Raiders 2015/2016 season

[cdumler7]

The QB is the one that matters the most, and Carr just entering his second year.. Again, you have a VET team dude, with some young guys mixed in there, but make no mistake?? It's VET team..

And the Broncos have a player just entering his 4th year at the position. That is what people seem to forget is the Broncos have been training up a player to take over for Manning. It is not like the Broncos have the mindset of Manning is going to play forever. They have planned from day 1 of getting Manning for the end of Manning.

Do we have some Vet leaders yes we do. Do we have a ton of young players on the team too that have all contributed yes we do again. That is how you make championship level teams of having a great mix of the two. For many of these veterans when they are ready to call it quits or the Broncos cut ties they have their replacement on the team already and that older part of the young guys on the team will be ready to step into that leadership position. Ware has been training up Von Miller on how to be a better leader. Vasquez has taken Garcia under his wing to help train him up on how to lead the OL. Manning has worked closely with Osweiler for 4 years now on how to lead from the QB position. When you throw in a coaching staff that has a ridiculous number of years of experience coaching and winning (only Bill Belichick has more wins than that of Kubiak when you combine Kubiak's playing days and all of his coaching years).

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

And the Broncos have a player just entering his 4th year at the position. That is what people seem to forget is the Broncos have been training up a player to take over for Manning. It is not like the Broncos have the mindset of Manning is going to play forever. They have planned from day 1 of getting Manning for the end of Manning.

Do we have some Vet leaders yes we do. Do we have a ton of young players on the team too that have all contributed yes we do again. That is how you make championship level teams of having a great mix of the two. For many of these veterans when they are ready to call it quits or the Broncos cut ties they have their replacement on the team already and that older part of the young guys on the team will be ready to step into that leadership position. Ware has been training up Von Miller on how to be a better leader. Vasquez has taken Garcia under his wing to help train him up on how to lead the OL. Manning has worked closely with Osweiler for 4 years now on how to lead from the QB position. When you throw in a coaching staff that has a ridiculous number of years of experience coaching and winning (only Bill Belichick has more wins than that of Kubiak when you combine Kubiak's playing days and all of his coaching years).

Now don't get me wrong dude!! I like VET teams!! Heck my favorite teams were those Rich Gannon lead RAIDERS!!
Freakin VET city dude.. The Bad thing there was, we had no young guys to replace ALL those VETS that left the game!! NO QB!! And the rest is history!! Oh i keep forgetting about Osweiler?? But are you SURE he is the guy though?? Hmmm..

 

[cdumler7]

Now don't get me wrong dude!! I like VET teams!! Heck my favorite teams were those Rich Gannon lead RAIDERS!!
Freakin VET city dude.. The Bad thing there was, we had no young guys to replace ALL those VETS that left the game!! NO QB!! And the rest is history!! Oh i keep forgetting about Osweiler?? But are you SURE he is the guy though?? Hmmm..

We obviously don't know yet on Osweiler as he hasn't had any meaningful game action but the team is said to be very high on him, guys who I trust what they have to say that have watched him a ton in practice have told me that they think that Osweiler could become a top-10 QB. They don't see Aaron Rodgers obviously but they do see Joe Flacco type of player. You put that type of arm talent with this defense and I think the Broncos can easily stay at or near the top of the league. Really to me the Broncos showed just how much faith they have in Osweiler when they didn't use a high round pick in this last draft on the QB position. They used a 7th round pick on one but not anybody somebody would expect to start any time in the near future. Elway obviously knows what an NFL QB looks like so I trust him above anybody else on what he sees in Osweiler.

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

Are you sure you want to trust Elway that much?? You guys did draft Tebow after all, and im sure he had some say in that?? But hey?? Tebow did WIN you guys some game that year though, so there is that.. But Still..
The AFC West WILL belong to the RAIDERS in the future.. Reggie will make sure of that..

