No matter how gifted a player is he will need talent around him to succeed. Quarterback PEYTON MANNING is stepping into a franchise in Denver that has assorted unproven and proven offensive players who will have a lot to say about his development from 2012 and beyond.
Manning is a consummate student of the game, who relishes getting comfortable with his receivers on and off the field so they can understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. That trait of Manning’s is crucial because the Broncos possess a boatload of young and unproven receivers on their current roster. Plus, the Broncos were last in the NFL in passing yards per game with 152.1 and so they need Manning’s brain and gifts to rectify their passing game. TIM TEBOW tried, but the Broncos passing game problems were bigger than him. How far does an offense think they will get when they depend, or have to depend, on just one receiver?
Manning has 10 receivers currently on the roster to work with, and his best bets are DEMARYIUS THOMAS, ERIC DECKER, and the newly signed ANDRE CALDWELL. Thomas missed five games last year and he wasn’t the huge threat or bailout receiver that he was drafted to be… or is capable of being. His best game of the season by far was the Pittsburgh game in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. He went bananas on the Steeler defense to the tune of 4 catches for 204 yards and the winning touchdown from 80 yards out. But one game doesn’t make a season, even if it was in a crucial playoff game.
DECKER was the Broncos go-to man last year as he led the team in catches with 44, and yards with 612 and 8 TDs (leading the team in that category too). Caldwell was signed because the Broncos needed more help in the receiving game than what Decker and Thomas could provide.
Thomas needs to prove that he is not a first-round bust, and that he can be the number one receiver in this offense, as he was drafted to be. The Broncos put a lot on Decker in 2011 because he could take it and the Broncos other receivers were either AWOL or not up to par. Caldwell is a deep receiver/possession guy and he has the speed to annoy defenses.
MATTHEW WILLIS is a complementary receiver who can do some things in this offense but he is not a game breaker. MARK DELL and D’ANDRE GOODWIN were helpful receivers in college at Michigan State and Washington respectively, but they are too young and unproven to be big deals in the 2012 Broncos offense. JASON HILL and TYLER GRISHAM can be options as drive receivers, but neither has really proven their skills very much at this level. GREG ORTON and TIM TOONE were also threats at receiver at Purdue and Weber State, but again they are too young and unproven to really make a big dent in the Broncos 2012 offense. And some of these receivers in this paragraph may not even make the 2012 active squad, so that is another thing to ponder.
Manning may have some of the best tight end talent at his disposal with the likes of JACOB TAMME, JULIUS THOMAS, VIRGIL GREEN, and CORNELIUS INGRAM. But the bad news is that the only one of them who is proven or who has had to step into the fire on a consistent basis is Tamme, who was a teammate of Manning’s for four years in Indianapolis. He caught 92 passes for 855 yards and 5 scores with the Colts from 2008-2011.
Thomas, Green, and Ingram are athletic specimens and pass catching options at tight end, but there is no guarantee that they will be the bailout or big-time check down receivers that Manning will need in the regular season. Also there is a good chance that the Broncos may carry only three tight ends this year and one of them may either be cut or underused.
Luckily the Broncos had the top rushing offense in the league with 164.1 rushing yards per game. And 66 percent of the runners (all but Tebow) who contributed to that milestone are back in 2012. WILLIS MCGAHEE led the team in yards rushing with 1,199 and 4 scores. LANCE BALL gained 402 yards on 96 carries and 1 score. Those two are excitable backs who need to pick up where they left off. McGahee proved that he could still be a number one back with the season he had, but he will need more help, and more than the 402 complementary yards that Ball had last year.
MARIO FANNIN didn’t do anything last year for Denver, but he does have talent and he needs to prove it to make the team for 2012. XAVIER OMON was a star in college at Northwest Missouri State, but that was then. The running back field is crowded in Denver and he will to show more in the offseason practices to make the team. JEREMIAH JOHNSON could have been so much more as a smaller back but it wasn’t meant to be last year.
KNOWSHON MORENO is on his way to being a bust, and McGahee was signed last year to be the exciting back that Moreno was supposed to be by now. This has got to be the year he turns it around or one of the Broncos lesser known and hungry backs may knock him off the roster or take away from his carries.
Manning’s protection is comprised of guards ZANE BEADLES and CHRIS KUPER and at the tackles are RYAN CLADY and ORLANDO FRANKLIN. The center is J.D. WALTON. Beadles and Clady lined up on the left side and that side of the Broncos offensive line is their best. Kuper and Franklin are solid players but they need to step their game up to approach the level that Beadles and Clady are at. Manning’s career long lack of big-time mobility and the fact that he just came off neck surgery has to be on the minds of all five of these lineman, and it better be. This offensive line allowed the ninth most sacks in the league with 42 last year and Manning’s body may not be able to take that amount of punishment anymore, like he could circa 2001 (even though he has never been sacked more than 29 times in a regular season).
BOTTOM LINE: Denver needs for receivers Thomas, Decker, and Caldwell to step up and develop a rhythm with their new quarterback. More than one receiver MUST emerge for the Broncos to get out of the basement as far as the passing game goes. Manning’s 36-year old body and of course his neck cannot take 42 sacks. The offensive line is good but they have some ways to go, and Beadles is a keeper. Someone besides McGahee (and don’t forget that Tebow took his 660 yards rushing—second-most rushing yards on the Broncos team in 2011—with him to New York) needs to step up in the running game because even being first in the league in a statistical category, doesn’t mean that everything is fine.
By Matthew Robinson
