Anybody got scoop on Knowshon or Champ?

[MrDoc420]

Oh....and not that I like to talk about them, but the Raiders continue with more confusing offseason moves. They resign DMac and sign MJD to a 3 year deal? Uhhh.....ok.

So much for the Terelle Pryor hype last year. I highly doubt he'll beat out Schaub for the starting position.

 

[Morpheus]

The real question is will the production overall Moreno had be replaced?

Over 1,000 Rushing yards, 500 receiving yards, and 13 total TDs plus excellent pass protection.

The Broncos must feel that the rest of the RB stable can pick up that production this year.

I think Montee Ball and CJ Anderson have the potential, but will they fulfill that potential?

Only time will tell.

 

[Morpheus]

Oh....and not that I like to talk about them, but the Raiders continue with more confusing offseason moves. They resign DMac and sign MJD to a 3 year deal? Uhhh.....ok.

So much for the Terelle Pryor hype last year. I highly doubt he'll beat out Schaub for the starting position.

Terrelle Pryor has demanded a trade after they traded for Schaub. Doubt he will be on the roster come July.

 

[cdumler7]

I was kind of surprised on that actually. I was thinking that if DMac got a 1 year $4 million deal, Knowshon would surely get something better. I was wrong.

You have to remember who paid DMac though. Only way raiders can get any players to stay or sign with them is to grossly overpay

 

[Morpheus]

You have to remember who paid DMac though. Only way raiders can get any players to stay or sign with them is to grossly overpay

While I would agree that money would be the primary motivation these days for a Free Agent to sign with the Raiders, they also entered the 2014 league year with 60 million in cap space and have to spend at least 89 million I think to get to the cap minimum or face penalties.

So some Free Agents will cash in with the Raiders this season as they have to spend money.

While I think they will be slightly better because of the talent they signed, it remains to eb seen how much better they will be.

If Matt Schaub does start, they are much better at QB than they have been in a while.

 

[cdumler7]

Depends which Matt schaub. He is a poor mans Alex smith in my opinion. His confidence is shattered and he is injury prone so I am interested to see how he does with ware and Von coming after him

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

I think there is a good reason that Moreno really only had 1 team looking into him. He is an average, safe back. He doesn't turn the ball over and will get you exactly the yardage that the play is blocked for. He rarely breaks tackles and rarely break big runs. Toward the end of the year Montee was a much more efficient runner, I don't think Knowshon is a big loss unless other backs catch fumbleitis.

Moreno did drive me nuts though. I don't think he had good vision and instincts and that is what makes great backs. An example is (I believe it was) in the Cowboy game. He put his hand on Vasquez's back and fell down to one knee for no reason. The hole was sooooooo big he got up and still ran for big yards. Mark Schlereth said it best, if the hole is blocked for 6 yards KM will get you 6. The biggest asset that KM had was his pass blocking. I don't think that too many would argue that. While very important especially with Manning, if that's the biggest asset a RB has, that should say a lot...........

 

[randymon]

While I would agree that money would be the primary motivation these days for a Free Agent to sign with the Raiders, they also entered the 2014 league year with 60 million in cap space and have to spend at least 89 million I think to get to the cap minimum or face penalties.

So some Free Agents will cash in with the Raiders this season as they have to spend money.

While I think they will be slightly better because of the talent they signed, it remains to eb seen how much better they will be.

If Matt Schaub does start, they are much better at QB than they have been in a while.

Problem I see with these Raider FA signings is these guys are all 30 +. Sure their upgrades but for how long and have they really put Raiders in chance to compete for playoffs even? I think the Raiders are still a ways off of seriously competing and they would of been better off signing younger players to "start" building a nucleous of talent so they can actually be contenders down the road,rather than spend a bunch of their money on guys that are short term " payck players'. Why else would you, nearing the end of your career,go to Oakland, a team that still has a long way to go . Start spending/drafting to build for a future of contention rather than short-term miracle and waste away the time and money. IMO of course

 

[cdumler7]

You have to remember the raider front office and coaching staff are making decisions knowing if they have a bad year they are all fired. Unfortunately in the nfl coaches and such are under pressure to produce quickly and if not are shown the door. The best franchises don't do this but well nobody is going to think of the raiders as a top franchise

 

[BroncoInCALI]

It will be interesting if Knowshon has a big year in Miami and Ball struggles.......

All the people who bashed him while he was in Denver will be saying "Wow, I really wish we had Moreno, especially at that price." lol

 

[randymon]

It will be interesting if Knowshon has a big year in Miami and Ball struggles.......

All the people who bashed him while he was in Denver will be saying "Wow, I really wish we had Moreno, especially at that price." lol

IIIIIIIII......don`t think so. I think Ball has better shot. But I will be rooting for Moreno no doubt. Took him 5 yrs to have a good season in Denver. Might take him some time to get acclimated to the Dolphin O- line and blocking schemes

 

[BroncoInCALI]

Key word....."if"

 

[Broncos6482]

It will be interesting if Knowshon has a big year in Miami and Ball struggles.......

