Final Preseason analysis

Finally, the 2010 NFL season is ready to start. The Broncos made their final cuts this past weekend and the 53-man roster is in tact. I was surprised by some of the cuts and other moves made. Lets start with Jarvis Green, who never played a down in Denver. Green signed a 4 year, $20 million deal on March 9, 2010, only to be released September 4th, of this year. Obviously McDaniels saw something great in Green in order to sign him, but what changed from March until September? The Green signing was a waste of time and money. The only positive thing I see from the Green signing was the emergence of Ryan McBean who eventually beat him out on the defensive line. One would have to think McBean would've stepped his game up with or without competing with Green for the starting roll. Alfonso Smith, who was acquired in 2009 in exchange for a 2010 1st round pick, was just traded to Detroit in exchange for tight end Dan Gronkowski, who originally was a 7th round draft pick. Green and Smith are two glaring examples where McDaniels failed to evaluate talent, which was why Mike Shanahan was fired at the end of 2008. Much like Shanahan, McDaniels has proven to be a great head coach and play caller, but he still has yet to convince me he knows how to evaluate and draft quality players. Last year's draft was a not good, drafting the likes of Alfonso Smith (no longer on the team), Richard Quinn (3rd string tight end), Tom Brandstater (no longer on the team), Robert Ayers (showing improvement), and Knowshon Moreno (wore down toward the end of the 2009 season). Until proven otherwise, David Bruton was the best player to come out of the 2009 draft. He is a promising safety who is great on special teams and gives us great depth in the secondary.
To McDaniels' credit, this year's draft was much better however none of these players have taken an NFL regular season snap. I love cornerbacks Perrish Cox and Syd'Quan Thompson. Both had a great preseason and if they play at that same level this regular season we have two great young corners to look forward to. Offensive linemen Zane Beadles and JD Walton also look very good. I was a little surprised to see them both take the majority of the snaps all 4 preseason games. If they play through all 16 games this regular season, they will have played 20 games in one season, which is unheard of for offensive linemen; at least since Ryan Clady did it in 2008. Wide receiver Eric Decker looked very good in the preseason and I look for him to be on Orton's radar all season. Eric Decker actually led the NFL this preseason with 16 catches. Demaryius Thomas has the build of a dominant receiver but he's been injured since Denver drafted him so I am not yet excited about him. And yes, Tebow showed flashes of greatness in the preseason, but he was playing against 2nd string defenses most of the time. He looked like a typical rookie at times against these 2nd stringers as well. I am excited for the potential Tebow has. He has a great attitude, he's physically gifted, and he has great coaching. Hopefully he will be patient learning from the sidelines until 2012.