Training Camp

[cdumler7]

So figured since Training Camp is a little different than actual off season we can post anything we hear about training camp on here.

Today brought about some good and some very bad news for the team. Let's just get the bad news out of the way...

Injuries. They happen every year. Two practices in and the Broncos have had Malik Jackson have a strained calf (although he did practice some today so good sign nothing serious), Conner Rains has been out with a foot injury, Vasquez ended up getting sick and missing the afternoon walk through yesterday (was back at practice today), Austin was suffering from the heat, and the worst injury being Kyle Williams who tore his Achilles and is out for the season. Tomorrow the team actually puts on helmets and shoulder pads then Monday is when the actual pads come on so practice is only going to get more intense from here on out. Thankfully other than the Kyle Williams injury all the other guys have returned or are at least practicing in a limited fashion.

Now onto the next bad. The OL is really struggling. That is honestly expected with so many new pieces in place but they are definitely the weak spot of the team so far in training camp. Sambrailo especially has gotten many bad reviews up to this point. Ware has been abusing him but Ware said that is part of the process in they will not take it easy on him so that he is prepared once the season starts. Sambrailo though has shown well in run blocking so far. Clark is the other that keeps getting abused. In fact they put Harris in at RT today with the 1's to see how he would handle the position.

Ok enough bad. Sly Williams is quickly making a name for himself at practice. He abused every OL player they put in front of him today. He was quick and he was actually using some counter moves when he did get stopped. Good sign for our DL if he can really step up this year.

Jordan Taylor is another. Almost every person writing about training camp keeps mentioning this kid. He is catching everything in sight. This kid definitely stands a very good chance of making the team if he can keep it up.

Another guy getting lots of praise is Brock Osweiler. He has had a couple of errant throws but beyond that many think he has looked almost as good as Manning so far. He especially looks really good doing the roll out throw on the run. By the way Manning has actually been practicing this in practice and has been very good at it so far.

Von Miller has been said to look as good as ever. They said he has an energy about him that they haven't seen since his second year in the league (when he had 18.5 sacks!). He is really stepping up into the leadership role.

Another stepping up in leadership is Louis Vasquez. He actually asked to coaches if he could take our 4th round pick Garcia under his wings as he sees a lot of promise in the kid.


I could keep writing but this is getting long enough...Any certain players any of you are wanting to know about? I read about 5-6 different places of people who are at camp right now so get a good overall view of the players since they can't watch them all at the same time.

 

[cdumler7]

So maybe the biggest news of the day has nothing to do with what actually happened on the field. Found out today that Von Miller is actually no longer in the drug program. He has gone from stage 3 where next bad mark would have gotten him suspended for a year to now not even in a stage. This would mean if he were to get popped for Pot right now he would only get a warning with it being considered now his first new strike. This makes negotiating with him after this season maybe a little more expensive unfortunately but also less worrisome that he could get suspended for an entire year.

 

[cdumler7]

This might be the quote of training camp so far...

Louis Vasquez when talking about the OL said "My mentality is by the end of the fourth quarter, we want to feel your soul wilt in our hands. So I'm trying to instill that in the offensive line because it's dirty work. You might as well get nasty with it."

I'm really hoping that Kubiak and his staff can finally bring back that OL that everybody fears to play. Those 90's OL's were the thing of legend. As much as people feared going up against John Elway or that of Terrell Davis I honestly think the defensive players feared much more going against that beast of a line we had.

 

[TDs3nOut]

This might be the quote of training camp so far...

Louis Vasquez when talking about the OL said "My mentality is by the end of the fourth quarter, we want to feel your soul wilt in our hands. So I'm trying to instill that in the offensive line because it's dirty work. You might as well get nasty with it."

I'm really hoping that Kubiak and his staff can finally bring back that OL that everybody fears to play. Those 90's OL's were the thing of legend. As much as people feared going up against John Elway or that of Terrell Davis I honestly think the defensive players feared much more going against that beast of a line we had.

No doubt about that. Zim, Jones, Stink, Neal, Nalen, et. al. were a formidable group. Thrown in House, Griffith, and the blocking of Eddie Mac and Rod Smith and blocking was just a top priority for the entire offense.

 

[randymon]

Good info Cd and thanks. Definitely heard great stuff so far on Jordan Taylor and like I mentioned earlier, he not just because of the 87#, reminds me a bit of Ed. Love the positive Sly news and am hoping to hear good news on Aniukee as well. Just to elaborate more on J. Taylor, I really like what I'm hearing but its going to be pretty unrealistic he gets gets opportunity to get any playing time with the wrs in front of him as far as reg season unless they have injury and he actually earns the 4 spot on depth chart before final cuts. One thing that could help with roster spot is STs play. I would not be surprised to see him get shot at punt returns. Eddy Mac was called on a few times in past and did admirable in possession aspect and Taylor is actually pretty fast for 6'5 @ 4.5. If they like him enough, they will find role for him in final roster. Have been kinda swamped for time myself lately but will get back at ya Cd with other players I'm keen on hearing about progress,etc. Cheers Gents

 

[Duffman]

Get rid of Andre Caldwell and keep Taylor, I think Caldwell isn't that great of a player and we could use his spot to develop some younger talent.

