Pinnock waived? Branson signed? Hillis on the rise!

I had seen earlier in the day the signing of LB Nick Greison, for what I assumed to be more training camp fodder, or if he made the roster, mainly ST help and depth. But I hadn't noticed that Pinnock had been waived in order to make room for Greison. This comes as somewhat as a surprise, but at the same time helps solve a lot of the "OMG we have way too many RBs!!!!!!!" panic among some here at MHR and definitely in the MSM in their grade of the Broncos draft.

It seemed like the general consensus prior to this move was that Pinnock would be the ideal iso fullback for McDaniels new offense, and that he had likely made the cut by remaining on the roster this long. With Buckhalter, Arrington, Jordan and Hillis already forming a pretty decent group of RBs, the addition of Moreno did give us a veritable glut of tailbacks. At this point, assuming Pinnock was making the team as the only true blocking fullback would pretty much guarantee a FA signee would be cut if either young or torain were to make the team. In my opinion, Young is gone, and Torain has to have a great camp in order to make the roster. Either of them might end up on the practice squad. But now, with Pinnock cut, the possibilities are more interesting.

The CFA signing of Marques Branson out of Central Arkansas is intriguing to me because he seems like a virtual Hillis clone- the state, the size, the H-back abilities. I think that our assumption that the new offense would require a blocking fullback is definitely false. As we know, McDaniels is not idiot, and I'm pretty sure he would like a fullback (H-back, whatever) who can catch, carry the ball, etc. over one whose only role is blocking. I know I prefer Hillis over the typical FB. In addition, the priority drafting of Richard Quinn signals that we are in store for more 2 or 3 TE formations. It seems that our roster moves show a greater use of the TE for blocking and a shift towards using Hillis to maximize his abilities. Branson should at least make the practice squad if he's anywhere near as talented as Hillis, and maybe the roster as a backup. We could see a whole new position evolve using Hillis and Branson in McDaniel offense. I think signing a player so similar to Hillis is evidence he will play a large role in the new offense, and therefore having a backup with similar skills is neccessary. If McDaniels was using Hillis as a fullback or RB without regard to his unique skillset, we would not see the roster moves outlined above.

As the offseason unfolds, I'm getting really drunk on the orange kool-aid, and can't wait to see our new-look team. I don't think we can have too many quality RBs given what happened last year, and given that I think we're going to see a lot of running the ball this year, which I am pumped about. Let me know what you think about the addition of Quinn and Branson, and the release of Pinnock. I think these moves speak volumes about the bright future of the car-pullin' Rumblin' Redneck Peyton Hillis!

 http://blog.denverbroncos.com/denverbroncos/broncos-sign-greisen/