Broncos @ Bears GDT: Preseason Week 1

[BroncoBruin]

And yeah, missing out on both Calais Campbell and Tony Romo after signing Leary made this a challenging offseason. They tried to get creative with the defensive line and right tackle...turns out it's a player's league after all. Oh well. Not exactly a lot of options there. 

[AKRNA]

I don't think we have a good solution at LG  on the roster. Probably the same with RT. Leary's a mauler but has the same agility and speed issues that Garcia does. I'm not sure moving him to LG would be a benefit at all.

 

Outside of Paradis and Bolles we don't seem to have much speed and quickness on the OL. That's a bad thing. Maybe McGovern might offer a solution but I've never seen him play.

 

 

[BroncoBruin]

Leary is the good solution. Played LG his entire career and earned a big contract doing so.

[Broncofan]

10 minutes ago, AKRNA said:

I don't think we have a good solution at LG  on the roster. Probably the same with RT. Leary's a mauler but has the same agility and speed issues that Garcia does. I'm not sure moving him to LG would be a benefit at all.

 

Outside of Paradis and Bolles we don't seem to have much speed and quickness on the OL. That's a bad thing. Maybe McGovern might offer a solution but I've never seen him play.

 

 

 

8 minutes ago, BroncoBruin said:

Leary is the good solution. Played LG his entire career and earned a big contract doing so.

Honestly, though, you need to see Paradis, whoever our LG is, and Leary at RG before we know if there's an issue.  Or Leary at LG and whoever our RG is.   But last night we saw no Paradis, and the top 4 together for all of 2 drives.  That's not nearly enough time to get a feel of who our top 5 should be, and how they should be deployed.  And nothing substitutes for game speed (just like how full practice is miles ahead of OTA's).  I don't even recall us playing McGovern at C much, just a lot of Day...which honestly was really painful to watch.

What we shouldn't be doing is saving guys for the Week 3 dress rehearsal.  We should have our top 4 and McGovern play a full 1H.   Maybe 2.5 quarters, with both Lynch and Siemian.   Then sit them.  There's risk for injury, but we're not good enough of an OL to be still guessing.  We need to see our guys out there as a unit together.  Paradis is the one guy we can bring along slowly, everyone else should be getting way more reps.  Our need to start hot off the gates Week 1 is even more important with our QB play still in flux.

[AnAngryAmerican]

23 minutes ago, BroncoBruin said:

Leary is the good solution. Played LG his entire career and earned a big contract doing so.

I'm not an expert on OL play but to me a week 1 starting line of Bolles-Leary-Paradis-McGovern-Watson seems like the best option. 

[BroncoBruin]

10 hours ago, AnAngryAmerican said:

Garret Bolles looked alright, he's certainly not Ryan Clady but he's certainly not Ty Sambrailo or Donald Stephenson either. He has some upside and I've been saying since I saw him in person in two camp practices that he's better than I expected. He should be able to improve and scratch out a 6-7 year career as an average to slightly above-average LT.

Here is the entire list of 1st round OTs coming out of the draft who reached his athletic thresholds since 2007: Joe Staley, Jake Long, Ryan Clady, Duane Brown, Trent Williams, Bryan Bulaga, Tyron Smith, Nate Solder, James Carpenter (moved to G), Matt Kalil, Eric Fisher, Lane Johnson, Jake Matthews, Taylor Lewan, Brandon Scherff, Taylor Decker, Germain Ifedi. That's pretty decent company. Credit to Justis Mosqueda for compiling these numbers which are based on thresholds of height, short shuttle and three cone time.

I'm thinking there's a lot to suggest he can do better than "scratch out" an average career.

[AnAngryAmerican]

2 hours ago, BroncoBruin said:

Here is the entire list of OTs coming out of the draft who reached his athletic thresholds since 2007: Joe Staley, Jake Long, Ryan Clady, Duane Brown, Trent Williams, Bryan Bulaga, Tyron Smith, Nate Solder, James Carpenter (moved to G), Matt Kalil, Eric Fisher, Lane Johnson, Jake Matthews, Taylor Lewan, Brandon Scherff, Taylor Decker, Germain Ifedi. That's pretty decent company. Credit to Justis Mosqueda for compiling these numbers which are based on thresholds threshold of height, short shuttle and three cone time.

I'm thinking there's a lot to suggest he can do better than "scratch out" an average career.

That is good company. But there is a lot more to playing football than athletic measurables. See: Lynch, Paxton. 

Again, Bolles has looked better than I expected but I am taking a wait-and-see approach before anointing him a franchise LT who goes to multiple Pro Bowls.  

[BroncoBruin]

9 minutes ago, AnAngryAmerican said:

That is good company. But there is a lot more to playing football than athletic measurables. See: Lynch, Paxton. 

Again, Bolles has looked than I expected but I am taking a wait-and-see approach before anointing him a franchise LT who goes to multiple Pro Bowls.  

Nobody suggested there isn't more to football than athletic measurables and nobody has anointed him a franchise LT who will go to multiple Pro Bowls. Just some perspective for you.

You can't ignore what the numbers suggest with athletic linemen. Those hit rates are real and quite a bit more reliable than a guy who has been working his way up from Bolles immediately being a bust who wouldn't beat out Sambrailo. Where was your wait-and-see approach in April?

[BroncoBruin]

38 minutes ago, AnAngryAmerican said:

I'm not an expert on OL play but to me a week 1 starting line of Bolles-Leary-Paradis-McGovern-Watson seems like the best option. 