 

[cdumler7]

Good info Cd and thanks. Definitely heard great stuff so far on Jordan Taylor and like I mentioned earlier, he not just because of the 87#, reminds me a bit of Ed. Love the positive Sly news and am hoping to hear good news on Aniukee as well. Just to elaborate more on J. Taylor, I really like what I'm hearing but its going to be pretty unrealistic he gets gets opportunity to get any playing time with the wrs in front of him as far as reg season unless they have injury and he actually earns the 4 spot on depth chart before final cuts. One thing that could help with roster spot is STs play. I would not be surprised to see him get shot at punt returns. Eddy Mac was called on a few times in past and did admirable in possession aspect and Taylor is actually pretty fast for 6'5 @ 4.5. If they like him enough, they will find role for him in final roster. Have been kinda swamped for time myself lately but will get back at ya Cd with other players I'm keen on hearing about progress,etc. Cheers Gents

Taylor and Sly both had another good day today with the first full pads practice. Taylor will struggle some with separation but beyond that the guy has some great hands and looks like a decent route runner.

As for today's practice the big thing is no one got hurt! The players were getting pretty feisty with pads finally coming on but thankfully it didn't lead to any injuries.

One guy that has really benefited from the pads coming on is that of Joe Don Duncan. He was a one man wrecking crew today at the FB position. He was blowing players up left and right. He did take a hard hit from Bruton along the sideline but followed that up with knocking Lorenzo Doss on his butt the next play.

Big news from today is that of Britton Colquitt. He took a pay cut to stay with the team. Looks like a good chance he wins the punting duties for the team. This then means life is that much harder on Conner Barth as the team does not want to keep 2 kickers and with Barth's lack of ability to kick it deep this definitely gives McManus a leg up.

Many of the top veterans got a day off today so it was Osweiler at QB today. He had a very up and down day from what I understand. He made some nice throws but made some really bad mistakes. Siemien the kid we drafted in the 7th round though definitely impressed with his throws. Some thought he actually looked just as good as Osweiler. Have to remember he was going against 3rd string defense where Osweiler was going against 1st string but still the kid has some promise.

On the OL Ryan Harris for the 3rd straight day got the start at RT and did just fine. Couple of other OL players getting praise is that of Max Garcia and Paradis. Both really held their own today. Unfortunately Ty Sambrailo had a bad first day with pads on. Got chewed out by the coaches at one point. He has been very up and down so far but that is a bit expected considering the position he is playing, being a rookie, and the competition level he is facing every day.

Our 1st round pick Shane Ray finally had a good day at practice and caught the attention of the coaches. He has been pretty quiet so far but finally made some plays.

 

[cdumler7]

Get rid of Andre Caldwell and keep Taylor, I think Caldwell isn't that great of a player and we could use his spot to develop some younger talent.

At this point Caldwell does seem to be on the outside looking in. The young receivers seem to really be making a name for themselves yet haven't heard Caldwell mentioned once yet.

 

[cdumler7]

Just got done listening to a pretty cool interview where they were talking about the differences between this year and last year when it came to how training camp is being run. Essentially they said that Fox was not the biggest fan of practice so his practices were a lot slower. He also was very clear that he thought walk throughs were a waste of time so they would do some things but it wasn't what they are seeing this year. Fox was also a little more on the serious side.

Now onto what they are seeing this year...They said players look much more relaxed this year compared to last year. Some of that could be last year had such ridiculous expectations but also the coaches are trying to keep things moving and keep things a lot more engaged. They also said that walk throughs are now where they really spend the time working especially with the young guys to coach them up. There really is a huge emphasis towards coaching players up compared to years past. They have also entrusted this part of practice more to the veterans allowing guys like Ware to work with the DL and LB's, Vasquez with the OL, Peyton with the QB's, and Sanders with the WR's. The coaches have spent time coaching of course but they also want the veterans to take ownership as they think players are a little more willing to listen to the veterans at times.

So far it does seem Kubiak is living up to the billing of being a coach that loves to coach up the young guys. This was a huge reason Fox got fired so good to see it is not just smoke being blown towards us fans but it is actually playing out.

 

[cdumler7]

Couple of other interviews I listened to yesterday shined some light on some things...

