Horse Tracks 9/30/08

“Oh, I’m angry that I couldn’t get my precious yard total at home :`( Waaaaaaaaaahhh.”

I would have laughed my ass off if they would have thrown him his three yard pass on that last drive, and Champ would have picked it off and returned it for the game-tying touchdown. And on that touchdown when he got “hurt?” Yeah, he was faking. He should win an Emmy for that. Seriously, that got the crowd into the game more than anything that happened on the field. They were all standing and chanting “Ton-y! Ton-y!” while he sat there and smiled. It was disgusting.

sometimes dreams are worth a risk as scary as losing your ability to walk. I know if I had a chance I would take that chance…

In the Grades post I said the offense and STs were mostly to blame for the loss and my mind hasn’t changed. Four turnovers on the road doesn’t do your defense any favors. Neither does allowing 86 yards on two kick returns. The defense gave up a lot of points to San Diego & New Orleans, two high octane offenses, but made stops when they needed them. They did the same thing against KC except the offense kept putting them in terrible situations and eventually, you just don’t have the energy left to make a stop. Everybody needs to calm down about changing DCs and wait for the rest of the season to play. This is not a good defense but they are far from a terrible one.

Is Slowik the answer? Thats still up in the air. however changing defensive coordinators every year is whats REALLY hurt this team. They’ve never had the opportunity to have any consistency.

My personal opinion? I would of loved to have kept Larry Coyer. We had the best defense in the NFL for 1/2 the year, but due to our offense being on the field about 5 min a game, the defense wore DOWN by mid season.

So just imagine if we had that same defense now, with this offense. WOW… contenders. Of course we had pieces we’re missing now. ie Rough and Tough MLB Field General, and a Field Lieutenant S… and I suppose some better Grunts in the trench too.

It was interesting to see Kliis’ take on our priorities in the next draft:

If I had to handicap the Broncos’ 2009 draft, I’d say their top five priorities, in no particular order, would be defensive tackle, safety, middle linebacker, defensive end and cornerback. Then they can start looking at adding another receiver.

He — oddly — gives us his priorities and then qualifies his choice by saying “in no particular order,” but I have to believe his choices do reflect what he believes the ordering of Broncos’ priorities should be. The first three — DT, S & MLB — are what we’ve been saying, although sometimes in slightly different order.

I’ve been re-examining the Broncos’ needs once again (and some would say endlessly) and I think Kliis has hit the mark. And many of us, both here and in other fora, have been saying the same thing for some time. The question is merely which athletes will be available when the Broncos choose. We all recognize that Denver may be able to move if there is a player they covet, but I’ve been arguing lately that we should widen our focus rather than ‘lock in’ on particular athletes, often to the exclusion of other possibilities. I wasn’t unaware of this, but the presence of two possible impact MLBs made the prospect of drafting one of them an obvious way of solving some of our defensive problems.

My opinion has changed somewhat lately regarding the Broncos’ needs, I’m not as dead set on a MLB in the 1st round. Knowledgeable sources here at MHR have pointed out the that a MLB could have an immediate impact but recent defensive performances have highlighted our weaknesses on the DL. I still like the idea of a stellar MLB in the 1st round, such as Maualuga or Laurinaitis, but it’s too easy to over-estimate the importance of a stellar MLB and concommitantly underestimate the contribution of other positions.

I’m still a firm believer in the importance of being strong in the middle of the defense, but solving the problem of improving the Bronco defense requires an adaptable strategy; not a rigid one. It’s far too easy to imagine a great LB like Al Wilson coming in and fixing our problems but Al Wilsons are rare. Moreover, I don’t think a single LB could solve all our defensive problems. And our needs are many, which makes attacking the problem on multiple fronts a wise course of action. Another reason to employ this strategy is because drafts often don’t go off as planned. The best player available when the Broncos draft may be in a position other than our idealized solution to our weaknesses.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t attempt to address our weaknesses if an attractive athlete in another area is available. I’m saying that a fluid strategy entails adapting to contingencies as they arise. We can still take the BPA, and in an area of need, but the sequence can change. I’d like to see them target the main areas of need — DT, S, MLB — but the order of addressing these areas can change as contingencies arise. I DO want them to see them address all of these areas (see Combination Drafting), and drafts almost always allow teams to do this. We will be able to address the target needs in the earlier rounds, there’s enough players available to allow this. Deviations from may come in in the areas such as DE, OLB and CB, along with some of the offensive positions. It’s likely that there will be OLs deemed draftworthy, even though it’s an area of strength. The strength of the draft at certain position makes it hard to pass on some players. The one thing I think the Broncos can’t deviate from is the recent emphasis on character. Also, their first consideration should be whether an athlete is a player. Physical metrics can be looked at once this is determined.

There is still work to be done on Denver’s defensive scheme — unfortunately. Some adjustments can be made but I don’t think the coaching staff has found the right answer yet. Some of the problems will diminish with the infusion of talent, but the scheme itself needs to be reevaluated. I’m really, really not a fan of frequent scheme changes because it robs the defense of desperately needed cohesion. However, there are advantages to schemes that allow the defense to throw the opponent’s offense off-stride. Fixing our personnel weaknesses is part of the solution but we still need to find the right scheme, and there’s no better time than when we rebuild the defense.

One added note — A recent comment by HT about big DEs paralleled my own thinking on the subject. There are a lot of DEs that look like Jarvis Moss in the upcoming draft. Although it’s a mistake to give up on a position because you’ve been burned (for instance, many Detroit fans didn’t like the idea of drafting Calvin Johnson because of past busts at WR), the real problem is that everyone has become a little too enamored with sacks. I’ve focused on some of the big DEs because we need a little more muscle up front. Sack specialist are fine but much of their success comes from pressure applied by their fellow DLs. It wouldn’t hurt to get a DE in the mold of Bruce Smith or Reggie White.

Here’s the top 100 NFL prospects.

I can’t speak to the accuracy of the report, but I heard on Fox Sports Radio that Davis is already refusing to pay his remaining contractual obligation to Kiffin?! The sad thing there is that by the time Kiffin is in position to exact his revenge Shannie-style, the Corpse will likely be dead.