Denver Broncos Training Camp, Day 2: Hillis, Stokley Look Sharp

Day 2 observations from Denver Broncos training camp at Dove Valley:

— RB/FB Peyton Hillis flattened DL Tim Crowder in a 1-on-1 drill that left Crowder being attended to. He was able to get up and walk off on his own power and later returned to practice.

— One fan was overheard saying “That’s what you’re supposed to do” in the direction of WR Brandon Marshall after he caught a Kyle Orton pass. Marshall was ragged for dropping passes last year.

— Speaking of Marshall, he was back running after taking Friday night’s practice off.
— Champ Bailey was also back on the field and was taken off the team’s PUP list.

— Ryan Torain continued to run strong, including some carries with the first team. He’s doing this despite the protection on his left leg, which he tore the ACL last season at Cleveland.

— One kid sitting in the crowd had a Jay Cutler jersey on, however, Cutler’s name was crossed out with black tape.

— Chris Simms looks to have a stronger arm than Kyle Orton, but Orton has a better touch. That said, there’s no question that Orton is the first-string QB. Coach Josh McDaniels directed Orton to run one set of offensive plays, though Simms was in line to run the plays.

— Brandon Marshall received the largest applause from the crowd on hand. He was also jeered during one dropped pass.

— Brandon Stokley looked good in his quest to be Denver’s No. 3 WR. He’s battling Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Lloyd for that honor.

— Good chance that Chad Jackson and Kenny McKinley are battling for the last WR spot on the roster, assuming the team keeps six. Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, Brandon Stokley, Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Lloyd would appear to be locks. Jackson may be the odd man out, but he has experience with McDaniels from New England.

— A few plays after Peyton Hillis ran over Tim Crowder, he was taken down by Elvis Dumervil.

— Starting secondary should be no surprise—Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins, Andre Goodman and Renaldo Hill. Second-round draft pick Alphonso Smith will play the nickle corner and likely be on kick returns with Eddie Royal and Kenny McKinley, if he makes the team.

— The offensive line opened up some nice holes early on for Correll Buckhalter and Peyton Hillis, but the D-line was able to stop Denver’s 2nd-string offense on runs by Buckhalter and Ryan Torain.

— Offense ran a number of five-wide setups with TE Tony Scheffler flushed wide left and using RB out of the backfield as the fifth guy.

— First-team offense ran a number of underneath throws to Eddie Royal, Daniel Graham and Jabar Gaffney, but struggled to go deep on the No. 1 defense, in particular the starting secondary.

— Brian Dawkins should’ve had a pick of Kyle Orton on a overthrow. Immediately after Dawkins punished himself with 10 push-ups prior to the next play.

— CB Joshua Bell knocked the ball away from Brandon Lloyd on a fade pass from Kyle Orton.

— Chris Simms hit Jabar Gaffney on an offensive drill down the right sideline past Darcel McBath, but McBath, making up for getting beat, was able to knock the ball out of Gaffney’s hand and through the end zone for what would’ve been a touchback.

Denver Broncos Training Camp, Day 2: Hillis, Stokley Look Sharp

Day 2 observations from Denver Broncos training camp at Dove Valley:

— RB/FB Peyton Hillis flattened DL Tim Crowder in a 1-on-1 drill that left Crowder being attended to. He was able to get up and walk off on his own power and later returned to practice.

— One fan was overheard saying “That’s what you’re supposed to do” in the direction of WR Brandon Marshall after he caught a Kyle Orton pass. Marshall was ragged for dropping passes last year.

— Speaking of Marshall, he was back running after taking Friday night’s practice off.
— Champ Bailey was also back on the field and was taken off the team’s PUP list.

— Ryan Torain continued to run strong, including some carries with the first team. He’s doing this despite the protection on his left leg, which he tore the ACL last season at Cleveland.

— One kid sitting in the crowd had a Jay Cutler jersey on, however, Cutler’s name was crossed out with black tape.

— Chris Simms looks to have a stronger arm than Kyle Orton, but Orton has a better touch. That said, there’s no question that Orton is the first-string QB. Coach Josh McDaniels directed Orton to run one set of offensive plays, though Simms was in line to run the plays.

— Brandon Marshall received the largest applause from the crowd on hand. He was also jeered during one dropped pass.

— Brandon Stokley looked good in his quest to be Denver’s No. 3 WR. He’s battling Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Lloyd for that honor.