 

[cdumler7]

Are you sure you want to trust Elway that much?? You guys did draft Tebow after all, and im sure he had some say in that?? But hey?? Tebow did WIN you guys some game that year though, so there is that.. But Still..
The AFC West WILL belong to the RAIDERS in the future.. Reggie will make sure of that..

Elway did not draft Tebow. He came the year after Tebow was drafted. That is part of the reason the Owner brought in Elway was management was driving the broncos into the ground. They had just come off a 4-12 season when Elway came to town and the Broncos haven't lost the division since.

As for Reggie making sure of that. Elway at least has a track record of showing he can create an NFL Super Bowl competing team. McKenzie so far has shown he is great at getting top-5 picks every year. While the Raiders do have some young potential so far they haven't shown that they can win yet. 2-2 on the season while better than it has been still isn't a Super Bowl competing team and he has had plenty of time to create a decent roster. I mean McKenzie was hired a year after Elway was hired by the Broncos. Elway in his first season assembled a team that won the division and has won it ever since while getting the 1st or 2nd seed in the playoffs every year except the 1st year. Since McKenzie took over they were an 8-8 team when he took over and have won 4 games or less a year since then. So to me the two of them have shown to actually have done the opposite where Elway took over a 4-12 team and turned them into a Super Bowl contender while McKenzie took an 8-8 team and turned them into a bottom-5 team in the league.

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

So what's your game plan cd?? What ya gonna do to beat the RAIDERS??
Im thinking Musgrave spreads you guys out, then power RUNS it up the middle.. On D?? HIT PM!! He folds when you do..

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

Elway did not draft Tebow. He came the year after Tebow was drafted. That is part of the reason the Owner brought in Elway was management was driving the broncos into the ground. They had just come off a 4-12 season when Elway came to town and the Broncos haven't lost the division since.

As for Reggie making sure of that. Elway at least has a track record of showing he can create an NFL Super Bowl competing team. McKenzie so far has shown he is great at getting top-5 picks every year. While the Raiders do have some young potential so far they haven't shown that they can win yet. 2-2 on the season while better than it has been still isn't a Super Bowl competing team and he has had plenty of time to create a decent roster. I mean McKenzie was hired a year after Elway was hired by the Broncos. Elway in his first season assembled a team that won the division and has won it ever since while getting the 1st or 2nd seed in the playoffs every year except the 1st year. Since McKenzie took over they were an 8-8 team when he took over and have won 4 games or less a year since then. So to me the two of them have shown to actually have done the opposite where Elway took over a 4-12 team and turned them into a Super Bowl contender while McKenzie took an 8-8 team and turned them into a bottom-5 team in the league.

Stop it cd.. YOU got a still in his prime PM.. That's why you won all those games.. Had he gone to the 9ers that year he would of had SBs, same with Texans, etc.. So stop..

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

Stop it cd.. YOU got a still in his prime PM.. That's why you won all those games.. Had he gone to the 9ers that year he would of had SBs, same with Texans, etc.. So stop..

And as far as Reggie goes?? You know all to well what he walked into?? And now look at the team.. So stop it there too..

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

Gotta run, time money so they say..

 

[cdumler7]

Stop it cd.. YOU got a still in his prime PM.. That's why you won all those games.. Had he gone to the 9ers that year he would of had SBs, same with Texans, etc.. So stop..

Isn't Elway part of that though of getting a guy like Manning that so many teams wanted? Isn't he part of getting guys like Talib, Ware, Ward (all 3 have won either Defensive Player of the Month or Defensive Player of the week already in the first 3 weeks of the season)? I mean the only 2 players that are hold overs from other regimes are that of David Bruton a back up safety and D. Thomas. Everybody else was brought in by Elway. When you throw in the idea that Elway from day 1 said that he wanted to build this team first on the defensive side of the ball then on the offensive side of the ball and well look now the Broncos have the best defense in the league. Elway built that and it is why we are 4-0. Not his signing of Manning but what he has done on the defensive side of the ball. When you throw in then the coaching staff he has put together twice now with now 5 guys that have been on his staff going elsewhere to be Head Coaches. He then goes out and brings in 2 other guys that have been successful as HC to coach up this team. That is all Elway.

