but I submit we forward the “Primary Rotational” system as a candidate for the list :P

I am, of course, referring to the Bells that graced Bronco uniforms together a few years back. Shanny decided to go with whoever was “the hot back” game in and game out. Boy, what that fun. Gotta love the pounding Shanny took from fantasy football owners for that.

As long as the zone blocking system survives, this new replacement youth on the line could very well cement the rotational or spell system in Denver for years to come as the old O-Line had done successfully for a few good years. Correct?

Furthermore, would you say a zone blocking system is one that is the most conducive to that type of depth usage?

Has to do with depth. In baseball, the best depth is in the farm system, but there isn’t an equivalent in football, so they obviously have to create depth in the team itself. What positions are the best to have depth at? (sorry for the horrible wording there). Do the really good teams have a ton of depth everywhere or just at the positions that really matter? Is it better to have less depth at more positions or more depth at certain positions?

Another great lesson, by the way!

speed and power. Franchise running backs that play a majority of the game are preferable to running backs by committee, because whenever a committee approach is employed there are invariably conflicts with egos. Being “The Man” is an ego thing, and when you are not considered able to be “The Man” then that bruised ego might result in poor performance. I want “The Man” to be in Denver, whose back we can ride to another Championship! I just can’t stop talking about a franchise back…I am tired of running back by committee that Shanny has fallen in love with. It’s time to shake things up a bit!

Given our roster, wouldn’t it make sense to pound like hell with Henry (or Torrain if Henry goes down) and then insert Young? All of Young’s carries come in the series before half and in the second half of the fourth quarter.

There are several ways to soften up a defense.

You could go the “FirstFan” approach, which is to hit hard for a little over a quarter in each half, then pull the starter for a second RB. This is called “Late Power” running.

You can also hit with a power runner, then use a change up runner every few plays (either another power guy, or a fast guy). This is simply called “Change of Pace” running.

Thanks for the explanation ht!

as usual, HT. Thanks!

if shanny is right about torain’s first-round talent, then by next season you may have your franchise back. he has to be GREAT for that scheme to succeed, though. of course, you won’t see much of young then in that scenario, which would be a waste of his talent. i would be very happy with a torain/young combo next season, if torain proves he can be the man. i just don’t believe he is going to be healthy enough or knowledgable enough this season to take over the rb position.
young as a franchise back would be suicide-by-pigskin. ht noted above-”Often the fans see the exploits of the speed back, and demand that he plays a greater role, forgetting that it was the power back who made the long, flashy run possible by wearing down the defense. ” there are countess examples of change-of-pace guys getting to start, and the odds are they will not succeed. i always like to use lamont jordan as an example, because he was so highly touted, a sure thing. curtis martin just made him look good.
tiki barber is an example of an exeption to this rule, but there are very few.

give it some time, and remember, “td’s and mccafferey’s don’t grow on trees”.

0ak, you crack me up. Al Davis had to sell a 5% stake in the Raiders to even raise the cash to overpay the free agents he signed. He’s the least personally wealthy owner in the NFL, and didn’t acquire the team by excelling in another business, like 30 of the 31 other ownership families (Mike Brown in Cincinnati also being a relative poverty case.)

The Javon Walker signing was universally considered to be insane league-wide. Nobody else was offering within $25 million of what the Raiders offered, but I guess that’s a dysfunctional-franchise premium. Then there’s Tommy Kelly, a slightly below-average DT coming off an ACL tear. Paying that guy $50 million is just absurd. Gibril Wilson? Remember Larry Brown? They haven’t even paid McFadden yet, either, and he is more like Reggie Bush than he is like Adrian Peterson. Have fun overpaying for him, too. The NFL is not a league for tall, skinny-legged, upright runners, and picking one 4th overall puts your salary structure in a tough spot. Raiders fans will be moaning about how they could have had Glenn Dorsey for the next 10 years, you watch.

0ak, thanks for making me laugh on a Friday morning before work. We’re all pretty optimistic and happy to be Broncos fans around here, which I suspect is why you visit us. Maybe the Raiders will get a new owner for Christmas one of these years, and rejoin the ranks of the viable, and y’all can feel good too.

is having an attack like we had in 2005. Mike Anderson to pound and Tatum Bell to hit the “HR” runs. Unfortunatley, losing Anderson to the Ravens and Bell flopping in 2006 led to the run failures in 2006 and 2007. TD was a special player that had both power and speed, but it is a rare combination to find. At this point, they need to find players that will fill the role (circa 2005). Will it be Henry and Young? or could it be someone else?

Great topic. How about proof that the commitee approach is better (at least in the current version of the NFL)...

Look at the history of recent NFL Champs:

Giants-commitee
Colts-committe
Steelers-committee
Pats-committe
Pats-committe
Bucs-commitee
Pats-commitee
Ravens-Franchise
Rams-Franchise
Broncos-Franchise
Broncos-Franchise

The top franchise backs currently and their playoff wins as the starter:

LaDanian Tomlinson-2
Larry Johnson-0
Adrian Peterson-0
Steven Jackson-0
Bryan Westbrook-2
Frank Gore-0

Joe Addai has 2 playoff wins, but he was part of a ‘commitee’ approach that year w/ Dom Rhodes, who consequently had the big Super Bowl and was overpaid the next season by the Raiders.

denver defense – jim bates = hope

We got a teaser that bears on this – it seems that although Eddie Royal has gotten a lot of well-deserved good press in the past few days, Torain has been impressing the Coach:

After seeing Torain perform during the last two weeks, Shanahan expects the fifth-round selection to contribute in the Broncos backfield this season.