First off listened to Mark Schlereth where he was being asked about his thoughts on the OL so far compared to last year. If you remember right last year he was one that almost every week was calling out the OL for how bad they were playing. He said that he actually is not worried about the OL this year more because of the system being put into place. He said that last year was terrible with how the coaches decided to try and run the OL. He said first off you have guys playing out of position. Next they were trying to run a somewhat ZBS but the issue is when you have a guy like Manny Ramirez he just isn't built for that kind of system. It is why Montgomery looked like the best OL player for us last year in that system fits him well. So he said this year the OL has a lot more athleticism and is geared towards actually running the true ZBS. He said last year what he saw was they had 5 OL players all having to win their individual battles and if one failed the whole play was completely ruined. He said that with this new system all 5 guys could mess up and the running play could still be a huge success. He said that happened all the time when he was with the Broncos.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Couple of other interviews I listened to yesterday shined some light on some things...

First off listened to Mark Schlereth where he was being asked about his thoughts on the OL so far compared to last year. If you remember right last year he was one that almost every week was calling out the OL for how bad they were playing. He said that he actually is not worried about the OL this year more because of the system being put into place. He said that last year was terrible with how the coaches decided to try and run the OL. He said first off you have guys playing out of position. Next they were trying to run a somewhat ZBS but the issue is when you have a guy like Manny Ramirez he just isn't built for that kind of system. It is why Montgomery looked like the best OL player for us last year in that system fits him well. So he said this year the OL has a lot more athleticism and is geared towards actually running the true ZBS. He said last year what he saw was they had 5 OL players all having to win their individual battles and if one failed the whole play was completely ruined. He said that with this new system all 5 guys could mess up and the running play could still be a huge success. He said that happened all the time when he was with the Broncos.

Hmm. Maybe those O-lines that Stink played on aren't as legendary as I thought! LOL

Speaking of O-line, I was reading a report of yesterday's practice (Broncos Training Camp Quick Hits: Day 4 and thought this excerpt quite interesting:

"Ryan Harris remained at right tackle with the first team, which led to a question of whether it was part of the line shuffling or something more permanent. "There is a method to the madness," Kubiak said, noting that the progress of Schofield had an impact. "I'm not sure I can describe it to you, but first off, I think the best I can give you is that Michael is doing a really good job on the right side, and we want to continue to get him reps over there and look at him. The other guys, we feel like are pretty interchangeable. Michael's got to be, too, but we're trying to settle him down a little bit and look at him a little bit more.""

Reads to me as if Kubiak thinks that Schofield might win the starting RT spot.

 

[cdumler7]

Hmm. Maybe those O-lines that Stink played on aren't as legendary as I thought! LOL

Speaking of O-line, I was reading a report of yesterday's practice (Broncos Training Camp Quick Hits: Day 4 and thought this excerpt quite interesting:

"Ryan Harris remained at right tackle with the first team, which led to a question of whether it was part of the line shuffling or something more permanent. "There is a method to the madness," Kubiak said, noting that the progress of Schofield had an impact. "I'm not sure I can describe it to you, but first off, I think the best I can give you is that Michael is doing a really good job on the right side, and we want to continue to get him reps over there and look at him. The other guys, we feel like are pretty interchangeable. Michael's got to be, too, but we're trying to settle him down a little bit and look at him a little bit more.""

Reads to me as if Kubiak thinks that Schofield might win the starting RT spot.

I really hope that Schofield does! Honestly the more young guys that win the battles the better for us in the long run. Yes it might lead to the early part of the season being a bit of a struggle but for the end of the season and beyond I do think if the younger guys can prove themselves the quicker we get to being one of the better OL's in football once again. I don't mind though if Harris starts this year at the RT spot. He didn't do too bad last year for the Chiefs and in the system that he was drafted for he should be even a little better. Plus he would be playing next to an All-Pro player as that should make a huge difference.

So far OL from what I have heard Garcia, Paradis, Vasquez, Harris, and Schofield have been the stand out guys. They have actually shown some good promise. Guys though that have really struggled are Sambrailo, Garland, and Clark. The rest of them I haven't heard one way or the other so they must not be messing up to bad but not doing anything to really impress.

 

[TDs3nOut]

I really hope that Schofield does! Honestly the more young guys that win the battles the better for us in the long run. Yes it might lead to the early part of the season being a bit of a struggle but for the end of the season and beyond I do think if the younger guys can prove themselves the quicker we get to being one of the better OL's in football once again. I don't mind though if Harris starts this year at the RT spot. He didn't do too bad last year for the Chiefs and in the system that he was drafted for he should be even a little better. Plus he would be playing next to an All-Pro player as that should make a huge difference.

So far OL from what I have heard Garcia, Paradis, Vasquez, Harris, and Schofield have been the stand out guys. They have actually shown some good promise. Guys though that have really struggled are Sambrailo, Garland, and Clark. The rest of them I haven't heard one way or the other so they must not be messing up to bad but not doing anything to really impress.