As for McKenzie so far his Resume is looking terrible. Since he came to Oakland the team has won 11 games total in 3 years. The Broncos have won that many every single season since McKenzie came to the Raiders. If I remember right that is the worst record of any team in that time period. So how can you say he is a great Gm when that is the situation. Now yes you can use the excuse of he had a terrible situation with all the dead money and very few draft picks. Fine but then why when he finally had tons of Cap Space and a full draft to work with did the team win the fewest games since he has been here with only 3 wins? I mean his 1st 1st round pick wouldn't start on any team in the league playing Corner right now. I mean that 2013 draft is looking down right terrible. So does his 2012 that I don't think a single one of those players are on the team.

Now yes last year's draft looks promising so I will give him one good draft. This last year's draft we are still going to have to wait and see. Cooper obviously looks like the real deal but hey plenty of guys have started out great to then fade very quickly in the NFL. The rest of them haven't done anything of real value yet but it is early so still don't know about this past draft. So right now I would say 2 terrible drafts, one great draft, and one unknown since McKenzie came to town. When you throw in his record in FA of pretty much every player he has brought in has been cut that doesn't look all that great either. Right now McKenzie is working to save his job. If this team doesn't go 7-9 or better I don't see how you can keep him as a GM and think good things about what he has done in his time here.

 

[cdumler7]

I'll have to get back to you Idaho on how I would attack the Raiders. I like to watch the games myself instead of just what the media has to say. Last week I watched all the Vikings games and said that I thought the Broncos stood a good chance of attacking the edges of the Vikings because they are so aggressive they like to crash in on the ends leaving the edge very vulnerable. The Broncos then ran a sweep play that went for 74 yards with Hillman. Not saying I am a great analyst but those are the little advantages I like to look for.

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

Isn't Elway part of that though of getting a guy like Manning that so many teams wanted? Isn't he part of getting guys like Talib, Ware, Ward (all 3 have won either Defensive Player of the Month or Defensive Player of the week already in the first 3 weeks of the season)? I mean the only 2 players that are hold overs from other regimes are that of David Bruton a back up safety and D. Thomas. Everybody else was brought in by Elway. When you throw in the idea that Elway from day 1 said that he wanted to build this team first on the defensive side of the ball then on the offensive side of the ball and well look now the Broncos have the best defense in the league. Elway built that and it is why we are 4-0. Not his signing of Manning but what he has done on the defensive side of the ball. When you throw in then the coaching staff he has put together twice now with now 5 guys that have been on his staff going elsewhere to be Head Coaches. He then goes out and brings in 2 other guys that have been successful as HC to coach up this team. That is all Elway.

As for McKenzie so far his Resume is looking terrible. Since he came to Oakland the team has won 11 games total in 3 years. The Broncos have won that many every single season since McKenzie came to the Raiders. If I remember right that is the worst record of any team in that time period. So how can you say he is a great Gm when that is the situation. Now yes you can use the excuse of he had a terrible situation with all the dead money and very few draft picks. Fine but then why when he finally had tons of Cap Space and a full draft to work with did the team win the fewest games since he has been here with only 3 wins? I mean his 1st 1st round pick wouldn't start on any team in the league playing Corner right now. I mean that 2013 draft is looking down right terrible. So does his 2012 that I don't think a single one of those players are on the team.

