Clady out for the Year

[Ebenezer]

The thing is about Manning, he is getting older and they need a much stronger performance from their OL. And when they lost their C and LT, they had a pretty solid group around those spots. Now, they have a very old Peyton Manning with fewer weapons and only 1 spot that is solidified on the OL. Not exactly the same situation.

I wonder even about that one spot, given Kubiak's presence and Vasquez's skill set.

[Steve]

I don't have any issues with Vasquez, so long as he stays at OG. He is just about the best OG in the AFC, and is a great run or pass blocker inside. The catch is with all their holes, and his versatility, I think he is going to be forced to OT at some point, which makes them weaker at 2 spots, since the guy isn't anywhere near as good OT as he is OG. Even if they can keep him at OG, one dominant OG only helps if the other 4 guys are reasonably solid. Think little dutch boy with one finger in the dike, with holes all around him out of reach.

It is just a lot to ask of 4 players who have not played well recently to suddenly step up and play at a very high level. Chris Clark played reasonably well at one point, but that was several years ago since he has played well. Ryan Harris has played OK in stretches in the past, but again that was a while ago, and last year in KC he was barely adequate.

I wouldn't be surprised if the guys the Broncos are trying to develop eventually turn into pretty good OL down the road. Young players will develop if you give them practice and playing time. But time is not something the Broncos have right now. Splitting their reps among a bunch of young players is not going to speed things along, either.

[Ebenezer]

I love Vasquez, but I'm a little bit skeptical of him trying to consistently block the outside zone.

[Lightningwill_420]

My issue with Vasquez is he's a Bronco, so eff him. He sucks.

[Steve]

Vasquez gets out and moves as well as any OG in football, I really think he won't be the problem on outside zone. He comes from a TTU offense that was mostly zone and he always did the zone stuff pretty well for us, although we only did a lot of zone after we got Mathews, so it didn't showcase his skills with us. Denver hasn't done a lot of outside zone lately, just because they don't have the TE. Julius Thomas blocks like our TE, so they were never going to run that play too often.

Where he used to suck for us is his footwork on power blocks was dreadful. If he could get out and around the other guys, he was pretty good at pulling and leading. But the guy could hardly get around the C without tiptoeing, so the pull and lead part didn't happen as often as it got called.

I still have problem with the rest of the Broncos line. Outside zone is kinda a tough play to get everyone matched up on. It takes a lot of teamwork to get everyone on their blocks and sustained and then passing off and releasing at just the right time. Clark and Harris have both had moments where they looked like OK guys, but playing out in space isn't really their thing. And neither has been enjoying a lot of success recently, so I can't see their confidence being real high either.

Denver is going to have to show some flexibility this season. They don't have the personnel to just turn into the Texans/Ravens/Old Shanny Den offense overnight, and that is especially true with the OL. They got the TE they needed, but with a suspect interior, they may have to stick to a lot more inside zone and some counter plays. With Manning, if their O is struggling to run, they have to turn the passing game, no matter what Kubiak wants to do. And as much as Daniels and Virgil Green fit what Kubiak wants, having D. Thomas, Sander and either Caldwell/Latimer is going to make it tough to not put 3 WR on the field.