“He’s done a great job,” Shanahan said. “He’s picked things up very quickly. As we all know at the running back position you really can’t tell until you have some live ammunition out there and people are trying to tackle you. But I have been impressed with the way he has worked so far. You can see his cutting ability and his ability to catch the ball. He’s looked good.”

Torain was surprised with how smooth quarterback camp went.

“The offense is rolling,” he said. “It is coming pretty easy. The coach is working with us so much, I feel good about it.”

Torain said the formula for competing at the NFL level is pretty easy—it all comes down to having confidence, a hard work ethic and utilizing your talent.

There is a backfield full of running backs trying to apply the same formula.

“It is great competition,” he said. “This is the top level of football so you just have to work hard and get a spot.”

Although some of us, including myself, have wondered if Torain might not start the season on the IR, perhaps he’s going to be the back that we are looking for to either work the commitee, or to excel in the tradition of TD. Since Pittman can also move to FB, where we might see Hillis solidify that weakness, we are looking at both the best group of receivers in recent memory and also a potentially lethal backfield to both guard Cutler and to give opposing players fits.

It can all change overnight, but from here it looks like the pieces are definitely coming together.

super7, i actually have this game on dvd. i bought it to torture myself. sewell was hit/stripped from behind inside the bills’ 35-yard line. i think there was a minute and a half left at the time. a few short runs, we could have tied it, and we had the momentum. elway was knocked out of the game, but not before he was hit/stripped by cornelius bennet at our own 5-yard line, leading to the only buffalo td.

after an off year, this wast our last hurrah with that group. we went pretty heavy with the defense that year, under wade phillips, and played a masterpiece of a game defensively. the k-gun was putting up like 40 points a game that season, and we held them to basically nothing. we were running the 3-4, lots of movement, blitzed like mad, and buffalo didn’t have an answer. they actually looked afraid and confused.
but alas, treadwell did miss 3 field goals, and then the sewell thing at the end sealed our fate. i actually thought this team had a chance in the sb, only because our d was the best it had been in the era, and wade was a brilliant coordinator. i believe he parlayed this performance into the head coaching job the next season, after shanny informed us he wasn’t ready to be a hc again. great team, painful loss, but i’m glad there’s people out there that remember this team in ‘91.

this was the season we beat houston in the playoffs 26-24, in “the drive” fashion. they pummeled us in the regular season 42-14, by the way. the oilers were the only team to score more than 20 points on us ALL SEASON. the bills game ended up 10-7, with no elway. this team had a shot, believe me, but much like karlis, treadwell did us in. we better find a good kicker quick, i’m starting to get worried about that now. here’s the d:

DEFENSE
LE 91 Warren Powers
NT 71 Greg Kragen
RE 90 Ron Holmes
LO 73 Simon Fletcher
LI 77 Karl Mecklenburg
RI 51 Mike Croel
RO 56 Michael Brooks
LC 34 Tyrone Braxton
RC 24 Wymon Henderson
FS 27 Steve Atwater
SS 49 Dennis Smith

i forgot jim turner and his 2-3 misses in the ‘77 sb. great kicker, awful game

Zappa – We chose Torain based on what the scouting team considered to be his perfect skill set for and familiarity with the one-cut system. I can’t speak about Omon or Choice since I liked both and was surprised at Torain. However, the Goodman’s have been refining their analysis tools for what they consider to be the ‘right’ running back for our system, and seem to know their business.

They did well on Young, and I was encouraged at Shanahan’s recent comment that “There is a big difference between years 1 and 2”, as well as Young’s gain of 15+ lbs of muscle and his admittedly high expectations of his coming year. Perhaps what they saw in Torain will give us the thunder to Young’s lightning. I’m open on Hall – camp will tell us how or if he has matured and developed. What do you think?

I ran into a strange stat – Scout.com ranked Hillis as the 78th player avvailable in this years draft. Value pick or what?

Even stranger – Eddie Royal was ranked 83rd.

...from “sporting news draft”-may issue, based on position rank. special mentions included:

anthony allridge-#12 rb
ryan clady-#1 tackle, best pass blocker
peyton hillis-#1 fb, best receiver
brett kern-#1 punter
spencer larsen-#11 ilb, sleeper pick
kory lichtensteiger-#2 center, best run blocker, on the rise pick
carlton powell-#17 dt
eddie royal-#12, on the rise pick, best undersized player list, #3 top return men list
ryan torain-#30 rb, #1 priority free-agent list
jack williams-#17 cb, sleeper pick, best undersize player list
wesley woodyard-#24 olb

not bad, considering some of the injuries here. josh barrett is nowhere to be found. i think he was the one who took a 2-year hiatus, and also was injured. must have slipped through the cracks, i guess. looks like a solid draft, though

Thanks