Now yes last year's draft looks promising so I will give him one good draft. This last year's draft we are still going to have to wait and see. Cooper obviously looks like the real deal but hey plenty of guys have started out great to then fade very quickly in the NFL. The rest of them haven't done anything of real value yet but it is early so still don't know about this past draft. So right now I would say 2 terrible drafts, one great draft, and one unknown since McKenzie came to town. When you throw in his record in FA of pretty much every player he has brought in has been cut that doesn't look all that great either. Right now McKenzie is working to save his job. If this team doesn't go 7-9 or better I don't see how you can keep him as a GM and think good things about what he has done in his time here.

Stop hating dude.. It's just silly man.. You said Carr was a finished product dude, does it look like he is?? You know what's up, and you have fear cuz of it.. But hey?? Let that hate flow.. Reggie is by far better than Elway.. He just got PM to make him look good.. Let's not hate on each other cuz I can get ugly..

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

That last post of mine was pretty uncool.. I never call people out.. My Bad.. RAIDERS VS Broncos and both sides want it REAL BAD!! I expect the RAIDERS to WIN!!

 

[cdumler7]

Stop hating dude.. It's just silly man.. You said Carr was a finished product dude, does it look like he is?? You know what's up, and you have fear cuz of it.. But hey?? Let that hate flow.. Reggie is by far better than Elway.. He just got PM to make him look good.. Let's not hate on each other cuz I can get ugly..

Sorry didn't mean to come across as hating just stating that at this point we just can't really say that McKenzie has done an awesome job considering the results. Obviously we have differing opinions on this matter. I would say though a GM that takes a team with the 2nd worst record in football when he starts and builds a team that has won the division 4 straight years, conference championship, many NFL records broke, and now has built a defense that has many in sports going crazy right now with how good they have been. Now you can look at it and say that Manning is what has made him look so good but then what does this season mean? Or what about his first year as GM with Tebow at the helm even though Tebow is not a player he drafted but built a team around Tebow that was good enough to win the Division? I mean that is 2 of the 5 years that either Manning hasn't played great but the defense has been awesome or that Manning wasn't even here. So you can't say Manning has been the only reason this team has won.

Anyway probably just a good time for both of us just to drop the matter. Getting ready to watch the Raiders games then will get back to you on my thoughts of how to attack the Raiders.

 

[cdumler7]

Alright Idaho here is how I attack the Raiders after watching the games...

Offensively--Here is the crazy thing for the Raiders defense. When passing the strength of the Raiders defense is in the DE's getting to the QB. The weakness though is they just don't have a DT that has gotten much pressure. So what teams are starting to do is force Mack and Smith to beat them to the outside and just let the QB step up in the pocket to buy some extra time. The reverse is true in the run game though of the Raiders are very stout up the middle but very susceptible to runs to the outside.

So what I do is I press Hillman to the edge forcing those DE's to have to worry about keeping outside contain on any given play. I then run some play action off of that as the LB's for the Raiders have a tendency to really bite on play action leaving the middle of the field wide open. It is why the Raiders are statistically the worst team in coverage on TE's this season as they just do not have very good coverage linebackers. They don't drop deep enough in middle coverage and are more focused on stopping the run. My guess is some of that is Del Rio as his big thing is being a great team at stopping the run. Beyond that I run come back routes on the outside. The Corners for the Raiders have terrible technique and get too quickly into bail out mode leaving that quick come back route very open. Then when they start creeping up I hit them over the top. I would also run quick slants as the Raider Corners have been playing a lot of Off-Zone and Off-Man coverage where they are 7-10 yards off the LOS leaving that quick hit wide open. That is how I would attack the defense of the Raiders. It sets up very well for Manning's style of offense. I am going to give a bold prediction here but Hayden will get picked on a lot in this game and Emmanuel Sanders has a big game for the Broncos to the tune of 125 yards 2 touchdowns.

