d-line thing is bit depressing but all in all good news!

This is awesome, I really love this time of year! Haha the Broncos and MHR are definitely addictive, after reading this I NEED MORE! It’s definitely nice to be reading this kind of stuff, especially being half way across the world! Great to hear about Smith and Marshall….hopefully the D line will pick it up.

I’m like a kid in a candy store……it’s so great to finally have something happening!! Great news about Torain, and good to see Dawk showing the young guys what to do. Thanks for being our eyes and ears! Gimme More! I’ll be impatiently waiting for more information :)

Thanks Guru!

anyone else get the feeling Alphonso is this year’s Eddie Royal?

what were the looks the defense were given? 5-2? 4-3? 3-4?

Who was “starting” most of the time?

thanks for the insight!

if champ is out, is alphonso starting? if so, is he lining up against marshall or royal?

John,
Ryan Torain, when healthy, could be the starter. Maybe Knowshon should take note. Coach Turner really liked the player last year before the injury bug took his year away. Here is hoping for better this year. IMO if Ryan does show up, then Correll or LaMont maybe out of the 53.

I have to agree with you, watching 300lbs linemen hit the sled, could not elicite much excitement. When the DL and OL are in 7 on 7 is when your words of praise or not will mean more.

I have never had a quip about Kyle Orton. At Purdue he was an excellent spread QB with all the throws. He broke/tied Drew Brees records and was named All American QB behind to players, one not in the NFL White, and another, Leinhart, who is a backup.

I think I can speak for MANY GHF fans, thanks for your services

and agreed on most of it.

One thing I thought we differed on was that I thought Josh Bell blocked the FG, and Smith was the one to pick it up and run it the other way. Not a big deal, but it looked to me like Bell was the one in there.

•When the team went 11-on-11, the first unit defense sported Kenny Peterson, Ronald Fields and Ryan McBean on the front line, Darrell Reid, D.J. Williams, Andra Davis and Elvis Dumervil at linebacker and Alphonso Smith, Andre’ Goodman, Brian Dawkins and Darcel McBath in the secondary. Occasionally that lineup changed slightly, with Tim Crowder seeing some time at outside linebacker, Jack Williams seeing some time at cornerback and Vernon Fox once lining up alongside Dawkins at safety.

•The first unit offense consisted of Jabar Gaffney, Eddie Royal and Brandon Marshall at receiver, Daniel Graham at tight end, Kyle Orton at quarterback, Correll Buckhalter at running back and last year’s starting offensive line — Ryan Clady, Ben Hamilton, Casey Wiegmann, Chris Kuper and Ryan Harris. Ryan Torain, LaMont Jordan and Peyton Hillis also got some reps at running back

….but not new to the site – I’ve been almost daily coming to MHR for 1.5 years now. Never had the time to create an account. But this is one of the BEST sites that I’ve always used to get my Broncos fix.

Anyway, just wanted to say “Howdy!”

….of getting to see one morning practice last year, and I thought Torain looked quite good in person a year ago. Quick cuts, fast, etc. Hope the kid can physically hold up.

The other player who stood out, as others have attested to obviously, is Marshall. Just seeing the guy in person and how big and physical he is….it’s gotta get into those CBs heads. Before the ball’s even snapped: Mental advantage – B-Marsh.

How did his footwork and fundamentals look in the drills?

Re: Torain. I think that far, far too many people have given up on Torain prematurely, if it’s warranted at all, which is still an open question. I, too, am now much less tolerant of injury-prone players than I once was, but I’m also skeptical of the injury prone classification. The connection between lisfranc injuries and elbow dislocations and torn ACLs seems tenuous. I’m not sure if there’s a biological issue present or just bad luck.

Re; the “phonz.” I recall that he blocked a number of kicks in college, so he has a rare talent in this department. His KR ability is another area where I see him contributing. It’s obviously early at this point but I don’t think it will take long for him to quiet the critics of his draft selection. [note: I see there’s some question on whether the blocked kick was Smith’s]

I just pee’d my pants.

I hate the off-season, esp the one that ended yesterday.

One thing that stands out in Smith’s background is his leaping ability. It’s not just his ability to jump (he turned in a 34 inch vertical at Combine, which is fair for a guy his height but not great) but his ability to time his leaps and to extend in the air. That tends to explain why he’s so good at both INTs and blocking kicks.

Great to hear Orton is just who we thought he was (I say that with the anti-Dennis Green slant)!

Keep ’em coming!

I now know why they call BM ‘the beast’ Holy Crap he’s big! Nice one-handed behind the back catch! Kyle Orton is going to be fine. BTW, don’t tell anybody at work about my little early lunch break but i noticed on the broncos.com Training Camp Day 1: A.M. Blog their photographer caught me on the hillside. DOH!

Marshall looked much more focused than I expected him to look. Guru wasn’t kidding when he said that every single time Marshall touched the ball everyone in the crowd cheered. Also, while they were running one on one drills (wide receivers against safety/corners), most of the players were going about half speed except for Marshall. Marshall not once, but twice, ran straight over Josh Barrett and the second time Barrett seemed to get pretty upset with Marshall about it. It was great seeing Marshall actually act like he cared though.

If Alphonso Smith looks as good every day as he did today, he is going to be a stellar special teams/defensive player. Eddie Royal is a good option on punt returns, but today it didn’t look like anybody out there saw the field better than Smith.

I personally thought Simms looked like the #3 QB today. He was off on a bunch of his passes and, for the most part, didn’t really look comfortable out there.

Guru is correct about the defensive line, though. They look incredibly undersized and were getting dominated in 7 on 7 drills. Hopefully by the end of training camp they will have that figured out.

All in all, it was a great day in Englewood. There were a ton of fans there, and the level of excitement was higher than it has been in years.

Guru, do you have any idea who the long haired guy was wearing #17 today? On the roster it says Lucas Taylor but it had been reported that he was placed on injured reserve.

How did the LB corp fare? Were they on the spot, or are we gonna see more over-pursuit? I’m not concerned with the d-line, as long as we got 3 guys that total 900+lbs, i think we’ll be okay. The LBs are what I’m interested in seeing improvement in.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, TSG!!!

The player I have the highest hopes for this year is Marcus Thomas. He’s got the size and skills, he’s shown consistent improvement, he played well as a 5-technique last year, and the third year is the right time for the light to go on for a D-Lineman.

Here’s my real question. OK, the guys up front look lousy. But how do they look compared to last year?

Keep it coming! Much thanks to all of our members at camp!

Woohooo, keep it coming guys, I may have to make a trip to Dove Valley.

I love what I am hearing about Smith, having Champ on PUP might be the best possible situation for him.

Thanks and rec’d!

Love reading it!

We need our MHR Radio fix! Keep up the good work Guru!