— Good chance that Chad Jackson and Kenny McKinley are battling for the last WR spot on the roster, assuming the team keeps six. Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, Brandon Stokley, Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Lloyd would appear to be locks. Jackson may be the odd man out, but he has experience with McDaniels from New England.

— A few plays after Peyton Hillis ran over Tim Crowder, he was taken down by Elvis Dumervil.

— Starting secondary should be no surprise—Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins, Andre Goodman and Renaldo Hill. Second-round draft pick Alphonso Smith will play the nickle corner and likely be on kick returns with Eddie Royal and Kenny McKinley, if he makes the team.

— The offensive line opened up some nice holes early on for Correll Buckhalter and Peyton Hillis, but the D-line was able to stop Denver’s 2nd-string offense on runs by Buckhalter and Ryan Torain.

— Offense ran a number of five-wide setups with TE Tony Scheffler flushed wide left and using RB out of the backfield as the fifth guy.

— First-team offense ran a number of underneath throws to Eddie Royal, Daniel Graham and Jabar Gaffney, but struggled to go deep on the No. 1 defense, in particular the starting secondary.

— Brian Dawkins should’ve had a pick of Kyle Orton on a overthrow. Immediately after Dawkins punished himself with 10 push-ups prior to the next play.

— CB Joshua Bell knocked the ball away from Brandon Lloyd on a fade pass from Kyle Orton.

— Chris Simms hit Jabar Gaffney on an offensive drill down the right sideline past Darcel McBath, but McBath, making up for getting beat, was able to knock the ball out of Gaffney’s hand and through the end zone for what would’ve been a touchback.

Broncos Training Camp Notes: Marshall Holds Out, Jordan Running With First Team

News and notes from observations at Friday night’s session of Day One of training camp:

— Brandon Marshall didn’t practice in the night session after a good (reported) earlier session.

— LaMont Jordan is running with first team, Correll Buckhalter with second team and Ryan Torain with third team. Remember, Knowshon Moreno is not in camp yet as he waits to get a contract deal done.

— First-team WRs for most of night session were Eddie Royal and Jabar Gaffney. Brandon Stokley played in the slot with Daniel Graham at TE.

— Team ran a lot of group drills after going through stretching exercises.

— Offense ran a number of short five- and 10-yard in-and-out patterns, including a nice catch by rookie Kenny McKinley.

— Passing game looked rough when it went up against the secondary—a lot of deflections and near interceptions.

— Kenny McKinley made a couple of nice long catches from Chris Simms.

— Team threw a number of swing passes to the left flat to Peyton Hills.

— Correll Buckhalter had one nice inside handoff run.

— Brian Dawkins nearly picked off one of Simms’ passes.

— WR C.J. Jones got rocked on one offensive play. Left practice, but came back later.

— DE Tim Crowder would’ve had a sure sack on rookie QB Tom Brandstater on one play. QBs are wearing non-contact red jerseys.

— Rookies Alphonso Smith and Kenny McKinley were working on kickoff returns along with Eddie Royal.

It’s (Mile) High Time For Josh McDaniels To Show What He’s Got

OK, Josh McDaniels, show us what you’ve got.

The time has come for the 33-year-old hotshot head coach of the Denver Broncos to silence all the critics and prove that he is the second coming when his team opens training camp Friday at Dove Valley.

New quarterback Kyle Orton will be there. All the rookies—OK, we’re still waiting on first-rounders Knowshon Moreno and Robert Ayers—will be in attendance. Shoot, hotheaded wide receiver Brandon Marshall is even here.

But make no bones about it.

Even with all the free agents brought in this offseason, all the rookies—and there are plenty of them, 10 in all—and all the holdovers from the Mike Shanahan regime, when the first of two practices starts Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., all eyes will be on McDaniels.

Hoodie Junior, as he’s been affectionately called as a reference to his mentor, New England’s Bill Belichick, has turned Broncos Country upside down ever since he was named head coach in January.

Now, all things considered, that may not be such a bad thing.

Consider that the Broncos were the first team in NFL history to blow a three-game division lead with three games last year, and had a defense with more holes than swiss cheese, change may be a good thing.

But his very public spat with incumbent quarterback Jay Cutler is what comes to mind first and foremost when people think about McDaniels.

Almost as quickly as McDaniels arrived in time, Cutler had a one-way ticket out, courtesy of a blockbuster deal with the Chicago Bears that brought Orton into the fold.

Behind Cutler and Marshall, the 2008 Broncos had an offense that was second to none when it came to moving the ball between the 20’s. It was getting into the end zone that was a problem. Hopefully, McDaniels and his offensive prowess can fix that problem. But he’ll after to do that without the services of Cutler.