Defensively--I will give the Raiders credit here as that offense is actually pretty darn good. They are young so they are prone to some drive killing mistakes but they definitely have their moments. OL wise this will probably be the best group the Broncos have ran into. Carr on some plays had all day just to look around and find somebody open. They are not as stout in run blocking. Their season average has been helped by a couple of nice runs (can't say much though cause the Broncos were helped by a 74 yard run just this last week). So here is how I attack the Raiders. I would lock up in man coverage on the outside and trust Chris Harris and Aqib Talib to continue to play like All-Pro level players. I would play Cover-1 where we have our FS Darian Stewart shadow to the side of Amari Cooper to help out while allowing the other corner to earn their money. I then bring up TJ Ward to help out in the run game to make sure the run game is contained plus have him with a great chance to blitz as he has 2 sacks this past week. I then have Trevathan man up the TE as he has done very well in this spot while allowing Brandon Marshall to once again help out in the run game while also being able to blitz. So far this year Derek Carr has only been blitzed 13.4% of the time. Look for that to change this week as the Broncos have the ultimate trust in their corners to not get burned for a bit play. I look for the Broncos to say we are going to make Carr beat us with pressure in his face and see if they can force him into a couple of big mistakes. His biggest issue last year was dealing with pressure so I"m sure the Broncos will want to do the same thing this year and see what happens.

Finally the biggest thing in stopping this Raiders offense is sound tackling. Cooper and Crabtree are great at Yards After the Catch. That is the biggest difference in Carr's stats this year in my opinion is he is still throwing a lot of the underneath passes but he is seeing these two guys turn that 5 yard catch into a 20 or more type play. That wasn't happening last year so again getting these guys down quickly after the catch will be huge in containing the Oakland offense. Thankfully the Broncos have been one of the best teams in the league at limiting yards after the catch this year as they are a very sound tackling team.

I know you won't agree with most of this Idaho but again this is just my opinion of what I saw when watching the Raiders games.

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

Sorry didn't mean to come across as hating just stating that at this point we just can't really say that McKenzie has done an awesome job considering the results. Obviously we have differing opinions on this matter. I would say though a GM that takes a team with the 2nd worst record in football when he starts and builds a team that has won the division 4 straight years, conference championship, many NFL records broke, and now has built a defense that has many in sports going crazy right now with how good they have been. Now you can look at it and say that Manning is what has made him look so good but then what does this season mean? Or what about his first year as GM with Tebow at the helm even though Tebow is not a player he drafted but built a team around Tebow that was good enough to win the Division? I mean that is 2 of the 5 years that either Manning hasn't played great but the defense has been awesome or that Manning wasn't even here. So you can't say Manning has been the only reason this team has won.

Anyway probably just a good time for both of us just to drop the matter. Getting ready to watch the Raiders games then will get back to you on my thoughts of how to attack the Raiders.

cd, sorry about that post dude.. These females that i know are messing me up man, they don't get it..
Anyways cd?? You know very well what Reggie walked into was going to take time to fix.. Massive Cap Hell, dead money, no 1st, 2nd, or 3rd draft picks, no foundation players, nothing!! You know this.. So how in the heck were we suppose to win?? NO players dude.. Hue Jackson was right, when he said?? They going to GUT that place!!
The RAIDERS took it back to formula man.. Now all of Reggie's drafts have produced starters, our CAP is unreal, our team is young and FUN to watch, foundation players at KEY spots.. That's what a GOOD GM is suppose to do.. We still have alot of work to do though.. Don't let hate blind you from seeing the truth..

cd, this is what i see from Elway?? The dude had to BUY his core players, Reggie drafted his..
Now we will see what kind of GM Elway is when PM is no longer there..

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

Alright Idaho here is how I attack the Raiders after watching the games...

Offensively--Here is the crazy thing for the Raiders defense. When passing the strength of the Raiders defense is in the DE's getting to the QB. The weakness though is they just don't have a DT that has gotten much pressure. So what teams are starting to do is force Mack and Smith to beat them to the outside and just let the QB step up in the pocket to buy some extra time. The reverse is true in the run game though of the Raiders are very stout up the middle but very susceptible to runs to the outside.

