Mock Offseason 2.0

Agree w/BroncoMath101.

Every TE on our roster last regular season was a 1st time Bronco. Fells made too many clutch receptions to throw away after one year. Give them all an offseason and see what fruit it bears.

In this mock… would we be keeping Woodyard as a backup again? The consensus is he starts somewhere next season.

David is far better in coverage and is a better blitzer.

He was the biggest weak link in our D most of the season.

but I suspect we’ll see a good amount of roster turnover this year. There are plenty of McDaniels boys still on the roster, and we couldn’t really afford to cut loose of them last year due to the lockout. This, I believe, is the year we see some of these players… some of this deadwood… carved off the team.

It would be awful hard to replace most of these guys with UDFA’s…. we will be forced to scour the pro talent pool to bring in John Fox/Del Rio players.

These are the players, I feel, are a MUST to resign:
Matt Prater (K) ~ Brodrick Bunkley (NT) ~ Wesley Woodyard (LB)

The rest can stay or go…. we can make due without them. Of course that’s not going to happen, we have to resign more than those three or else too many unfamiliar players would be on the roster next year. But I really think we can get by without most of them.

Secondary Priorities:
Daniel Fells (TE) ~ Dante Rosario (TE) ~ Mario Haggan (LB) ~ Spencer Larsen (FB) ~ Marcus Thomas (DT) ~ Eddie Royal (WR/RET).

I also think that Knowshon will be unloaded somehow… someway. Perhaps someone will give us a 4th/5th for a young RB, who’s had some bad luck in this league? I also think the world won’t end if we ship DJ and make Woodyard the starting WILL.

as opposed to…. what was his name…. the dude who’s helmet flew off after every tackle…. most of them coming after a RB ran for 15+ yards? OH YEAH… Nate friggin Webster. We’ve came a long, long way since Al Wilson, folks. A long way down.

But we need him at least 20 lbs. lighter. He’s a bit too heavy to be effective late in games at a Mile High. I think UT is a bigger need than another NT. Bunkley anchored nicely at the NT last season. I’d rather stay put at 25 and get Cox.

Considering they were both penciled in as the starters in 2011 (Warren at the NT and Vick at the UT). It’s hard to impress when you go on IR after only four games. Vickerson was the only DT initially re-signed by EFX, that should tell you something. If anything, Warren is a bigger question mark because he hasn’t played a down in over two seasons.

Moreno will be back, much to the chagrin of a lot of people around here. It makes no sense to cut him loose right now. The only way he goes anywhere is if he’s traded. You don’t let Moreno walk without getting something in return. Sure, he hasn’t lived up to where he is drafted, but he still has some value as a player. With that being said, there probably isn’t a team out there that will trade for him. He’ll play out his rookie contract with Denver, and who knows after that?

TE John Carlson-SEA. This is a luxury pick up. Fells did a decent job. Rosario came on towards the end of the season, but he’s probably on the bubble. Look for Julius Thomas to make a bigger impact in 2012 after a real off-season to get healthy. TE is not as big a need as some people claim. I’d rather see them pick up a veteran wideout to mentor our young guys. Hines Ward would be an awesome grab.

FB Le’Ron Mcclain-KC Could be a good pickup, if Spencer Larsen doesn’t come back, but Larsen is mor economical and gets the job done. I’d rather roll with an up to speed Larsen than wait on getting McClain there. Sylvester was signed, so who knows? Continuity is very undervalued by some around here.

MIKE Dan Connor-CAR. Over-rated, it’s questionable as to wether he would be an upgrade over Mays. I look for Irving to be the starter in 2012 at any rate. This guy is not as good as some here are making him out to be. I’d rather keep Mays for STs/Backup than roll the dice on Connor.

S Tom Zbikowski-BAL We can probably do better here, but I agree, we need to pick up a solid veteran SS. It hasn’t been mentioned, but Harris could see some time at Safety with Squid and Vaughn returning from injury. There is a log jam at Nickel back and this could be a move that could sure up the back end.

C/G Mike Pollak-IND I would rather fill the depth out on the Oline through the draft. Don’t be too suprised if we stand pat with the Olineman we have other than Hockstein. Hock is verastile, but the expense of his contract makes him expendable. More value could be added to this position through the draft or UDFA. They may opt to keep him around for another season if a better option isn’t available.

Yeah, the Broncos signed four free agents in 2011, but they also had a lot more holes to fill at that point than they do now. I think they’ll focus on re-signing the talent already in Denver and pick up FAs only as a last resort. I see three positions that would benefit from a FA aquisition, QB, SS, and WR. EFX is going to build in the Draft and augment through FA. You don’t augment by turning over positions that don’t need it.

Semantics man! Cut, let go, whats the difference? We already have a Vet Mike in the system that can play special teams. It is more feasible to resign Mays at the minimum than to pay Connor or someone else starter pay only to have them stuck behind Irving. Mays may walk, if he does, they’ll have to pick someone up, but I doubt it will be Connor. It will more than likely someone they can get at the veteran minimum.

We are a run first team, but our WR corps is a much bigger need than TE. If we need extra blockers in the run game, we can always throw Clark and Harris out there and have a true Jumbo package. Its not really worth it to import talent to be an extra blocker. Fells and Thomas would be about the same as Carlson and Thomas. Fells is very underrated IMO and he already knows the offense. They’ll probably let Rosario walk, but he was picked up as insurance after being waived once.

Larsen is still developing as a Fullback. He’s younger and cheaper than McClain. Fullback is not a high priority position to upgrade because it has become a situational position at best. McClain’s production in 2011 was not much better than Larsen’s. This would be a waste of a pickup.

Like it or not, Vickerson is still under contract. He may get cut, but then again, he more than likely is sticking around. Too much has been made of him dropping weight. 290 is not a bad weight to be at for a UT playing in Denver. He didn’t have a chance to show anything in the four and a half games he played in. That is too small of a sample size to objectively rate the play of a DT. He was having his best game of the season when he got injured. Again, he’s under contract, cutting him doesn’t make any sense unless he has health issues and a trade is not very likely.

The only way they bring a vet in on the Oline is to start. We already have a good mix of veteran talent and youth on the Oline; another young guy is not going to upset the balance. It’s cheaper to draft Oline depth late or pick up a UDFA, that way they can be groomed the way the team sees fit. Continuity is key, especially when it comes to the Oline, so I doubt we’ll see much movement there. They probably let Hock go and replace him with a younger, cheaper contract.