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Outside of the free agent addition of Peyton Manning, the Broncos stuck with Fox's style of largely sticking with 2nd tier free agents that fit the scheme. We saw this last off-season with the additions of Willis McGahee and Brodrick Bunkley. This season the Broncos added quality starters in safety Mike Adams, Drayton Florence, Jacob Tamme, Joel Dreessen, and Andre Caldwell to name a few.
Today I wanted to review these new roster members to see how they've played so far in camp and in the two pre-season games. Now all these players are going to play this season, these aren't the camp fodder we often discuss, rather these are starters or rotational players. So we'll see if these players have made the impact they were expected to or if they've struggled to produce at the level Fox had hoped when they were brought in.
Mike Adams
Expectations:
With the struggles of Rahim Moore his rookie year, Adams was brought in to shore up the safety position. Since Adams has the skill set to play both strong safety and free safety, his versatility was highly regarded by Fox. With fellow 2nd year safety Quinton Carter still expected to develop, Adams was seen as a player who could fill either position depending on which 2nd year safety didn't develop at the rate the coaches hoped.
Production In Camp:
Adams hasn't blown away his teammates at camp, but he has been able to do something the rest of the safety class has struggled with, be consistent. Rarely is Adams beaten deep or missing a tackle, Adams isn't the big play maker many have hoped for but he's been solid during his time against the 1st and 2nd team units.
Production In Games:
Adams hasn't played as many snaps as Moore or the other younger safeties, possibly because the coaches trust him and know what he brings. Though in his limited time he has recorded 4 tackles, 1 pass deflection and has no missed tackles. Overall Adams has played like he has looked in camp, solid, a good player who can do it all in case something goes wrong.
Drayton Florence
Expectations:
With the addition of fellow cornerback Tracy Porter, Florence had to understand that when Fox gave the #2 corner job to Porter, Florence was going to be fighting for the nickel job with 2nd year corner Chris Harris. Like Adams Florence was brought in as insurance, a guy who can play corner very well in case the younger players don't step up. If Harris, Omar Bolden and Syd'Quan Thompson were to struggle, Florence's job is to step in and take over.
Production In Camp:
Coming out of camp Florence has looked good, he's a physical corner who has been able to get a hold of wide receivers at the line and disrupt their routes in a way that none of the other corners on the roster can. While Florence has gotten beat due to his slowing down speed, but he did well in a variety of coverages and was impressive enough that the presumptive nickel corner, Harris, hasn't been able to lock out Florence.
Production In Games:
Also like Adams, Florence hasn't gotten a ton of snaps in the pre-season, though he has translated his physical play in camp onto the field. Florence has actually done his best to move up the depth chart by playing well in game, and he seems to be doing his best to be out coach favorite Chris Harris for that spot. Florence's slowing down did show up in game, but it has been a minimal problem, at least at this point.
Jacob Tamme
Expectations:
Of the new additions we are covering here, Tamme may have the highest expectations. Having had a breakout season with Manning just a few seasons ago and is expected to have a similar impact. Tamme is the newer, pure receiver mold of tight end and he'll be in on a number of passing downs, lining up either as the end of line tight end or even in the slot. Tamme is coming in with the expectations to start and fulfill the role the Broncos had hoped for Julius Thomas.
Production In Camp:
Tamme looked very good in camp due to understanding what Manning expects of his tight ends and having that timing with Manning. Overall Tamme looked like a starting pass catching tight end, no mind blowing plays to speak of every day, but he made the plays he need to and looked better than the rest of the tight ends in camp.
Production In Games:
While in camp Tamme was the model of consistency, he's been a bit hot and cold so far in the pre-season. He had a very nice reception in the Seattle game but dropped a vital red zone pass as well. He has 3 receptions for 29 yards and has seen a few snaps at H-back as well. As he gets more snaps we'll get a better picture of if he can return to his form from 2010 in Indy.
Joel Dreessen
Expectations:
Like Tamme, Dreessen was brought in due to the struggles of rookies on the Broncos roster. Dreessen, like Tamme, is expecting to see a large number of snaps, but his role will be different, while Tamme is a pass catcher, Dreessen is the balanced tight end, the one who will be in on more run downs since he can block and will see a lot of red zone work due to his size. His balanced skill set is what brought him here since he fits into Manning's offense well.
Production In Camp:
Dreessen payed very well in camp, displaying his skill set well, even displaying better deep ball skills than many were expecting. Dreessen looked like the man Fox and McCoy wanted, he made some fantastic catches and showed he was able to block Miller off the edge as well. While it was clear that Dreessen and Tamme were who Fox wanted to be the starters, Dreessen showed he was just better than the rest of the competition below him, by a long shot.
Production In Games:
While limited in games so far, he did have one fantastic pass that went for 20 yards and showed off his pass blocking skills against the Seahawks. Considering the play of the competition for his spot, Dreessen has locked his spot in the depth chart, no other tight has come close to his level, at least for two games so far.
Andre Caldwell
Expectations:
With the lose of Eddie Royal this off-season the Broncos wanted to bring in another speedster who could play in the slot as well as use their speed on the outside. Caldwell was that man, brought in to compete with Brandon Stokley for that spot. While he isn't expected to push Demaryius Thomas or Eric Decker, the coaches do expect him to make an impact.
Production In Camp:
Caldwell hasn't been the most consistent in camp, though he has had his fair share of huge plays. He looked like a player who wasn't able to separate himself from Brandon Stokley or Matt Willis. He did show off his speed more than a few times and he was able to break away from any corner that they assigned to cover him.
Production In Games:
Caldwell went down early against Seattle to a minor injury, but even when in the came he hasn't been targeted often, either due to his play or just the play calling, so we have very little to go off of in terms of live game action. Hopefully we will be able to see more in the coming games to see if Caldwell can live up to the expectations the coaches have for him.