So what I do is I press Hillman to the edge forcing those DE's to have to worry about keeping outside contain on any given play. I then run some play action off of that as the LB's for the Raiders have a tendency to really bite on play action leaving the middle of the field wide open. It is why the Raiders are statistically the worst team in coverage on TE's this season as they just do not have very good coverage linebackers. They don't drop deep enough in middle coverage and are more focused on stopping the run. My guess is some of that is Del Rio as his big thing is being a great team at stopping the run. Beyond that I run come back routes on the outside. The Corners for the Raiders have terrible technique and get too quickly into bail out mode leaving that quick come back route very open. Then when they start creeping up I hit them over the top. I would also run quick slants as the Raider Corners have been playing a lot of Off-Zone and Off-Man coverage where they are 7-10 yards off the LOS leaving that quick hit wide open. That is how I would attack the defense of the Raiders. It sets up very well for Manning's style of offense. I am going to give a bold prediction here but Hayden will get picked on a lot in this game and Emmanuel Sanders has a big game for the Broncos to the tune of 125 yards 2 touchdowns.

Defensively--I will give the Raiders credit here as that offense is actually pretty darn good. They are young so they are prone to some drive killing mistakes but they definitely have their moments. OL wise this will probably be the best group the Broncos have ran into. Carr on some plays had all day just to look around and find somebody open. They are not as stout in run blocking. Their season average has been helped by a couple of nice runs (can't say much though cause the Broncos were helped by a 74 yard run just this last week). So here is how I attack the Raiders. I would lock up in man coverage on the outside and trust Chris Harris and Aqib Talib to continue to play like All-Pro level players. I would play Cover-1 where we have our FS Darian Stewart shadow to the side of Amari Cooper to help out while allowing the other corner to earn their money. I then bring up TJ Ward to help out in the run game to make sure the run game is contained plus have him with a great chance to blitz as he has 2 sacks this past week. I then have Trevathan man up the TE as he has done very well in this spot while allowing Brandon Marshall to once again help out in the run game while also being able to blitz. So far this year Derek Carr has only been blitzed 13.4% of the time. Look for that to change this week as the Broncos have the ultimate trust in their corners to not get burned for a bit play. I look for the Broncos to say we are going to make Carr beat us with pressure in his face and see if they can force him into a couple of big mistakes. His biggest issue last year was dealing with pressure so I"m sure the Broncos will want to do the same thing this year and see what happens.

Finally the biggest thing in stopping this Raiders offense is sound tackling. Cooper and Crabtree are great at Yards After the Catch. That is the biggest difference in Carr's stats this year in my opinion is he is still throwing a lot of the underneath passes but he is seeing these two guys turn that 5 yard catch into a 20 or more type play. That wasn't happening last year so again getting these guys down quickly after the catch will be huge in containing the Oakland offense. Thankfully the Broncos have been one of the best teams in the league at limiting yards after the catch this year as they are a very sound tackling team.

I know you won't agree with most of this Idaho but again this is just my opinion of what I saw when watching the Raiders games.

Cmon cd, condense it down a little, are you a Pro Blogger?? If not you should be.. This syrup that i call coffee has not kicked in yet.. Im smiling dude.. Anyways cd, you right?? I don't agree with all of that.. Carr has been pretty beastly when blitzed, that's why team are not doing that as much.. Again cd, this game will come down to trench play.. Ware and Miller and Mack and Aldon..

 

[cdumler7]

cd, sorry about that post dude.. These females that i know are messing me up man, they don't get it..
Anyways cd?? You know very well what Reggie walked into was going to take time to fix.. Massive Cap Hell, dead money, no 1st, 2nd, or 3rd draft picks, no foundation players, nothing!! You know this.. So how in the heck were we suppose to win?? NO players dude.. Hue Jackson was right, when he said?? They going to GUT that place!!
The RAIDERS took it back to formula man.. Now all of Reggie's drafts have produced starters, our CAP is unreal, our team is young and FUN to watch, foundation players at KEY spots.. That's what a GOOD GM is suppose to do.. We still have alot of work to do though.. Don't let hate blind you from seeing the truth..

cd, this is what i see from Elway?? The dude had to BUY his core players, Reggie drafted his..
Now we will see what kind of GM Elway is when PM is no longer there..

