Mile High Report Poll of the Week: Mid-Season Awards - Worst Squad

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 1:30 PM MDT in MHR Poll of the Week

Has the offense done enough to keep it's squads out of the race? (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

So now we are onto the 2nd Mid-Seasons Awards article, this one is the exact opposite of the last, we are looking for your vote on which squad has been the worst this season. Like last time I will list each squad and a few of their statistics to add a bit more perspective to each choice. Good luck everyone, and feel free to make your voice heard even louder in the comments section since a few comments from each poll will be added to next weeks Poll of the Week.

Here are the links to the other Mid-Season Awards polls as they go up:

- Best Squad
- Worst Squad
- Least Valuable Player
- Most Valuable Player

Poll

Mid-Season Award: Worst Squad

Quarterbacks (13 TD's, 9 TO's, 1391 yards, 6 yards per attempt, 54.5 comp. %, 75.5 passer rating)

319 votes

Running Backs (161 total yards per game, 9th ranked rushing attack, 4.5 yards per carry)

10 votes

Offensive Line (Multi-Metric rankings: Pass 24th, Run 19th)

119 votes

Tight Ends (33 yards per game, 2 TD's, only 1 drop)

8 votes

Wide Receivers (164 yards per game, 9 TD's, 51% catch rate, 12.5 yards per reception)

20 votes

Defensive Line (5 sacks, 7 QB hits, 2 FF, 13 TFL, 76 tackles)

33 votes

Linebackers (8 sacks, 13 QB hits, 3 FF, 15 TFL, 113 tackles, 0 INT)

9 votes

Secondary (4 sacks, 0 FF, 3 INT, 118 tackles)

73 votes

Special Teams (2nd ranked punter, 10th ranked kicker, 13th ranked returner)

8 votes

Coaching (2-5, -9.6 points per game differential, -8 TO differential, 23rd scoring offense, 31 scoring defense)

161 votes

760 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 38 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

Toss up between the QBs and secondary

There was no one within 20 yards of Titus Young’s 1st TD

"It's all over fat man!"
-Tom Jackson
"When John Elway is standing in lava with a football, he will stay there and sink until you're open"
-Seanbaby

by Calikula on Nov 5, 2011 1:57 PM MDT reply actions

Those are my two as well

I am a bear of very little brains and big words bother me.

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 2:00 PM MDT up reply actions

Went with WRs

I am probably in the minority, but I went with WR. Not getting open consistently, running the wrong routes, dropping catches (51% catch rate!), not getting two feet in on TD bombs against Lions, insignificant YAC, lack of. It plays. Disappointing. Of course part of my negativity on WR could go to front office for dealing B Lloyd of a 5th.

by Bradoncadonc on Nov 5, 2011 2:00 PM MDT via mobile reply actions

You are forgetting Eric Decker.. which is #1 reason WR squad isn't the worst

Add to that… Decker takes a lateral from Tebow behind LOS for 14 yard TD..
That alone inflated Tebow’s QBR from 20 to 50.

This is all on QBs.. Orton was terrible..
somehow Tebow found a way to be even worse.

by heykyleinsf on Nov 5, 2011 3:34 PM MDT up reply actions

Agreed

And Decker alone is the reason I didn’t vote WR as well.

I am a bear of very little brains and big words bother me.

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 3:36 PM MDT up reply actions

Bronco's receivers dropped mightily when Gaff and Lloyd were given away.

Decker is coming into his own. Beyond that….

Earth to Fox: Let Tebow play his own game.

by Boiler etc on Nov 5, 2011 3:46 PM MDT up reply actions

I disagree that QB’s have been the worst unit.

Our secondary is one of the worst in football. Other then Champ, nobody seems worthy of starting for the Broncos.

Follow me on Twitter: @ballinnickcast
Xbox360 gamertag: SnipeMeHarder

by Nick Cast on Nov 5, 2011 2:02 PM MDT reply actions

nobody seems worthy of starting for the Broncos.

Or any other team for that matter

"It's all over fat man!"
-Tom Jackson
"When John Elway is standing in lava with a football, he will stay there and sink until you're open"
-Seanbaby

by Calikula on Nov 5, 2011 2:03 PM MDT up reply actions

May be true but the Broncos don't have many others who'd start elsewhere either.

