Nalen's health will be a huge question in '08

Under Mike Shanahan, the Denver Broncos have been known for a couple things. A strong running game and a solid, if a bit too quiet, offensive line. A group that has been synonymous with imposing their will, despite their lack of pure beef up front, the Broncos' O-Line was an area of the football team that fans could hang their hat on. Over the past several years, however, injuries and age have started to take their toll. Let's look at two different areas that are an indication of O-Line performance. Are these hardened rules when it comes to evaluating an O-Line? Of course not, but I like to keep it simple and let you guys and gals decide.

First, we'll look at sacks allowed, and where the team ranked from 2003 through 2007 --

Sacks Allowed --

2003 -- 25 Sacks -- #6
2004 -- 15 Sacks -- #3
2005 -- 23 Sacks -- #3

2006 -- 31 Sacks -- #13
2007 -- 32 Sacks -- #16

The space between 2005 and 2006 indicates the entrance of Jay Cutler at quarterback, and there is no doubt the combination of youth, and Cutler's style as more of a pocket passer than Jake Plummer had a negative effect on the O-Line.  Need proof?  Cutler was sacked 13 times in the 5 games he started in 2006.  Plummer had been sacked 18 times in his 11 starts.  On average that is a sack a game more with Cutler.  In 2007, that number got even worse, though in my opinion this was more attributed to injuries and youth on the O-line as much as it was to Cutler's "never say die" attitude in the pocket.

How about the running game?  The Broncos have seen a dip that that area, too, during the past 5 years --

Rushing Yards --

2003 -- 2629 yards - 164.3 ypg - #2
2004 -- 2333 yards - 145.8 ypg - #4
2005 -- 2539 yards - 158.7 ypg - #2

2006 -- 2152 yards - 134.5 ypg - #8
2007 -- 1957 yards - 122.3 ypg - #9

Again, there was a lot of consistentcy until 2006.  There are a lot of reason for that, but for the sake of keeping it simple other teams simply stacked the line of scrimmage and forced, at first Jake Plummer, then the rookie Jay Cutler, to beat them.  The Broncos defense wasn't very good either, thus the Broncos were forced to play from behind.  But anyone who watched the games will also admit something was definitely missing from the Broncos running game.  While functional, it wasn't dominant.  Make no mistake, while Mike Shanahan likes to create shock and awe with the passing game early, he wants to smash it down a team's throat late.  Unable to do that, the Broncos offense has sputtered, especially in the red zone and short yardage.  The O-line, with age and injury, has been part of the cause. 

The winds of change are blowing through Dove Valley, however, and the Broncos are addressing their O-Line.  High draft picks(Clady and Harris) along with solid free agent acquisitions(Holland) have injected youth and talent.  Will it be enough to make a difference in '08?  Let's take a look at who will need to move the pile....

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Moment #4 -- One of the Best

-- Denver Broncos Rushing Attack

We were actually hanging with Indianapolis, the defending SuperBowl Champions. 

As the first half ended, Travis Henry pounded forward on first down for 6 yds and then gobbled up another 5 yds on second down.  And that was par for the course.  We had come into the game without Walker on offense, and Marshall hadn't yet exploded into the superstar he was to become.  It was clear before the game that we needed a big rushing game, and as the half closed the scoreboard read 13-14 with only one point separating us from the Colts.  Henry already had 106 yards and was averaging 6 yds a carry.  The game didn't just look competitive, but emminently winnable!

In the end we would close out the day with 223 rushing yards and a loss, but there was no doubt that our rushing game was alive and well and churning out the yards.  Mistakes by Cutler, the continuing ineffectiveness of our redzone offense and defensive struggles were our downfall against Indy, but the vaunted Denver rushing attack did enough to keep us in that game and keep us within a score right up until the end.

We had no idea what sort of tribulations awaited us in the season, but for a moment, we had rediscovered our Broncos identity, and were in the process of establishing it by force.

Return of the Orange Rush in 2008?

What we gave up in Henry was a bruising back that could take punishment, the kind of guy that could take the brunt of the beating on a team's 200yd rushing effort.  The effort to replace him is unique and multifaceted, and allows me to believe that the glimpse of rushing game dominance that flashed in 2007 will emerge full force in 2008.

