Elvis Out

Losing Dumervil last week in training camp obviously hurts the Broncos. Although Dumervil is Denver’s best player, all hope is not lost for the 2010 season. Josh McDaniels has built the Broncos on the philosophy of all players performing as a team, not relying on one player or super star to win. This exact philosophy is about to be put to the test. As long as Robert Ayers steps up Denver should be fine. Without Dumervil, Denver's linebackers consist of guys like DJ Williams, Wesley Woodyard, Mario Haggan, Jarvis Moss, Darrell Reid, and Spencer Larson. Since DJ Williams has played all linebacker positions with Denver, maybe Coach Martindale should consider moving him back on the outside and start Spencer Larson in the middle. Denver could also help themselves by signing Adalius Thomas to a one-year deal to fill the void left by Dumervil. Sure Adalius doesn't rush the quarterback like Dumervil but he would sure help relieve some of the pressure off the rest of the linebackers. Plus he used to play in New England with Josh McDaniels and he is a very versatile linebacker/defensive lineman hybrid similar to what Dumervil is, just not as good. Denver also has hope because our front 3 defensive linemen are all proven veterans in Justin Bannan, Jamal Williams, and Jarvis Green. Our depth is solid in our front 3 with Ryan McBean, Ronald Fields, Marcus Thomas, and LeKevin Smith backing them up. In years’ past our defensive line has traditionally worn down toward the end of the season, so not only will these guys be ready for a 16-game regular season, they also make our linebackers’ jobs easier despite the loss of Dumervil. With a strong defensive front 7 that should make our secondary’s job easier as well. Future Hall of Famers Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins will be impactful as usual, along with roll players Andre Goodman and Renaldo Hill bringing consistency to the secondary. I really like rookie Perrish Cox. He already seems more impressive than 2nd round pick Alfonso Smith whom we traded a 1st round pick to Seattle in exchange for. Now we have the defense covered I will cover our young, up and coming offense later this week.
It’s amusing how most of the national media predicts a 6-10 season for the Broncos after news of Dumervil’s injury. They predicted a similar outcome after we lost Jay Cutler, yet we still managed to go 8-8 last year. In reality, looking at the Broncos’ schedule we play 6 games vs the AFC West (otherwise known as the AFC Worst) with a combined record of 22-26 last year. Granted, each team in our division will be improved, but so should the Broncos. I expect 3-4 wins out of our 6 games vs the AFC West. Denver also faces the weak NFC West which had a combined record of 24-40 last year. The NFC West is clearly in rebuilding mode with Seattle changing coaches/regimes, Arizona losing their future Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner, and St Louis, is well.. St Louis. The team I am most concerned about out of the NFC West is San Francisco. This game is played in London in late October, which will be tough for Denver because of travelling fatigue and they are facing a team that loves to wear down their opponents with the run-game. Coach Singletary made his commitment to the run-game very clear when he drafted 2 offensive linemen in the 1st round of this year’s draft (Mike Iupati and Anthony Davis). Hopefully McDaniels has a plan to stop it or at least contain it. Denver’s clear advantage vs San Francisco is at QB, where all 3 of our QB’s are better and more serviceable than Alex Smith, who’s game is rubbish. Out of the NFC West I am expecting at least 3 wins, which brings our win total just from the AFC West and NFC West to around 6-7 wins. This leaves 6 other games (@Jacksonville, vs Indianapolis, @Tennessee, @Baltimore, vs New York, and vs Houston) to find 2-3 more wins. All hope is not lost in Denver. We should remain competitive.