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The final division in the breakdown. The division which has future and former powerhouses. New Coaches. New Quarterbacks. New star Runningbacks. The addition of one of the best receivers in the NFL. Tons of injuries, but mainly to one team. This is going to be fun. It’ll be sad too cause I was getting used to communicating with each of you everyday. You’ll just have to read my Nascar posts people. Jim Rome has his Cronies, Opie and Anthony have Pests. You will now and forever be known as The Cans (as in MexiCANS).
Denver Broncos (1st) " When was the last time the Denver Broncos didn’t produce a 1000 yard rusher? Yeah, I can’t remember either. Jake Plummer had the best year of his career and will, that’s right, I said it, will improve on his career year numbers. Why, you ask? Because not only will Rod Smith still be a solid wide receiver for Jake the Snake, but because Javon Walker will be on the other side of the field. This is one of the top wide receiving tandems in the NFL this season and will prove it. Plus, think about it, it’s the year of the Snake: Snakes on a plane. I knew you’d see my reasoning. THERE’S A SNAKE ON THE FIELD. Keeping with this theme, look at the other teams in the division:
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Kansas City: THERE’S A CHIEF WITH A PIGSKIN IN HIS HAND
Oakland Raiders: THERE’S A THREAT OF AN EARTHQUAKE ON THE FIELD (no scary football threats).
San Diego Chargers: THERE’S A RUNNING BACK THAT LOOKS LIKE ROBOCOP ON THE FIELD.
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Ok, so my theme game doesn’t really prove why the Broncos will win the division because Minnesota’s would be “THERE’S A BUNCH OF CONVICTS ON THE FIELD,” but Denver takes the top spot because their defense is full of Pro-Bowlers including John Lynch, Champ Bailey, and Al Wilson.
Kansas City Chiefs (2nd) " This is going to be a very good team. They have definitely been a run happy team in the past, and will continue the trend thanks to new Head Coach Herm Edwards. They’ll “play to win the game,” but will struggle at times because their offensive line has taken a hit over the offseason due to injury and old age. Trent Green is still a very good Quarterback, but lacks a go to receiver that is very reliable. Eddie Kennison is ok, but he’s not a Marvin Harrison, Chad Johnson, or even a Derrick Mason type player. Dante Hall is extremely inconsistent and undersized. His speed works wonders for the return game, but just doesn’t seem to translate to the receiving aspect of this offense. Larry Johnson will prove that he’s an elite running back this year and will get out of Priest Holmes’s shadow. He has the potential to exceed Holmes’s contributions in past seasons and should the O-line hold up, he will. Edwards is a defensive minded coach and will show that this Chief’s defense is much improved. Kendrell Bell had a terrible year by his standards last season, but that could be because he was coming off injury. He will improve and become the Line backing stud he once was. The secondary is vicious. Sammy Knight (Pro-Bowler), Ty Law (Pro-Bowler, best corner back in the league), & Patrick Surtain (Pro-Bowler). The question remains, are their Linebackers good enough to stop some of the potent offenses that this team will face.
San Diego Chargers (3rd) " Even though they’ll be starting a rookie Quarterback, I still feel that this team can win. That is mainly because of LT. LaDainian Tomlinson is the best running back in the NFL hands down. If anyone argues with you and tells you that Shaun Alexander is better, just slap them because they’re idiots. Then tell them that LT is the best because The Cans say so. I’ll explain exactly why in my next article. I have the breakdown of stats and there’s not that much difference, but I’ll explain the differences to you. This guy, up until Antonio Gates came along, was the only offensive threat in San Diego. Over 5 seasons, he has averaged 1472.2 yards a season and 14.4 TDs. Also, he’s averaged 478.4 yards by air and about 2 TDs per season. Name another running back that has been able to compile numbers like that without any other offensive threat since Barry Sanders. You can’t because there isn’t one. Shaun Alexander has a top 5 quarterback in Seattle, not to mention 4 above average wide receivers. He also has Walter Jones, arguably one of the best Tackles to ever play the game. Can you name any offensive linemen on the Chargers squad? Me neither. Phillip Rivers won’t be lighting up the football world, but if he’s as advertised, then he should be able to hold his own and not flounder too much throughout the season. San Diego, Superchargers. San Diego, Superchargers. Yeah, that song won’t be played much this season. But it will be played enough to win about 8 games. The ferocious shut down defense is a main reason for that.
Oakland Raiders (Last) " Their offensive line stunk last year and has now been plagued with the injury bug. Aaron Brooks is by no means an improvement over Kerry Collins. Randy Moss and Jerry Porter could be one of the top duos in the NFL if they both wanted to be there. By season’s end, they’ll both be begging the front office for trades. I’m not even going to bother breaking down the rest of the team because there are too many flaws and this article has gone on way too long thanks to my Samuel L. Jackson impression and my rant on L.T.
Andrew Mason
DenverBroncos
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The NFL Draft has been a place for the Broncos to find many players at a multitude of positions. But disproporationately few have come at quarterback.