The whole team is sucky.

Earth to Fox: Let Tebow play his own game.

by Boiler etc on Nov 5, 2011 3:50 PM MDT up reply actions

I agree our secondary is among the worst in football

I’d also say that is true about our quarterback play.

I am a bear of very little brains and big words bother me.

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 2:06 PM MDT up reply actions

There are worse secondaries..

Champ and Dawkins are still playing at a high level..
I don’t think much of Goodman.. but Willhite has been a pleasant surprise.

The defense has improved as good as could be possibly hoped..
run D up from 31st to 18th.. pass D is 19th…
Not great … but an improvement over last year..

QB play has been unquestionably deteriorated.

by heykyleinsf on Nov 5, 2011 3:38 PM MDT up reply actions

Among the worst is the key

I’d rank ours around 25th. There has been improvement, mostly due to an improved pass rush.

I am a bear of very little brains and big words bother me.

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 3:56 PM MDT up reply actions

Went with QB. Unfortunately there were 3 or 4 that deserve honorable mention.

luckily im a bronco and a blazer fan......who am I kidding?

by chikndnnr on Nov 5, 2011 2:07 PM MDT reply actions

I want to say coaching

But i dont think its fair to do since the non-existent off season and wierd free agency period kept them from have time to evaluate the players and themselves.

Even the QB thing is tough, Orton deserves a worst award, and Tebow is close to being there but deserves some type of slack based on his limited reps and # of years in the league.

Oline, really cant hit them either, good with the run bad with the pass…

Dline- playing much better than I expected

TE- Fells is about it and he has held his own

Secondary – this might be the one, a lot of money and draft picks tied into that group with less than average results, and we have waiver wire players playing key roles. Piss poor management from Dove Valley here.

Yup, it has to be the secondary for me.

Management needs to earn my faith, the past has taught me too much.

by BRASO on Nov 5, 2011 2:35 PM MDT reply actions

Secondary might be getting an Honorable mention, it's currently in 3rd

I am a bear of very little brains and big words bother me.

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 2:52 PM MDT up reply actions

I have trouble believing that Tebow is as horrible as the record states...

Are the receivers struggling to get open? Are they running their routes correctly? There is a lot more wrong on this team than just Orton/Tebow…

by bfree2bronc on Nov 5, 2011 3:02 PM MDT reply actions 1 recs

From what I've seen, the WR's are decent

But since there is no metric on route run or a level of openness, you have to just use as many stats as possible and combine it with game film, and when it comes to the eye test, not many people ever agree. I agree there is a lot more wrong with this team than the QB, but to me, between them and the secondary, they are the two biggest reasons for our struggles.

I am a bear of very little brains and big words bother me.

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 3:12 PM MDT up reply actions

Max, can a 'good' team be built with 'decent' players?

Answer is no.
Just like a good team can’t be build with ‘decent’ coaches.

Earth to Fox: Let Tebow play his own game.

by Boiler etc on Nov 5, 2011 3:56 PM MDT up reply actions

I'd say yes

Just ask the current Bills, Bucs, Titans or Bengals, these teams have hardly any big name players, yet they all have winning records. I agree coaching is important, even more important than any one player, but there are countless good coaches, I’d say Fox is good, not great or bad, who struggle to win when they have no talent. Also what does that have to do with my comments?

I am a bear of very little brains and big words bother me.

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 4:00 PM MDT up reply actions

Good points about those teams but they have had some high draft picks, esp Bills..

How did those teams finally becoming competiiive?

It was the WR being ‘decent’ thing that caught my eye. I thought my decent players v.good team thing was kind of clever, at least for me. :) No biggie.

Earth to Fox: Let Tebow play his own game.

by Boiler etc on Nov 5, 2011 4:09 PM MDT up reply actions

WRs have been very poor

They’re definitely struggling to get open, and their route running (especially DeMaryius Thomas) leaves much to be desired. Kyle Orton’s noticeable regression supports this theory.

Factoring in the drops, they get my vote.