Good point about the benefits of the young guys succeeding.

I am worried about LT. If Sambrailo isn't up to the task, what do you think is our best option?

 

[cdumler7]

Good point about the benefits of the young guys succeeding.

I am worried about LT. If Sambrailo isn't up to the task, what do you think is our best option?

I'm honestly not too worried yet. First off we still have Clark on the team who started there on our run to the Super Bowl. We also have Ryan Harris who has played LT in this style of offense before so we have plenty of veteran experience if we need it. Right now though I think they are throwing Sambrailo in the deep end knowing he is going to struggle for the first week or two but in the hopes that by doing so he will learn to swim. I mean he is going against possibly the best pass rushing duo in the entire league day in and day out so he should be honestly losing at least some of these battles. If we make it to the 3rd preseason game though and he is struggling with the pass rush then honestly it will be time to make the switch. Like I said though we have experience at the position. Heck I think Clark finished in the top-15 in the league at LT in his year of starting. Last year Clady finished 22nd so Clark could even still be an upgrade for the position if needed.

 

[TDs3nOut]

I'm honestly not too worried yet. First off we still have Clark on the team who started there on our run to the Super Bowl. We also have Ryan Harris who has played LT in this style of offense before so we have plenty of veteran experience if we need it. Right now though I think they are throwing Sambrailo in the deep end knowing he is going to struggle for the first week or two but in the hopes that by doing so he will learn to swim. I mean he is going against possibly the best pass rushing duo in the entire league day in and day out so he should be honestly losing at least some of these battles. If we make it to the 3rd preseason game though and he is struggling with the pass rush then honestly it will be time to make the switch. Like I said though we have experience at the position. Heck I think Clark finished in the top-15 in the league at LT in his year of starting. Last year Clady finished 22nd so Clark could even still be an upgrade for the position if needed.

Makes sense. All the more reason to hope that Schofield earns the RT job.

 

[cdumler7]

Makes sense. All the more reason to hope that Schofield earns the RT job.

Couldn't agree more! I am loving hearing that some of our young guys like Paradis, Schofield, and Garcia are having great practices so far. We have really been missing the young guys stepping up lately. We have had some on defense like Brandon Marshall last year kind of thing but on the offensive side of the ball especially on the OL we have had nothing. It is why last year we were starting what 2 or 3 guys over the age of 30. This is why while I didn't mind Fox I am glad he is gone. I don't think these young guys would have stood a chance if he was still here. Our OL would easily have been Clark-Smith-Gradkowski-Vasquez-Harris. Not a single guy that we drafted (well unless you count Harris) getting a shot at starting.

 

[cdumler7]

Some interesting notes from today...

First one that really sticks out to me is that of the kicker competition. I guess Conner Barth spent the entire off season working with a kick off specialist and it really showed as he was kicking some of the kick offs out of the end zone today.

Cody Latimer is really making a name for himself. He was making catches everywhere over everybody. Really going to be hard for the coaches not to get him meaningful snaps this year.

Von Miller once again abused the OL players in 1-on-1 drills. Now these are made to benefit the defense but he was making people look silly today.

Manning looked sharp today. The day off really seemed to energize him as he was dropping passes into very small windows.

DT and Antonio Smith should be full go possibly Thursday or Friday according to Kubiak.

There were some injuries today but all minor. Kubiak expects all the guys back by Thursday.

 

[cdumler7]

The rookies showed up well today. Ty Sambrailo bounced back today doing really well against DeMarcus Ware. Shane Ray since the pads came on has been getting better with each practice. He made a couple of OL players bite on some outside moves to then spin back in.

 

[randymon]

Was wondering if anybody has seen/heard how often the offense is using the two back system and who is in there as FB with 1st team? Also, besides Bolden, who else is getting return reps in punt/ko?

 

[cdumler7]

Was wondering if anybody has seen/heard how often the offense is using the two back system and who is in there as FB with 1st team? Also, besides Bolden, who else is getting return reps in punt/ko?

The Broncos have been running a ton of 2-back plays so far. Right now the two guys they have been using in the FB position is James Casey and Joe Don Duncan. From what I hear Duncan has been a one man wrecking crew from the position. What I could see the team do is keep 3-TE's in Green, Daniels, and Casey while then also having Duncan listed as a FB as he can play the TE position as well.

Right now pretty much everybody not named D. Thomas and Cody Latimer have been getting reps from the WR position as a returner. Looks like the team really wants a guy that is both a good receiver and returner. No more of just having the specialist on the roster. I would say Jordan Norwood is the front runner for the punt return duties at this time. He has looked good as both a returner and WR so far in camp just like he did last year. They have been having Sanders do some punt returns but I think that is more in case our punt returner would get hurt we still have a guy that can do the job kind of move.