Oh I understand what he walked into. I'm saying right now we still have no clue on Reggie McKenzie and his ability. Yes he was given a pass there for a while because of the Cap Hell. This past year though he was out of Cap Hell and was able to spend big money yet the team had its worst year yet under him. Most of those FA's are gone already so to me that shows that at least FA wise that is still a bit of a struggle. This year so far not terrible but I also wouldn't say any stand out FA signings quite yet. Crabtree I will give has looked pretty decent but nothing much beyond that. As for drafts he had the one really good one last year but the others haven't produced any big stars. Murray is a decent RB but nothing special at least yet. His first year draft I don't think any of those players are even on the team. Counter that to the Broncos who found 4 starters in that draft with 2 of them coming from the 5th and 6th round picks. When you throw in all but one of those players are still on the team and the Broncos did not use a 1st round pick in that draft.

2013 doesn't look that much better even with a full draft. Hayden is getting picked on this year. That is why I wrote I hope Manning just keeps attacking him. Watson can't stay healthy. Moore was traded for a late round pick. Wilson was cut before the season even started. Kasa has been cut. Murray is starting so you have that. Rivera has been ok at TE. McGee is a rotational player. Butler is no longer with the team. And so on.

Again not saying that McKenzie is a bad GM but I am saying so far other than the one draft last year he hasn't done a whole lot from what I can see in helping to build this team out of the depths they have been in. Yes that one draft has been huge for the franchise. I need to see more consistency though.

As for Elway buying the core players he has done a mix. He drafted plenty of starters. Now his first draft has hit the open market so some of them are no longer here but starters from that draft are Rahim Moore, Orlando Franklin, Nate Irving, and Julius Thomas are all starting elsewhere in the league. Starters still here with the team are Von Miller and Virgil Green. The 2012 draft as I already said has starters Derek Wolfe, Ronnie Hillman, Malik Jackson, and Danny Trevathan. 3 of those players are starting on the best defense in the NFL. 2013 was Elway's worst draft but we still have Sly Williams starting at the NT doing well. The 2014 draft has Bradley Roby, Michael Schofield, and Matt Paradis all starting. Our 2014 draft has Ty Sambrailo starting. So from the draft that is still on the team we have 11 starters. Half the starters are from the draft.

Now if we extend that out to UDFA players they have brought in they have CJ Anderson and Chris Harris added to that list. We also brought in Brandon Marshall off another team's practice squad (he is the highest rated ILB in the NFL right now). So that is 14 of the 22 starters on the team brought in on very cheap contracts. The reason Elway can go out and sign guys like Manning and Ware are because he has hit so much on the draft and the UDFA pool. He has also been huge on finding bargain priced FA's such as Emmanuel Sanders, Darian Stewart, Evan Mathis, Owen Daniels, Antonio Smith (thank you for him by the way as he has been awesome), and Vance Walker. All of those guys are again on cheap contracts right now with the team performing some of them at pro bowl level.

 

[cdumler7]

Cmon cd, condense it down a little, are you a Pro Blogger?? If not you should be.. This syrup that i call coffee has not kicked in yet.. Im smiling dude.. Anyways cd, you right?? I don't agree with all of that.. Carr has been pretty beastly when blitzed, that's why team are not doing that as much.. Again cd, this game will come down to trench play.. Ware and Miller and Mack and Aldon..

Sorry get a little long winded. Condensed down

Offensively for the Broncos--Attack the corners with quick slants and come back routes as the Corners bail very quickly. In the run game attack the edges as the pass rushers are wanting to get after the QB and can be caught out of position.

