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Broncos Most Important Addition: an Undrafted Free Agent
Published: April 27, 2009
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Like many Bronco fans, my emotions following this weekend’s NFL draft ranged from angry to bewildered. Why on Earth would this coaching staff draft a running back (Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno) in the first round? How is it possible that only one pick was used on the front seven? Don’t they know how awful this defense was last year?
I was frustrated.
I was angry.
Now I’m breathing a sigh of relief.
That sigh is based on a little noticed signing. Denver brought in Chris Baker—a nose tackle from Hampton University—as an undrafted free agent. Baker is not a big name like BJ Raji, Ron Brace, or even Ziggy Hood, but he is just what the doctor ordered.
Of the tackle prospects available in the 2009 draft, Baker is one of the only players to come out of a 3-4 system like the Broncos will run this year. He played at the nose and at end—demonstrating the versatility coach Josh McDaniels covets.
He has the measurables coveted by NFL scouts. He’s 6’2″, 326 lbs. He ran 4.94 in the 40-yard dash, did 24 reps on the bench press, and has a 35 1/2″ vertical leap.
He was a productive player at Hampton. In his senior season he had 69 tackles including eight and a half sacks and 16 tackles for loss. According to scouts he’s quick off the snap, plays with excellent leverage and is able to shed blockers.
So why wasn’t this guy drafted…one word: character.
Hampton started his career at Penn State, but was kicked off the team for a series of off-field incidents, which culminated in an assault charge. He resurrected his career at Hampton, but teams remain concerned with the character problem.
Baker will give Josh McDaniels’ strategy of adding high-quality, high-character players its first test. If McDaniels’ philosophy holds, the large number of “good guys” in the locker room will serve as a positive influence on one or two marginal candidates—causing them to focus and raise their level of commitment.
If Baker can put his “issues” behind him, the Broncos just may have filled the largest hole on their defense. And that should cause Bronco fans to breathe just a little easier.
How the “Brady Rule” Will Kill Football
Published: April 21, 2009
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A new rule is about to take professional football back to its glory days—of the 1940s.
The so-called “Brady Rule” prohibits defensive players who are on the ground from “lunging” at a quarterback’s legs.
The rule was created to prevent the kind of injury that sidelined Patriot QB Tom Brady for the entire 2008 season. A similar hit knocked the Bengals’ Carson Palmer out of a playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006.
While the intent of the rule is to protect quarterbacks—the league’s most visible and precious commodity—its implementation could lead to changes that will take the National Football League back to the “three yards and a cloud of dust” game that prevailed in the 1940s.
Here’s why:
Recognizing the potential to penalize defenses, offensive linemen, tight ends, and running backs are going to “cut” opposing defenders as often as possible. The increased use of the cut block will result in more injuries to defensive players—especially on the defensive line.
A few years from now, the NFL will act to protect the players by banning the cut block entirely. And that’s when things will get interesting.
Deprived of the ability to cut block, running backs will no longer be able to effectively handle blitz pickups. Teams will have to abandon four and five receiver sets and go to two and three tight ends to handle blitz pressure. Down-field throws will diminish as a result.
Since most outside runs depend on cut blocking to neutralize back side pursuit, teams will focus more on the power running game—the between the tackles and “student body right” type of offense popularized by Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers.
This type of running game requires bigger, stronger, more physical offensive linemen. The smaller, lighter, agile offensive linemen (think the Denver Broncos of the late 90s) will be gone from the game.
No spread offense.
Fewer down-field throws.
Big, brutish linemen blocking for a big runner smashing between the tackles.
Lombardi would love it.
That’s where we’re headed. And all because of one silly rule.