All the people who bashed him while he was in Denver will be saying "Wow, I really wish we had Moreno, especially at that price." lol

Such is the nature of fans. For years it was a bunch of "Noshow Moreno" or "Slowshon Moreno" or cut Moreno he sucks yada yada yada, and now it's, "why did we let him go?" Moreno had a good year, and I think he took a lot of undue criticism due to being a very unpopular pick by McDaniels. Of course that wasn't his fault. Actually in my book I gained a ton of respect for him with the way he responded to his benching and relegation to the scout team in 2012. I still think had he not been injured we would have beaten Baltimore in that playoff game.

All that said, I think Knowshon's production can be duplicated by Ball and company, if not topped. IMO Ball had already established himself as a better runner down the stretch, and I think he'll be just fine in pass protection now that he's gotten a year under his belt.

I hope nothing but the best for Knowshon next year.

 

[cdumler7]

With Ball I think he had established himself as the better runner as Broncos6482 suggested by the end of the year. He was averaging something like 5-6 yards per carry from like week 10 on where Moreno was around the 3-4 yards per carry in games. Moreno was still the better all around guy because of his blocking and receiving but Ball was showing vast improvements in both by the end of the year. I think with a full off season he should be just fine in Moreno's role. Also for those who think Moreno was this amazing blocker might want to check out PFF as he was about middle of the pack for starting running backs when it came to blocking. His greatest asset was that in the receiving department. I'm hoping maybe Hillman can step into that role. Maybe he can take a page out of Moreno's book and come back from a very forgettable year.

 

[Broncos6482]

With Ball I think he had established himself as the better runner as Broncos6482 suggested by the end of the year. He was averaging something like 5-6 yards per carry from like week 10 on where Moreno was around the 3-4 yards per carry in games. Moreno was still the better all around guy because of his blocking and receiving but Ball was showing vast improvements in both by the end of the year. I think with a full off season he should be just fine in Moreno's role. Also for those who think Moreno was this amazing blocker might want to check out PFF as he was about middle of the pack for starting running backs when it came to blocking. His greatest asset was that in the receiving department. I'm hoping maybe Hillman can step into that role. Maybe he can take a page out of Moreno's book and come back from a very forgettable year.

I think Moreno's strength in pass protection wasn't that he was necessarily a great blocker, but rather that he understood protection schemes and knew where he needed to be blocking. I can't think of a single time all season where I thought whoa, Knowshon really went to the wrong spot to pick up that blitz.

That said, I believe that can be replaced once a running back is very familiar with the offense, which Ball should be by the beginning of next season.

 

[cdumler7]

I think Moreno's strength in pass protection wasn't that he was necessarily a great blocker, but rather that he understood protection schemes and knew where he needed to be blocking. I can't think of a single time all season where I thought whoa, Knowshon really went to the wrong spot to pick up that blitz.

That said, I believe that can be replaced once a running back is very familiar with the offense, which Ball should be by the beginning of next season.

I can agree with that. He did do a very good job of being in the right place. His mistakes were more just not using good technique to actually block. Saw him a couple of times on blitzes just completely miss the guy coming off the edge. He was good just not great at pass blocking as some might suggest. Plus I would bet Manning does quite a bit of telling his running back exactly who to focus on when blocking. I saw him more than a few times pointing at a guy for Moreno or whoever was in and saying "block that guy."

 

[BroncoInCALI]

For the record.....I agree with everything you guys just said.

His production and his pass blocking can be replaced and I hope Ball is the guy to do it.

Old habits die hard I guess. I spent the better part of the last 4 years defending Moreno on the cbs boards, and I just find it interesting to see him get bashed on his way out the door. (Not necessarily here, but on other boards and FB)

Does not surprise me though. Same thing happened to Decker. Like already stated....such is the nature of fans.

 

[cdumler7]

For the record.....I agree with everything you guys just said.

His production and his pass blocking can be replaced and I hope Ball is the guy to do it.

Old habits die hard I guess. I spent the better part of the last 4 years defending Moreno on the cbs boards, and I just find it interesting to see him get bashed on his way out the door. (Not necessarily here, but on other boards and FB)

Does not surprise me though. Same thing happened to Decker. Like already stated....such is the nature of fans.

Don't get me wrong I like Moreno and Decker. Would have loved to have them both especially for depth. I just didn't see either as a must sign especially considering the guys we will have to sign this next year. Moreno and Decker's money combined could be the difference between keeping a guy like Von Miller or having to let him go. Personally I would rather have Von Miller than those two combined.

I also spent the last 4 years trying to defend Moreno as he did have decent production when healthy. This past season though seeing him have a full season of healthy play I saw a good back but one that is replaceable. He didn't have that many runs that wowed me. Ball at least had a couple of runs that wowed me this past season where it looked like he got stopped in the back field to only spin out of it and pick up the 1st down. Hadn't seen that in a running back for the Broncos in a long time. Now yes his blocking and receiving left a little to be desired but his running at the end of the season left me impressed enough to think letting Moreno walk even for little money was worth it.

 

[BroncoInCALI]

Again, agreed 100%.

I am fully behind the moves the Broncos have made and did not make.

In Elway I Trust.......

 

[BobGnarly]