As everyone already knows (if not you should) Broncos training camp starts today (Friday July 26th) with a lot of questions about this years team. I must admit I wasn't very happy with the decision to draft Ashley Lelie over Edward Reed (safety from Miami). Reed could have immediately filled out gaping hole at FS. As previously mentioned in Dr.'s doses the secondary will make or break the Bronco's season. Lelie so far has impressed the media and coaches and is starting to win me over as a long term player. The idea of Kasper and Lelie as starting WR's in 5 years has some appeal to it, but it's too early to tell. Griese definitely has the talent around him, he just needs to step up and play the way we have all seen him play.
Here are the top things to watch for in Greeley:
1. Battle at left tackle - (Salaam or Brockermeyer)
either one will be an improvement from last year and will give Griese the
time he needs to pick apart opposing defenses.
2. Trevor Pryce at defensive end instead of tackle - If Lional Dalton is as
good as Shanahan believes, McGlockton and Dalton inside with Pryce outside
should be solid. Now what about the other DE ?
3. Loss of Romo - When the broncos first mentioned Ian Gold replacing Romo
on the strong side I was a little concerned. Ian will be a great linebacker
but he gambles too much to play the strong side and I think too much discipline
would take away from his playmaking abilities. I've recently heard they will
move Mobley over to Romos' strong side and put Gold in Mobley's'. Keep on
eye on these guys, that's a young energetic crew.
4. Our secondary sucks - I know I have to give this one up, but it's very
hard. The addition of Denard Walker last year added a little ray of hope.
Even though he got burned a few times last year I still think he's solid.
Unfortunately that's usually the case on CB solid so opposing offenses just
throw everything the other way. I would like to apologize to Deltha in advance,
but to date he is the second most overrated CB in broncos history. (Darien
Gordon being the other) Both these guys have very similar games. Great once
the ball is in their hands, but they can't cover worth shit. These guys have
been burned more than Cord in a singles bar (and as you know that's A LOT).
Deltha has the same "just go for the interception" attitude, that
will continue to give up big plays until he gets rid of his showboating. OK,
I'm assuming Deltha gets burned a lot, not a huge deal because the free safety
will back him up, right? Wrong…..or least an unknown. We have last years'
Cowboys 2nd string Izell Reese and 4th round 2002 pick Sam Brandon competing
for the starting job. With that kind of experience we are going to have some
screw up's Work hard guys, we need you.
5. Health of TD and Olandis Gary - These two guys are explosive and they can
create their own opportunities. Nothing against Mike Anderson, but with the
NFL cracking down on Bronco blocking techniques their will no longer be holes
the size of Cords' girlfriends butt.
What to ignore:
The entire country is watching how Brian will react to adversity. Everyone
is saying the key to the Broncos season is Griese. Although I somewhat agree
they won't find out anything in training camp. He will look good. He will
complete over 60% of his passes in pre-season and the coaches will praise
him. The question will be when he starts losing his WR's. Grieses' game is
all timing and it's very studied. A guy has to be in a specific place at exactly
the right time or he doesn't throw it. He does not improvise well and probably
never will. On the flip side we can't get too down on him. He had a good year
then a bad year. Let's see if he can find his old form before we start selling
him off.
-Dr. Rosen-Rosen
