The offseason so far

Thomas RitchiePre-SeasonLeave a Comment

By Dave Haselden.

This is why we should be grateful for Vance Joseph.

“WHAT!?” I hear you scream.

Denver went over and above their usual coaching budgets to land coach Mike Munchak, and it is believed he is being paid more than the new OC Rich Scangerello.

I think we needed the two bad year’s under Joseph for John Elway to realise that you shouldn’t by shy with your coaching budget. If you want the best you must pay the best, to be the best.

Munchak coming in has an air of ‘sit up and listen’ to the rest of the league, and it’s been patently obvious that for years we’ve struggled with our Offensive line.

Yes we sort of found something after injuries forced our hands, and that line turned out okay as far as the running game was concerned, however QB protection was a different story. That and all the holding penalties that left far to many yards and at times points on the field. But to be fair they were consistent with it…

Munchak has family in Denver so he was very happy to take the lateral move. Perhaps he’s next in line if Fangio doesn’t work out? After all, he was one of the two top candidates for the HC position.

I do expect immediate improvements with this coaching staff, but we must give them a season or two.

The appointment of Scangerello as OC is a good one, he has years of college experience, and will bring with him college concepts, which is what Elway wants us to do if we are led to believe what the press has said. He brings a really good play book with him and has worked wonders with every QB he’s worked with, so maybe he will find us a diamond in the rough, in that position?

Ed Donatell returns to Denver as our DC, but I think this is more he’s coming in to work with Fangio on the defensive side of things, as Vic will be calling Defensive plays.

This is Ed’s third stint with this organisation, and his first stint saw him pick up two Super Bowl rings. Both previous times he was our DB’s coach, so his third is a definite upgrade, and the chance to bring this defence back into the top five, where it belongs.

The defence last year had a lot of bend in it, but gave up way too many yards and big plays If that can be eradicated, and we can confuse opposing quarterbacks, the talent on the roster should bring deep play off runs for many years.

On both sides of the ball we failed to confuse the opposition with looks and schemes, and I can’t for the life of me think why we never changed it.

I don’t think we can afford to go cheap in free agency, and bring in plugs and gap fillers, like we have the last few years. We need to bring in some genuine grade A talent to help bring on the next crop of draftees. I’m sure Fangio has an idea of what and where we are lacking, and hopefully John will help to Facilitate that.

I would be very surprised if we drafted a QB in the first two rounds, however; if Scangerello is allowed input, I’m sure he’s an idea of who he’d like to work with.

My personal areas of need from either FA or the draft are, and in no particular order:

CB

ILB

DL

QB

OL

Of all the notable players heading for Free agency, my priorities to keep are:

C Matt Paradis

DT Domato Peko

G Billy Turner

DE Shelby Harris

TE Jeff Heuerman

LS Casey Kreiter

RT Jared Veldheer

CB Tremaine Brock

I would consider CB Bradley Roby, but only if it was a team friendly deal, as he showed up last year to be a second or third CB at best.

Go Broncos!

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