may be just marginally better in 2017.

The other part that you hinted at but did not say is just how many minutes the D was on the field. I have not looked, but they may have spent more time on the field then any other in the league. The fatigue factor had to be large for those players, but yet they still performed fairly well overall. If we can get the same type of play next year and only have the the D on the field for 1/2 the game I think the stats will be much better. We need a couple of parts and pieces (NT, ILB) to be truly elite again.

 

[cdumler7]

The other part that you hinted at but did not say is just how many minutes the D was on the field. I have not looked, but they may have spent more time on the field then any other in the league. The fatigue factor had to be large for those players, but yet they still performed fairly well overall. If we can get the same type of play next year and only have the the D on the field for 1/2 the game I think the stats will be much better. We need a couple of parts and pieces (NT, ILB) to be truly elite again.

We were 28th in Time of Possession this last year. We averaged 28 1/2 minutes of our offense being on the field compared to 31 1/2 for the defense. So yeah not great and why those 3 and outs were such a burden to this team. This is maybe the biggest reason that 2015 even though the Broncos turned the ball over more often they might have actually been the better offense of the last 2 seasons.

This is a big part of why I struggle to see Siemian being our long term starter. While the run game yes takes part of the blame Siemian was big on throwing short of the sticks. he just never pushed the football down the field in fear of ever making bad mistakes. While yes that is great for keeping turnovers down it does lead to what we saw of the offense being so boring. Teams could just sit at the sticks and wait for Siemian to throw short and go make a tackle. IF there is one area I would tell Siemian to work on this off season that would be it. Learning to get through his progressions quicker and see that he can throw the football down the field to give the offense a chance to move the football.

 

[fightinredantz]

We were 28th in Time of Possession this last year. We averaged 28 1/2 minutes of our offense being on the field compared to 31 1/2 for the defense. So yeah not great and why those 3 and outs were such a burden to this team. This is maybe the biggest reason that 2015 even though the Broncos turned the ball over more often they might have actually been the better offense of the last 2 seasons.

This is a big part of why I struggle to see Siemian being our long term starter. While the run game yes takes part of the blame Siemian was big on throwing short of the sticks. he just never pushed the football down the field in fear of ever making bad mistakes. While yes that is great for keeping turnovers down it does lead to what we saw of the offense being so boring. Teams could just sit at the sticks and wait for Siemian to throw short and go make a tackle. IF there is one area I would tell Siemian to work on this off season that would be it. Learning to get through his progressions quicker and see that he can throw the football down the field to give the offense a chance to move the football.

The offensive struggles to me start with the Oline and trickle down for there. Some of the throw it short mentality might have been because they didn't have time to get the ball deep on a regular basis. Seimian deserves his part of the blame no doubt. It also hurt when CJ went down. We needed that powerful back with the change of pace coming from Booker. Losing Janovich didn't help either.

The fact that Denver couldn't convert 2nd and 1 or 3rd and 1 on a regular basis with the running game says a lot.

 

[cdumler7]

The offensive struggles to me start with the Oline and trickle down for there. Some of the throw it short mentality might have been because they didn't have time to get the ball deep on a regular basis. Seimian deserves his part of the blame no doubt. It also hurt when CJ went down. We needed that powerful back with the change of pace coming from Booker. Losing Janovich didn't help either.

The fact that Denver couldn't convert 2nd and 1 or 3rd and 1 on a regular basis with the running game says a lot.

See here is where I get frustrated with the whole OL didn't give our QB's time thing. Siemian had one of the 3 worst snap to throw times of any QB in the NFL. So it wasn't always that he didn't have time it was that he really was holding onto the football for longer than needed. People have accused me of being a Siemian hater but it isn't that just there are things he has done that make me think he is a much better back up than a starter in this league and this is one of those where he struggles to get through his reads fast enough. Now maybe 3rd year we see that speed up some but when rookies are already getting through their progressions faster than him and even Lynch actually had the 4th fastest time in the NFL of snap to throw I don't think that area improves as much as some think for Siemian.

Now understand I'm not saying Siemian is the only problem as yes the OL was not great and yes those 2nd and 3rd and short run plays were atrocious.