While current backup Bradlee Van Pelt is a product of the Broncos' draft, arriving as a seventh-round pick two years ago, the team's history has seen a majority of its defining quarterbacks arrive via other means. From Frank Tripucka's arrival with the expansion team after a standout career in the Canadian Football League to Jake Plummer's decision to sign with the Broncos as an unrestricted free agent, the Broncos have far more often than not found their passers outside of the draft.
To wit:
Charley Johnson, 1972-76: Acquired in a trade with the Houston Oilers.
Craig Morton, 1977-82: Acquired in a trade with the New York Giants.
John Elway, 1983-98: Acquired in a trade with the Baltimore Colts.
Jake Plummer, 2003-present: Acquired via free agency.
Brian Griese, a draft choice in 1998, started 51 games between 1999 and 2002.
But the Broncos' history at quarterback doesn't dull the draft's potential importance to building a passing stockpile -- and, really, to call Elway a non-draftee simply owes to the technicality of his arrival via trade. In addition, longtime backup Gary Kubiak was a 1983 draft choice.
With all that said, here's a look at some of the quarterbacks in this year's draft class.
AT THE TOP
For USC's Matt Leinart, the task when he became the starter for the Trojans was monumental: adequately replace the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NFL Draft (Cincinnati's Carson Palmer) while completing the one task left uncompleted by the Trojans under Palmer, to win the national championship.
He did that in his first season as the starter, did it again in 2004 while winning the Heisman Trophy and then took the Trojans to one more national-championship game this past January, returning to USC for his senior season in spite of rampant speculation that he would be the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NFL Draft.
"The mental part, the first day of fall(practice) install I learned more practically that day than I did the whole year before, with (USC offensive coordinator) Steve Sarkisian, who was with the Raiders two years ago and now he's back at SC," Leinart said. "I just grew overall -- mentally and physically. A lot of people say I'm 1,000 throws more experienced. Now I;m kind of getting kicked out of college and I'm ready to go."
Staying in school allowed Leinart to obliterate USC's record book, as he set 13 school records. His career touchdown-to-interception ratio was 99/23, his interception percentage of 1.85 percent was an NCAA record, and he completed 64.8 percent of his passes. But perhaps the most telling statistic was his record as a starter: 37-2, the best for any NCAA quarterback in over three decades.
Unlike Leinart, Vince Young didn't win the Heisman Trophy in his stellar career with the Longhorns, but he did snatch the 2005 national championship away from '04 and '05 Heisman winners Leinart and Bush in a memorable Rose Bowl game that saw Young turn in one of the signature performances in college football history. He passed for 267 yards, ran for 200 more and scored three touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 9-yard run with 19 seconds remaining to give UT the national championship.
Young was always a proficient runner; in fact, his 7.4-yards-per-carry average as a freshman would remain the best of his three years in Austin. But it was as a passer where his growth was most pronounced; his completion percentage went from 58.7 as a freshman to 65.2 as a junior, and his touchdown-to-interception ratio steadily improved, from 6/7 in 2003 to 12/11 in 2004 on to 26/10 last season. And like the afore-mentioned Leinart, Young was above all a winner, going 30-2 as the Longhorns' starter since ascending to the first team as a redshirt freshman in 2003.
Some have spoken of Young's unconventional throwing motion, but he doesn't consider it an issue.
"Sitting down with some of the coaches (at the Combine) and hearing the different things they've been saying about my throwing motion, is (to hear) that there's nothing really wrong with it," Young said in Indianapolis. "The media iss who keeps talking about the throwing motion. There's nothing wrong with the throwing motion."
All Jay Cutler did was bring his school achingly close to its first bowl bid in decades.
The going seems to be perpetually rough at Vanderbilt. Mired below .500 for a generation, the Commodores have still managed to produce their share of NFL players, but since 1982, they have failed to make a bowl game.
"I got it done without a lot of guys around me," Cutler said. "Nothing against those guys -- I love them to death -- but I didn't have All-Americans scattered across the field and I had to adjust, I had to deal with pressure. I had to deal with getting the ball into tight places, so I think it is going to help me going to the next level, dealing with adversity and being able to succeed through it."
The SEC's Offensive Player of the Year last year owns virtually every Vandy passing record of note, and finished the season with an impressive showing throughout Senior Bowl week in January. Cutler also showed a flair for the dramatic in leading two last-minute comeback drives in 2005. Three more last-quarter comebacks ultimately fell short when either the defense gave up the game-winning points or, in one case, a game-deciding field-goal try was blocked.
OTHER QUARTERBACKS OF NOTE:
Matt Baker, North Carolina
Brett Basanez, Northwestern
Corey Bramlet, Wyoming
Kellen Clemens, Oregon
Brodie Croyle, Alabama
Bruce Eugene, Grambling State
Bruce Gradkowski, Toledo
Justin Holland, Colorado State
Omar Jacobs, Bowling Green
Brandon Kirsch, Purdue
Joel Klatt, Colorado
Travis Lulay, Montana State
Ingle Martin, Furman
Reggie McNeal, Texas A&M
Erik Meyer, Eastern Washington
Barrick Nealy, Texas State
Drew Olson, UCLA
Paul Pinegar, Fresno State
D.J. Shockley, Georgia
Marcus Vick, Virginia Tech
Charlie Whitehurst, Clemson
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