In person, we are attempting to replace Henry with Pittman and Torain.  One proven, one young, this is the perfect balance of experience and potential that will give us longevity at the bruising back position.  In terms of strategy, we have emphasized our upfront blocking with the addition of an elite draft pick on the offensive line and a solid backup at center, the most pivotal run blocking position.  We also added two young players who can take the brunt of the physical rushing attack in Hillis and Larsen, in a bold move that is typicla of Shanny and his multi-headed offensive threats.

Add to this mix the personal motivation of returning TB Selvin Young who needed to bulk up as a first step towards getting more carries in a game.  This he has done, while showing an invigorating response to the challenge of competition he will face for reps in Shanny's offense.

Together these moves tell me that consistency will once again be a hallmark of the Broncos rushing attack in 2008.  I expect more than the Anderson/Bell days but as always the first requirement will be health.  The renewed emphasis on blockers tells me that we might be able to really protect our RBs for the first time in a long time.  I expect a real rushing attack this year, and with consistency will come red zone production.

After taking Wednesday off, the Broncos got right back to work on Thursday.  As a sidenote, Mike Shanahan was a guest on Sirius NFL Radio yesterday talking about everything from Javon Walker/Travis Henry to Selvin Young to Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall.  Looking to find some audio for ya but it was an interesting 10 or so minutes.  Back to business.....

There are several articles out now talking about the Broncos drive for better character. Of course, these negative piles of journalistic pizzle are taking shots at the Broncos "focus", implying that character only comes into the equation when teams are losing. If you'd like to focus on the stuff going on off the field you can do that HERE and HERE. For me, I am going to focus on the field. The Broncos have cut bait with alot of locker room-cancer guys in the past few months and I support it, even if the the perception is the talent level of the team has dropped. I don't agree, and feel it is the name recognition that has taken a hit, but, as they told me in Journalism 101, "If it bleeds, it reads." Maybe that is why I avoided the MSM.

One player with a shady past, in terms of character, is Michael Pittman. With all the focus on cleaning house, Pittman was the one player brought into the fold that has had issues in the past. Pittman says he has grown and matured over the years --

I don't know if it was temper as (much as) it was (being) new in the marriage, I was used to do everything on my own, not having to share my life, and making bad decisions. I've matured.

I'm 32 years old now. I go around and talk to kids about it. Go to high schools. I speak at seminars. I talk about making right decisions. My wife and I are still together. We're in love. We've moved on from it and we're stronger from it.

While it's easy to paint Pittman with a broad stroke, there is a story that may change your mind a bit --

From Florida, Travis Sullivan read how Pittman's past transgressions were becoming an unfair, blanket description of the man he had come to admire. Sullivan came to know Pittman six years ago during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training camp. Sullivan had written a letter to Pittman, enclosing a $100 check to cover his request for an autographed jersey for his 6-year-old son, Ryan.

Pittman sent back the check with the autographed jersey, then had tickets waiting for Ryan and his family for every home game. After each game, Pittman always handed Ryan his game gloves. To this day, Pittman and Ryan stay in touch.

"It's tough for me to put into words what I feel about him as a person for what he's done for my family," Travis Sullivan said. "There's people you read about in the paper and draw your own conclusions about who they are and what they are, but until you really get to know somebody, you probably don't know them."

I certainly don't condone the things that went on in Pittman's past, but 5 years since his last transgression is enough time to let it go.

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This post is an historic one for me as it is my 100th since joining Mile High Report almost a year ago.  I am currently working on several different upcoming posts and I was wondering if I should make a certain one my historic post, but then I thought I should just stick to what my original schedule was.  This was planned to be my next post, therefore, it will have to be my 100th post. 

I recently posted my positional comparison for the defense along with grading the performance of the 2007 group and also applying a preliminary grade for what I see as potential upgrades or downgrades for each position.  I felt incomplete not having done the offense as well, so here it is.

The 2007 offensive group had a solid core surround by a couple of glaring deficiencies.  The story of our season was told best by a series of posts called “NPTB” or No Points Left Behind that can be found all over the MHR Community during last season.  Our offense racked up the yardage without scoring very many points. 

The Quest for the offense this season is about one thing, getting into the end zone!

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