I am really excited by E Ped, Rulon and Baker, and I can see them all making the roster. Lots of upside, and if you are going to take D Line projects (which most can be argued from first round to CFA) then a guy with these measurables…and also what Baker and Davis bring……we could be looking at our future right there.

That would be awesome. It’s totally unlikely, but this time of year is about dreaming for me.

Thanks for the write-up. He sure looks like he has potential.

It would be great if ANY of our CFA’s outperformed Jackson or Raji. : D

It would be very exciting to have completely rebuilt our defensive line this year, allowing Pedescleaux, Davis and Baker to grow together for the next couple of years, letting veterans fill in the gaps for immediate and short term.

Of course you know what they say about the ‘best laid plans’,. ;) It’s still early in the football season and optimism knows no bounds, I hope that I can see all of these guys in the preseason.

As part of a rotation this year. Great stuff. We dumped so much dead wood in the off season that this year presents a unique opportunity for a number of these guys to come in and compete for a roster spot and playing time.

The downside will be some rookie mistakes. But last year we all saw the upside to rookie enthusiasm and energy when its brought to the field by talented players who love the game and want to play.

I can easily see us with a line of defensive starters that were not here last year and a group of linebackers that is just awsome with some new and some new to their positions. I see a lot of energy on the defensive side of the ball and the ability to swarm to the ball. Traits that have been distinctly absent for far too long.

On NFL network, they talked about how BJ Raji will probably be switched to a defensive end. I don’t know why. Maybe he just can’t make the transition to the NFL NT position. He played in a 4-3 and didn’t see as much pressure because he played next to Ron Brace. So, I’m glad that we didn’t move up to get him. I like where we are.

Appreciate all the write-ups you’re putting together here. This is stop #1 every day for me.

With Baker, Davis and Pedescleaux, I think it highly likely that the Broncos will have found at least one diamond-in-the-rough. Here’s hoping it’s more.

Hate to nitpick, but it’s the Missouri Valley Conference, not Mountain Valley.

Great aticle BTW, he sounds like a late bloomer in regard to football. So that means he hasn’t taken a beating on his body yet and that is a huge plus. His talent seems good enough to potentially get him on the roster if he works hard enough. I think we’ll see Pedescleaux, Baker and Davis for extended series in the pre-season. With Ayers as the strong side LB, that could be an awsome group. Excited to see what these kids can really do……..

I am very excited about the offense. It’s going to be ridiculous. I watched a DVR’ed chicago bears game from my friend’s house. (clearly I wouldn’t dvr it, i am a broncos fan). Anyways, I was just amazed at some of the things Orton was doing with no receivers or an offensive line. I think he is going to do great things in Denver, where he will have a plethora of receiving options ………… and Moreno out of the backfield……………. and HILLIS!!!!!!!

I just don’t see any reason that we can’t be a top 5 offense. If we can have a top 20 defense, I say we go to the playoffs, no problem. I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE SEASON TO START!!!!!!!!!!

I love the research you do for these.

Also, It’s the Missouri Valley, Not Mountain Valley Conference :) Just being picky because I’m from Iowa.

it is nice to read about the potential that some of these guys have. Any insight to other possible gems, like Nate Swift or Kestahn Moore? Moore was an interesting pick up, he was a solid role player on Florida but he seems like a minnow in a tank of whales with all of our rb tooling this offseason…
great post rec’d

I have an article on Lee Robinson coming, as well as Rulon Davis. There’s a little none-tales coming out and after that I’m going to try for some offense guys to keep it even (already got Knowshon, though). Thanks for the suggestions – I like to touch on guys that you’re interested in.

You realize though our coaching staff couldn’t be this smart to find all these sleepers………don’t you read DP?

What a great season we are going to have….at the very least we will watch the Denver Broncos be reformed into team and most likely we will see the playoffs again!

I think our offense is going to be incredible and I think we will be (at least) competitive finally on defense and special teams.

Rec’d. This sounds like the kind of guy a good D-LIne coach can do something with.

First, on the character front — Pedescleaux was convicted of shoplifting, which may have contributed to his leaving UM. I’ve seen posts on another forum that accuse McDaniels of lying because we signed some UDFAs with off-the-field issues. Coincidentally, I pondered the issue of how the team would deal with OTF issues and came to the conclusion that you wouldn’t necessarily ignore athletes with minor infractions but you wouldn’t draft them high. You might only sign them as UDFAs, which is what we did.

I think McDaniels has delivered on his promise, considering how highly the draftees rate on character (and we’ve set a record, so to speak, with this class). I also think ‘Off-the-Field issues’ is a vague to the point of meaningless. What would constitute an OTF issue? Or, better, what wouldn’t constitute an OTF issue? I never considered McDaniels’ promise to be a promise to never give a chance to anyone with a misdemeanor type offense on their record, and we seem to have reached a compromise between emphasizing character and giving athletes who got in trouble a chance.

