January 17, 2012

Broncos Blog: Offseason Program

With the Broncos season ending over the weekend by the Patriots it is time for the Broncos front office to turn to matters of the business side of the organization. There are a number of key events coming up for the FO and for us to follow along with. But first a look at current news events.

News:
The Broncos announced the signing of nine players to future contracts on Monday. Those players include all eight practice squad members — DE Jeremy Beal, T Adam Grant, TE Cornelius Ingram, RB Xavier Omon, WR Greg Orton, DT Sealver Siliga, WR Tim Toone and QB Adam Weber.

In addition to the eight practice squad members, the team also announced the signing of wide receiver Tyler Grisham. Grisham spent the 2010 and ‘11 seasons on Pittsburgh’s practice squad after appearing in four games with the Steelers in ‘09, catching one pass for 14 yards.

Pro Football Weekly and the Professional Football Writers of America announced their annual All-Rookie team on Monday. Broncos cornerback Chris Harris (named as a safety, they had to get him on the team some how) and linebacker Von Miller represented Denver on the squad. This is what they had to say about the two:
Miller, the No. 2 overall selection in the 2011 NFL Draft from Texas A&M, tied the Broncos’ rookie sack record with 11.5 quarterback takedowns on his way to becoming just the second rookie in club history to be named to the Pro Bowl. His 11.5 sacks tied for ninth in the NFL and his 64 tackles were fifth-most on the Broncos.
Harris, who was signed by the Broncos as a college free agent out of Kansas, finished the regular season ranked fourth on the team with 65 tackles. He also intercepted one pass and broke up six others. Harris was the team’s nickel cornerback for the majority of the season, but was selected to the All-Rookie team as a safety.
Check out these videos of the Broncos. First is the two parts of today's press conference, here is part 1 and part 2. The last video is of the players talking in the locker room, Champ is so chill and awesome.

And finally the big news. Last week, it was learnt that the Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy was being interviewed for the Jaguars head coaching position and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was being interviewed for the Rams vacant position.

Recently we learnt McCoy is now interviewing for Miami's head coaching position. The Broncos worst for first season in the AFC West has drawn a lot of attention to them including their coaches. There are a lot of head coaching positions available this off-season and John Fox has always been the kind of coach that allows his assistants to leave for a better job.

However, more news broke recently by Adam Schefter that both McCoy and Allen are scheduled to interview with the Raiders for the head coaching position after the firing of Hue Jackson. Hopefully neither agree to any position as they will be big parts of next season.

Broncos Blog Program:
There are a number of events leading up to the free agency period in the second week of March.

Honor Wall
First for us is the voting for the top 5 Broncos players to appear on the Broncos Blog Honor Wall. I am taking Nominations for players that you think are deserving to be considered in the top 5 for the Broncos. I will then put the nominations in a poll to be voted on for the next month. The top 5 voted players will appear on the honor wall until re-voting is done the middle of next year.

On the honor wall at the moment are:
Tim Tebow
Willis McGahee
Brian Dawkins
Champ Bailey
Von Miller

Since Dawkins didn't play much to end the season he very well could be replaced. But will the others lose their positions? It is up to you.

Season Review
I would like to do a number of review pieces on this past season to better understand what we did this year and our weaknesses. What positions need to be addressed and where our strengths lie. I am also looking for volunteers to help me out with these pieces. If you see something you like or are interested in doing let me know. The pieces are as follows:

Offense
This piece will take a look at the offense and how it did this year. How the starters played this year, what they achieved and what they need to do better next year. This will be a long piece.

Defence
Same as the offense. This piece will take a look at the defense and how it did this year. How the starters played this year, what they achieved and what they need to do better next year. This will be a long piece.

Special Teams
Same as the offense and defense. This piece will take a look at the Special Teams and how it did this year. How the starters played this year, what they achieved and what they need to do better next year. This will be a short piece.

Coaching and Staff
This piece will take a look at the big three coaches. Fox, McCoy and Allen. It will take a look at how they did in their positions and what they achieved. Along with these three this piece will also look at Elway and Xanders and their year. This article will be of medium length.

Free Agency and Trades
This article will look at the players we acquired in Free Agency and Trades. It will look at how they did this year and what we expect/plan for them next season. This will be a short piece.

Draft Picks
This article will look at the players we acquired in the draft. It will look at how they did this year and what we expect/plan for them next season. This will be a short piece.

QB Play - Tim Tebow
This post will take a deeper look into the quarter back play of the Broncos over last season. Mainly focusing on Tebow, but if you/I am game it may include the play from Orton. This probably will be a long piece.

There you have it, again if any of them interest you let me know.

Key Dates:
The next few months are busy busy for the Broncos.

This week is the East-West game and next week is the Senior Bowl. This will be the first chance to have a look at some of the prospects for the upcoming draft.

Three Broncos will be playing in the Pro Bowl this year.

Following this there is the combine at the end of February where we will get a really good look at all the prospects.

In March free agency beings where we will be able to sign, resign and trade players. It will be interesting to see how this plays out since last year the draft was before FA.

April is OTAs and the Draft. I will be doing Aussie's Big Board and Mock draft again like last year and will be running the Broncos Blog draft competition.

Then of course next season starts.

As always we will be here to follow along, analyze and discuss all Bronco news.

Busy days ahead, I hope you all enjoy ~ Aussie

2 comments:

  1. My Nominations for the honor wall will be some guys that won't get much love but I think played well all year.

    Matt Prater
    Brandon Colquitt
    JD Walton
    Orlando Franklin

    And two guys that I thought played well over the second half of the season.
    Quinton carter
    Demayrius Thomas

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  2. Wow they are not bringing back strengthing and conditioning coach Tuten, he has been with the Broncos 17 years and designed the conditioning facilities for the Broncos, he will be missed. A big mile high salute to u sir.

    Also Matt Russell has been named Director of player personnel, what I want to know is who held that position before him.

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