He’ll have to do that with an injury-proned Marshall, who despite demanding a trade and having concerns with both the new head coach and the training staff, reported to camp on time.

That said, maybe McDaniels can keep the offensive chugging along with a more balanced attack than what Denver was able to utilize last season, after a plethora of running back injuries rattled the team.

That’s of course depended on Moreno signing his rookie deal and getting into camp.
Come Friday, Broncos fans will get to see for themselves whether McDaniels was the right choice to replace Shanahan. For his sake, I hope so.

Brandon Marshall: Trade Demands Sound Awfully Familiar

First Jay Cutler, now Brandon Marshall?

Does anyone want to stay with the Denver Broncos anymore?

A little more than two months after Pro-Bowl quarterback Cutler was traded to the Chicago Bears his former Broncos teammate Marshall is reportedly asking out, too.

Former NFL Network and Denver Post reporter Adam Schefter reported to AM radio station 850 KOA in Denver on Monday that Marshall asked Broncos owner Pat Bowlen for a trade during a meeting Friday. Marshall was in town to talk with team officials on the first day of a mandatory mini-camp, where Marshall did participate.

Reportedly, Denver isn’t considering the possibility of dealing their star wide receiver, but, then again, they said the same thing about Cutler before he got shipped out of town.

Marshall, who caught more than 100 passes for an average of almost 1,300 yards and 7 TDs in the past two seasons, is upset with his contract and wants to renegotiate his original rookie deal.

Marshall is scheduled to make $2.2 million this season, the last year of his four-year rookie contract.

Other reports say that Marshall is upset with the direction of the team in the aftermath of the Cutler trade.

Whatever the reason is, Marshall, who has made more news this offseason for his continuing legal woes and refusal to let the Broncos medical staff to treat his injured hip, certainly looked the part of an alienated employee when he left the Broncos team facility last week with some packed boxes in tow.

Maybe Marshall just misses his old buddy Cutler and is hopeful for a reunion in Chicago.

Then again, maybe not.

The Baltimore Ravens have already been speculated as a possible trade partner. The Ravens certainly could use the WR upgrade.

Nevertheless, the last thing the Broncos need is another primadonna on their roster threatening for a trade. Especially one like Marshall, who has provided as many headaches off the field as exhilarating plays on it.

Orton Selection at QB Gives Broncos More Bang For Their Bucks

So Kyle Orton is the Denver Broncos starting quarterback. Truthfully, was there ever a doubt?

When new head coach Josh McDaniels traded Pro Bowl QB Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears in April for Orton and a plethora of draft picks there was no question that the 26-year-old Purdue product had to be the guy.

You didn’t really think that after the way the Cutler debacle went down and Denver acquired Orton in the deal that it would name Chris Simms, who came to Denver as a free agent this offseason, as the starter did you? Not that Simms is a horrible quarterback, but the former University of Texas signal-caller has played in just one game, thrown two passes for the Tennessee Titans last year and almost ended his career three years ago with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It was then, playing against the Carolina Panthers, that Simms suffered an injury that led to emergency surgery following a 26-24 loss to have his spleen removed. He has seen limited NFL action since.

While Simms has been recovering, Orton was establishing himself as a winner, even if his individual statistics weren’t the loftiest. Orton has won 21 of 33 career starts, including in 2005 when he led Chicago to an 11-5 record and first place in the NFC North. The Bears lost to the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Divisional Playoffs. He led Chicago to a 9-7 record last season, just narrowly missing the NFC playoffs.

Now, Orton might be a winner, his numbers won’t even come close to comparing to those of the man he is replacing in the Mile High City.

Orton has never thrown for 3,000 yards in a season; Cutler has averaged more than 4,000 the last two seasons. Orton, who threw for a career-best 2,972 yards and 18 scores in 2008, has a 55.3 career completion percentage; Cutler has completed 63 percent of his passes since 2007. But Orton has a winning record and has played in the playoffs. Cutler is just 17-20 as a starter, having never led Denver to a winning record since taking over as the starter at the end of the 2006 season.

Simms might make more than three times as much money as Orton – Simms signed a two-year, $6 million deal with Denver while Orton is playing for just $995,000 under his rookie deal – Orton gives the Broncos more bang for their bucks. Now he just needs the playmakers around him, something he lacked in Chicago. That said, has anyone seen Brandon Marshall lately?

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