I’d love to hear from the critics of McDaniels on this issue, but let me be fair and set a minimum standard that applies to both the player and critic. This is the ‘glass houses’ standard, I’ll accept criticism of the McDaniels if you can assure me that you have no misdemeanors or un-prosecuted offenses that would constitute a misdemeanor.

Segueing back — this is an extraordinary group of UDFAs. The problem we have is numbers. Here’s a guess on the lineup (I’m at all certain on who will play where):

DE – Ayers, Peterson, (*Reid)
NT – Fields, Baker
DE – Thomas, Powell

Possibles — Pedescleaux, Rulon Davis, McBean, Clemons, Parker, Askew

I’ve only listed 6 — (Reid will add depth to both LB and the DL) — but 7 is the target number I’m looking at. That hardly leaves much room. One more DE could be added, but I wouldn’t necessarily assume that it will be a rookie.

Thomas will probably see time in the NT rotation, based on a statement by McDaniels, but I’m mostly in the dark so this should be viewed as a tool for planning rather than a prediction.

Powell is a question mark; his ability as a run stopper bodes well for him though.

Versatility is key. A player such as Fields has a leg up simply because he can switch between DE and NT, besides his importance playing the critical NT position. I expect this ability will help Thomas once he masters DE34.

An issue we haven’t talked about much — we have a number of returning DE34 types or DE/DT hybrids. We also made an aborted attempt to switch to the 3-4 last season, which may help the transition this year. I don’t expect we’ll be in the 3-4 all the time (of course) but there’s enough talent to stock a 3-4 at a minimal level — (recent UDFA signings help tremendously here).

Another segue — The issue of Denver’s in-attention to the DL during the draft is poorly understood. One, ‘addressing a need is not meeting a need.’ I’ll continue to say this till people get it. Two, the ‘formal problem of a temporary structure.’ Drafting players you’re going to cut doesn’t accomplish much, except paying them for their troubles. We had the beginnings of a good 3-4 already on our team, and bringing in lesser talents and paying them made no sense. A unconsidered problem (for most) is the acquisition of ‘half-solution’ players that you need to later replace. The draft is less a willy-nilly acquisition of whichever players fall your way than a carefully planned construction.

Moreover, this truly remarkable UDFA class did address the DL in a substantial way. Furthermore, we didn’t just address the DL in the UDFA crop, we also addressed ILB34 and the DBs. We’re saturated with talent presently and couldn’t add more without creating adjustment problems. We’re going to be relying on coaching to assemble these parts into a team from here out. We’ve been shorted so badly in the personnel development area lately (mostly on defense), that the idea of ‘making’ a better team doesn’t occur to people.

Finally, the trade for Alphonso Smith has been a ‘value revealing’ exercise. People expose their inner feelings and beliefs through certain situations. Not many people (apparently) believe that Smith was worth the trade because the pick we traded will be so high after the upcoming (again, apparently) catastrophic season. Although it’s often stated overtly, the primary belief regarding the trade is that our 1st pick next year will be very high. I think part of this because our expectations have been shifted towards realism. However, looking at the roster and knowing how good Nolan is as a coach, I’m inclined to see this as a much better team. I’m I looking through rose colored glasses? Gee, I guess I just didn’t see a Slowik led defense with Webster at MLB as that good. I also see tremendous promise in our offense, particularly the running game. Trading for A Smith seems like a no-brainer to me. I’ve harped on the issue of team-building before but it seems that many people still don’t understand the concept.

The guys at National Football Post, whom I have a lot of respect for (and their opinions as well), think we got some fantastic talent with this kid.

They rank him #5 out of the 3-4 DEs. Not bad at all for an undrafted player.

FYI, they also show some Chris Baker love. Scroll down: he’s the #4 NT.

Sure, there’s bound to be some dropoff in talent, but still: top five, and both undrafted? Maybe McD wasn’t so stupid not addressing the front seven in the draft after all.

Love reading your stuff…
Rec’d

They bring me closer to the action. I like to cheer for guys I know something about. And Bear brings the knowledge to endear these fellas to us.

Love it. Thanks Bear.

you deserve a back scratch AND a salmon on this one!

that you weren’t able to find any Chris Baker video, is that correct? I’ve been searching and have found nothing. Love the’Tails’.

Whenever I run a ‘Tales’ people cget excited, and they should. It’s great to learn about the players. I make a point of adding the negatives, too, and they’re important.

Equally important – for all the MSM silliness about the DL, we have a logjam of talent there. One can argue the level, which will be exposed next year, but there are a lot of guys fighting for about 7 slots, give or take. It’s going to be tough. I like hearing the less sunny side. It’s real

Just because I don’t post alot doesn’t mean I’m not paying attention. I’ve read all of your “tales”. Prater will be a pro bowler several times.in his career. Just thought I would throw that out.

that was incredibly informative and interesting. Nicely done!