End of Training Camp, Lions Game Preview and More

Hey guys, been a busy-ish day for me, voting for government and football training but I thought I should do a bit of an update. Also for those wondering The Expendables movie is not bad, is surprisingly funny. Anyway onto today's update and it could get long because the Broncos have been busy over the past few days.

Signings and Cuts:

The Broncos had a number of signings the last few days, three to be exact. The Broncos first resigned Orton to a contract extension for another year on top of this year. He will get about 9 million dollars next season and about 5.5 million of that is guaranteed.

The Broncos signed two other players, both on the defensive side of the ball. First was DE Jason Hunter. Hunter is a 5th year play and has played for two other ball clubs. He was picked up as an undrafted rookie in 2006 by the Green Bay Packers where he played till 2008. Before the draft Hunter at 6-4, 260 pounds ran a 4.88 second 40-yard dash. He mainly contributed as a Special Teams player for them. In 2009 he was released by the Packers and picked up by the Lions. At the Lions Hunter made it on the field for 9 contests and managed to get 5 sacks. Hunter was released on August 16, 2010 and signed by the Broncos a week later. Hunter comes to the Broncos as a DE but he probably will have to move out to OLB. He is listed at 6'4 and 271 lbs. Dustin Fry was released previously so there was a roster spot for Hunter.

The Broncos other signing was LB Worrell Williams. Williams a 6-foot, 250-pound linebacker went unselected in the 2009 NFL Draft and tried out with San Francisco that spring before joining the UFL. The 24-year-old recorded two tackles and a pass break-up with the California Redwoods during their inaugural season. Williams starred collegiately at California, where he started 36 of the 49 games he played. The linebacker finished his Golden Bear career with 246 total tackles, earning honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors for his senior season. Williams is the younger brother of DJ Williams, our starting ILB. Check out some of his highlights below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KUGckc_a0I
To make room for Williams another Linebacker, Devin Bishop was released.

Camp Notes:

Kuper missed the final session after leaving early during Wednesday’s work; he had returned to action Tuesday after missing the previous 11 days with an ankle injury.

The final training-camp attendance was 43,335, including 22,553 for the 16 sessions held at the team’s Dove Valley headquarters. Thus, the team will donate $22,553 to the Rocky Mountain Children’s Health Foundation.

Jarvis Moss looks good in Camp, he managed to beat Ryan Harris for a sack.

Eric Decker looked good running routes and may see some time against the Lions on Saturday.

Tebow missed practice.

Things I hear:

TO, Terrell Owens, will take over the number one spot on the depth chart from Chad Ochocinco.

Former Denver Oakland wash-out receiver Javon Walker is trying out for the Vikings. If the past three seasons are any indication (and they should be), Walker is finished. 

Things I read:

MHR - Identity Crisis on Defense

NFP - The Fantasy Stock watch report

DP - Next up on the bargaining table: Bailey

Lions Game Preview:

One of the Biggest story's about this game that may have been overlooked because of the Tebow injury is the return of Tony Scheffler to Denver. After 4 years with the Broncos this will be his first game against his former team. It will be interesting to see what Tony can do with the Lions.

Against the Detroit Lions tonight, the Broncos figure to give a long look at running backs Lance Ball and Justin Fargas.

Bailey and tight end Daniel Graham will sit out the game tonight to rest their bumps and bruises. Both are expected to return to practice Monday. 

Also it would not surprise me if Tim Tebow plays in this game. The dude has played with a broken leg so some sore ribs won't keep him out for long.

Things to look out for in this game:

Push Rush and run defense, specially on 3rd down.
Quinn, did he just have a bad day or does he really suck.
The Run game, what can Fargas do?
And can our 3rd DB cover, Smith, Jones?
Keep an eye out for Eric Decker.
Special Teams coverage and returns.
And the rookie lineman.

Madden 11 Review:

Time for a little rant as I am greatly disappointed in this game. First off I like the new motion and movement it works well and gives a better control over the players, but that was to be expected. Also the graphics are good for this game and the players they did image look exactly like the real guys, but this is where the rant starts.

First not all if most of the players look like their real selves. McD for one doesn't look anything like himself. Only the main players or big names have been made up to look like themselves. This then leads into the Gameflow addition. It is pointless, not helpful and repetitive, calls the same plays. Pretty much like Doc had said, is exactly an ask madden feature. Then when I do call a play I get a nerdy game designer tell me how to run the play. I want McD to tell me the play not some random. And has anyone else been able to play a 30 min game with 5 minute quarters, I haven't.

Then there is the changes of calling audibles and kicking functions. The question is why make these changes? What is the point of these changes? I think EA struggled with this game and had to make these changes to make it look like they did something this year. I have a feeling that EA wanted to have the new Franchise and Superstar modes done for this year but couldn't. So they had to push those additions back to next years edition. The new commands are easy to use and don't take long to learn it, but again what is the point in these changes. The kicking change also has the same question mark. The kicking function has been changed so that the user selects the power and then the accuracy, which takes as back to the 2005 and 2006 Maddens. The kicking function also has a new crappy ugly graphic to go with it. I have also noticed that there is no in game save feature. So the games that you start you have to finish. Unless I just haven't found it, do you know where it is?

I love the start of this game with Drew Brees, but then goes to the ugly start menus. This game is a very ugly looking game and really could be so much better. Is EA putting out a crap game this year to make Madden 12 look even better? And of course the game modes haven't been changed. So overall, like we thought a crap game without much change. On that bombshell ~ Aussie Out!