The coaches haven’t helped much either. I saw a lot of screens when Orton was QB and very few now that Tebow has taken over. Tebow sells the screen very well, while Orton has always struggled with it.

by margle on Nov 5, 2011 3:26 PM MDT up reply actions

Just a note on drops

currently our WR’s rank pretty well in terms of drops, our WR’s group as a whole ranks 16th in drops per target with 13.6% of all catchable balls.

I am a bear of very little brains and big words bother me.

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 3:32 PM MDT up reply actions

most of those stats had BLloyd in there.

Earth to Fox: Let Tebow play his own game.

by Boiler etc on Nov 5, 2011 3:57 PM MDT up reply actions

Actually not

If you include Lloyd our catch rate goes up.

I am a bear of very little brains and big words bother me.

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 4:00 PM MDT up reply actions

Meant that Llyod pulled in some amazing catches that no one currently can do.

which might make the stats look better than they are now.

Earth to Fox: Let Tebow play his own game.

by Boiler etc on Nov 5, 2011 4:13 PM MDT up reply actions

Lloyd did have the best catch rate on our team

only dropping 5% of his passes. But even without him we are ranked 16, with him it would be more like 13th or 14th. Not great, but average.

I am a bear of very little brains and big words bother me.

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 4:21 PM MDT up reply actions

Hanging on until the bitter end huh?

Here’s the facts…
Tebow has converted 3-of-17 third-down chances this season. It is a league-worst 17.6 percentage. He has been sacked six times on third down. He has the same amount of completions on third down (6)… You still want to tell me he’s doing a good job?

by heykyleinsf on Nov 5, 2011 3:40 PM MDT up reply actions

No one is saying he's good.

Only that he’s had all of a month to work with the first string and the 2 best recievers now gone.

Earth to Fox: Let Tebow play his own game.

by Boiler etc on Nov 5, 2011 4:00 PM MDT up reply actions

there's a lot of competition here

and that is sad, because we are truly playing poorly all over the place. my vote goes to the somewhat rare OL category. pss protection has gotta be some of the worst in the leauge, and even clady has been getting beat this year. our entire offense is the problem, they are either too young yet, or just suck.

the secondary is exhausted, and doom missed time. also, against rodgers and stafford, allen went slowick on us, keeping drives alive. tired rushers, perhaps. some sustained drives by the offense will help this issue greatly. allen has been very good overall, but we cannot sit back with this old/rookie secondary.

coaching-wise, mccoy is killing me. and yes, the qb’s, rb’s, te’s, and receivers are all screwing up, too. we do have good talent there, though, and it will improve with familiarity. we need a good rb next season, a rt, and maybe even a qb. i like the current one, and would like to hire jim fassel to coach him, and the offense. thoughts?

crush the raiders!

taste my blintzkrieg!

the 3-man rush is an admission of lunacy, cowardice, and defeat-please stop.

by davecheffy on Nov 5, 2011 3:35 PM MDT reply actions 1 recs

I agree McCoy should be replaced next season

But in terms of changing the offense to fit Tebow, he’s done a bang up job trying to make it work. We’ll see if he can keep tweeking it till it works.

I am a bear of very little brains and big words bother me.

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 3:37 PM MDT up reply actions

I saw McCoy coming as a scapegoat a long time ago

I was disgusted that Fox retained him.. but I also saw him as a convenient excuse to blame. Not into conspiracy theories.. and this one was probably wrong.. but I never had much faith in McCoy and was sickened that he was retained.. or at least not reduced to a positions coach.

by heykyleinsf on Nov 5, 2011 3:43 PM MDT up reply actions

I do think he's a very average OC

But I don’t think he’s our biggest issue, though I hope we upgrade, though he is a scape goat at this point.

I am a bear of very little brains and big words bother me.

by Topher Doll on Nov 5, 2011 4:02 PM MDT up reply actions

QB's hands down

Coaching seems to be getting a lot of votes but if ST’s are doing well and the defense has improved to a degree, then I don’t get that. Fox inherited a mess and McCoy may be calling vanilla plays because that’s all his players are capable of. We’ll see how i feel at the end of the season.

As the ancient Tibetan Philosophy states "Don't start none, won't be none!"

by MrFNSunshine on Nov 5, 2011 4:03 PM MDT reply actions