Defensively--Play man on the outside with Cover 1 over the top to help. Get creative with how they bring 4 after Carr. Yes blitzing hasn't worked well because the OL has held up really well for the Raiders. So get creative with who comes and when they come. Sound tackling though is the biggest key for the Broncos as the Raider receivers are great at Yards AFter the Catch.

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

Oh I understand what he walked into. I'm saying right now we still have no clue on Reggie McKenzie and his ability. Yes he was given a pass there for a while because of the Cap Hell. This past year though he was out of Cap Hell and was able to spend big money yet the team had its worst year yet under him. Most of those FA's are gone already so to me that shows that at least FA wise that is still a bit of a struggle. This year so far not terrible but I also wouldn't say any stand out FA signings quite yet. Crabtree I will give has looked pretty decent but nothing much beyond that. As for drafts he had the one really good one last year but the others haven't produced any big stars. Murray is a decent RB but nothing special at least yet. His first year draft I don't think any of those players are even on the team. Counter that to the Broncos who found 4 starters in that draft with 2 of them coming from the 5th and 6th round picks. When you throw in all but one of those players are still on the team and the Broncos did not use a 1st round pick in that draft.

2013 doesn't look that much better even with a full draft. Hayden is getting picked on this year. That is why I wrote I hope Manning just keeps attacking him. Watson can't stay healthy. Moore was traded for a late round pick. Wilson was cut before the season even started. Kasa has been cut. Murray is starting so you have that. Rivera has been ok at TE. McGee is a rotational player. Butler is no longer with the team. And so on.

Again not saying that McKenzie is a bad GM but I am saying so far other than the one draft last year he hasn't done a whole lot from what I can see in helping to build this team out of the depths they have been in. Yes that one draft has been huge for the franchise. I need to see more consistency though.

As for Elway buying the core players he has done a mix. He drafted plenty of starters. Now his first draft has hit the open market so some of them are no longer here but starters from that draft are Rahim Moore, Orlando Franklin, Nate Irving, and Julius Thomas are all starting elsewhere in the league. Starters still here with the team are Von Miller and Virgil Green. The 2012 draft as I already said has starters Derek Wolfe, Ronnie Hillman, Malik Jackson, and Danny Trevathan. 3 of those players are starting on the best defense in the NFL. 2013 was Elway's worst draft but we still have Sly Williams starting at the NT doing well. The 2014 draft has Bradley Roby, Michael Schofield, and Matt Paradis all starting. Our 2014 draft has Ty Sambrailo starting. So from the draft that is still on the team we have 11 starters. Half the starters are from the draft.

Now if we extend that out to UDFA players they have brought in they have CJ Anderson and Chris Harris added to that list. We also brought in Brandon Marshall off another team's practice squad (he is the highest rated ILB in the NFL right now). So that is 14 of the 22 starters on the team brought in on very cheap contracts. The reason Elway can go out and sign guys like Manning and Ware are because he has hit so much on the draft and the UDFA pool. He has also been huge on finding bargain priced FA's such as Emmanuel Sanders, Darian Stewart, Evan Mathis, Owen Daniels, Antonio Smith (thank you for him by the way as he has been awesome), and Vance Walker. All of those guys are again on cheap contracts right now with the team performing some of them at pro bowl level.

cd, you need to understand that we had NO talent, picks nothing.. We went back to formula.. The first crop of FAs was just filler dude.. But that crop gave us Penn and Tuck.. To add to this great crop of FAs we added..
You trippin if you think Crabs is the only one producing for us out of this crop of FAs!! Btw.. You don't know what you talking about by saying that dude.. Reggie's goal is to build through the draft just like GB.. But we had no players, so we had to use FA to field a team for now.. Reggie hits on some and misses on some just like everybody else.. But make no mistake dude, dude is a beast at finding talent!!