If Barbre isn't going to move up the depth chart, that's also what I'd like to see. There's nothing that can really be done about Watson as every potential RT is a turnstile, he at least projects well as a mauler. We have options outside of forcing Garcia at LG though. The move needs to be made soon. 

[AKRNA]

24 minutes ago, BroncoBruin said:

If Barbre isn't going to move up the depth chart, that's also what I'd like to see. There's nothing that can really be done about Watson as every potential RT is a turnstile, he at least projects well as a mauler. We have options outside of forcing Garcia at LG though. The move needs to be made soon. 

I'm with you and BF on that. Lets get our best 5 out there now  and play them. The Garcia experiment won't work and that's been pretty apparent for quite a while.

I'm real curious to see what McGovern brings to the table as an  OG. Apparently when Leary was out for a few days in TC McGovern stepped in and the OL didn't miss a beat.

Any idea when they're going to put Paradis in? That would allow McGovern to fill another spot.

 

[Broncofan]

6 minutes ago, AKRNA said:

I'm with you and BF on that. Lets get our best 5 out there now  and play them. The Garcia experiment won't work and that's been pretty apparent for quite a while.

I'm real curious to see what McGovern brings to the table as an  OG. Apparently when Leary was out for a few days in TC McGovern stepped in and the OL didn't miss a beat.

Any idea when they're going to put Paradis in? That would allow McGovern to fill another spot.

 

The issue with McGovern is he seems like our only viable C backup.  Dillon Day was flat out awful not just early but late yesterday.  I doubt any team would even stash him on their PS if we cut him   That bad.  

I think Barbre is likely the best option given McGovern still needs to play C.  Plus he's still raw technique wise from all reports. Either way though we need a full half or more of our top 5 (minus Paradis I understand why we can't push him).   If we are safe in feeling Paradis is good to go then we can take the risk but hard to do that now.   Day is going to get one of our QB or RB killed (ok seriously hurt) with that level of play. 

[BroncoBruin]

Whatever the coaches put on the field in the third preseason games needs to be the group going into the regular season IMO. That would make sense as a target date for Paradis to play. So these next two weeks they need to try all the combos of Leary and Barbre/McGovern they can and figure out what works best. Maybe during that time they can work Garcia at center a little bit, see if you can get him versatile enough to be active on game days. He shouldn't be starting. 

[AKRNA]

32 minutes ago, BroncoBruin said:

Whatever the coaches put on the field in the third preseason games needs to be the group going into the regular season IMO. That would make sense as a target date for Paradis to play. So these next two weeks they need to try all the combos of Leary and Barbre/McGovern they can and figure out what works best. Maybe during that time they can work Garcia at center a little bit, see if you can get him versatile enough to be active on game days. He shouldn't be starting. 

If Garcia is a backup we're in trouble. He's just way too slow off the snap for an NFL O Lineman. Anyway, this will be my last post for a while. I'm flying home in a few minutes and my internet speed is too slow to post on this new site.

Our depth is quite an issue. I don't think we've got 8 NFL caliber O Linemen on the roster.

[germ-x]

I haven't been able to post until now, but here are a few of my thoughts on the game.

• I thought Bolles looked awesome.  He'll have some hiccups, but man his athleticism is special.  Just a tremendous athlete.  In one instance in pass pro he was almost too quick in his slide and opened up a large hole between LT and LG.  Luckily he was athletic enough to make up for the mistake, few OTs in the league could've done it.  Once he gets his technique down he's capable of being an elite pass protector.
• The QBs.  Siemian was Siemian, average.  Average is plenty better than Lynch, though.  Lynch looked completely lost if he wasn't in the gun doing a catch and throw.  Pretty disappointing to be honest, he doesn't look anywhere close to being a starting NFL QB.
• The running game looks improved.  Deangelo Henderson may end up being a 6th round steal.  He's short, but well built and explosive.
• The 1st string defense looks like it will be elite again, if they can stay healthy.
• Jamal Carter may be a terrific UDFA find.  Fills that tweener LB/Safety role nicely.  Physical with enough size and athleticism to match up with RBs and TEs while playing in the box.
• Special teams were disappointing.  Gave up a big return and Carlos Henderson looked really bad.  He's reportedly been terrible in camp as well.  If he hadn't been a high investment he hasn't  performed at a level to make this team even though he will.
• On a Bears note, Mitch Trubisky looked like a stud.  Unlike Deshaun Watson, Trubisky did almost all of his damage within the offensive scheme and in rhythm, where as Watson played back yard football.  I noted Trubisky was as accurate a thrower on the run as I'd ever seen in college and it looks like he's brought that trait to the NFL.

[elliot878]

On 8/11/2017 at 3:52 PM, AKRNA said:

If Garcia is a backup we're in trouble. He's just way too slow off the snap for an NFL O Lineman. Anyway, this will be my last post for a while. I'm flying home in a few minutes and my internet speed is too slow to post on this new site.

Our depth is quite an issue. I don't think we've got 8 NFL caliber O Linemen on the roster.

I actually think we're in pretty solid shape on the interior of the OL.  Allen Barbre hasn't gotten the reps yet, but he probably ends up the starter at one of the guard spots.  An interior of Barbre-Paradis-Leary is a formidable group.  The Barbre trade didn't get much mention but it was one of the better moves this offseason, he graded out above average on a good Eagles line last season.  If/when he enters the starting lineup, he shouldn't be a liability, which for this OL is huge.

I'm also intrigued by McGovern, loved him as a prospect and if he can beat Barbre out for a starting guard job I think that's saying something.  Garcia should be our 4th guard, it should take two injuries for him to enter back into the starting lineup once things get straightened out - by that I mean Paradis back, and Barbre or McGovern starting.