Midterm Grades are in, what's your grade?

Well, it is the halfway point in the season, time for some mid-term grades.  This is strictly my opinion and obviously I am no teacher, so they carry no weight with any teaching board, but are posted for debate:

Coaching A- I will admit that I had some very serious concerns with McDaniels coming into the season, I still may not agree with a lot of the off-field choices, but I think he has grown through the off season and definitely has changed the attitude at dove valley.  Mike Nolan and the defensive staff have been a god-send and have helped transform an awful defense to a very good one with potential to be great very soon.  I give them an A- because we have not improved in special teams and we have seen a struggle in the lack of production in the running game, I think mainly due to a change to a trap blocking scheme versus a zone blocking scheme.

Quarterback B+ I am not the fan of Orton as a long term solution to the position, but he has adapted well and I think has generally played up to his abilities.  He has been efficient and takes what the defense gives him.  He still has issues with staring down WR and leading DB to them, but he generally has been good about ball protection and not forcing too many throws. 

Running Back C+ This grade may be a little harsh, but with the investment in RB in the offseason, I think we should be getting better production.  While I think Buckhalter has played very well, I don’t think he is built to be a feature back.  Moreno I would grade as a C- to a D+, I understand he is a rookie, yet we have had plenty of rookie RBs with much better production,  he needs to start stepping up and doing all the little things better (ball security, blocking, not dancing in the hole).  You could argue that the RB grade is dependent on the o line, but I think they go hand in hand.  Look at a guy like Steven Jackson,  I doubt any of us could name anyone on St. Louis O-line, but guys like that make your O-line better.

Tight Ends A This really is an unsung strength of this team.  Schefler has remained healthy and been very productive when the plays are designed for him.  Graham continues to be the best combo TE in the league.  I was at the New England game, and Graham was opened all day and dominated on the blocking.  Hopefully we get some more focus of the passing game to these guys as the season wears on, I think that both could have over 500 yards if they were thrown to more.

Wide Receivers B+ This may be somewhat harsh, since the WR production is limited to our QB play.  But I think Eddie Royal has struggled with gaining separation along with Stokely.  A lot of this offense is based on YAC production, which has been good but not outstanding.  Gaffney has been a pleasant surprise, hopefully the production goes up as the season wears on and timing becomes better.

Offensive Line C The lines play has been generally average.  We may have thought this line was a lot better based on Cutler having some better scrambling ability and getting rid of the ball earlier and not taking too many sacks.  That being said, this line does have talent and should be getting better production, it seems that the interior of the line has struggled the most, especially against physical fronts.  This may be due to a change in the blocking scheme or it may be due to Hamilton and Wiegman being undersized.  What would be nice to see is some nastiness in the line, as Alfred Williams said today, we need to start putting people on their butts, we have not been doing that.

Defensive Line B Although not spectacular they have done their job for the most part and are demanding double teams and clogging lanes.  While we have not seen a dominate D-lineman, they have been able to hold the point of attack for the most part and have helped free up the LB’s.  They have played up to or beyond their talent level in addition to learning a new system, this probably is my biggest surprise.

Linebackers B+ Earlier I would of given this unit an A, but the last couple of weeks have shown some chinks in the armor.  The pass rush from these guys has been exceptional, either from the edge or up the middle, all of the LB’s have shown they can rush the QB.  The coverage has generally been pretty good and we have not seen too many screens or passes to the RB/TE that have really gashed us.  Tackling has been pretty good and we had not missed too many tackles, as opposed to last year.  That being said, I have noticed that the edge are not holding the force on outside plays and the inside backers of late have been taking some poor angles. 

Defensive Backs A- Brian Dawkins has been a godsend in reestablishing some attitude from the safety position and for the defense.  In general the coverage has been good to outstanding.  Goodman has played very well and Bailey has generally played up to his standards.  That being said, the last few games there has been some issues, although I think some of that is more about the pass rush not getting to the QB or the QB making an excellent play.  I would like to see some more int from Bailey, especially with more QB challenging his side of the field.

Special Teams D Aside from Eddie Royal’s two TD returns against a horrible coverage unit in SD, the special teams have been nothing special.  The kick offs have been mediocre, FG have been OK but nothing to inspire confidence, punting has been poor to atrocious, returns have been poor to bad with stupid mistakes almost costing us several games.  With the emphasis that had been placed on special teams, these units should be much better than they are.  Hopefully with some time to gel the production will go up.

Overall B+ This grade may be somewhat harsh since the general feeling going into the season is that 6-2 would be above anyone’s expectations.  But I live in the land where you don't expect or accept failure from the team, I expect that we are going to be a winning team, and if we are not, then that is a dissappointment.  I do not live with the idea that we should be happy that a team performs below average but above the stated expectations, then that is a succes.  We are the Broncos 8-8, 7-9 are not a good season, ever, no excuses.  But there are obvious areas where this team can improve.  That being said, I think the there are five games on the remaining schedule that we should win, a game against NY that we should be able to win, and that would put us at 12-4, and 13-3 is still a  real possibility.