Brock Osweiler (6) passes the ball during the second half against the Kansas City Chiefs. (Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports)

After the Denver Broncos signed Peyton Manning, John Elway said, “Plan B? We don’t have Plan B. We’re going Plan A” with a giant smile on his face.

In one of the hallways at Dove Valley, there’s a sign that says “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”

Of course, the Broncos came up with their Plan B that draft because failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Plan B is plan Brock. Truth be told, if Brock Osweiler decided to wait a year before declaring for the draft, he could have easily been a top 10 pick in this year’s draft.

Instead Osweiler went 57th overall in the second round. He spent all of last season learning from the best in the game as the team’s third string quarterback after Manning and Caleb Hanie.

Now Osweiler is next in line.

“Brock is making strides every day,” offensive coordinator Adam Gase said Wednesday afternoon. “His biggest thing that he has done is his demeanor right now has really taken a step up. He’s very calm, understands our offense, able to direct other players in the huddle. That’s something we were really looking for coming out into the spring.”

Osweiler has spent the off season working on his mechanics with former Arizona State offensive coordinator, Noel Mazzone. Mazzone is now UCLA’s offensive coordinator, and he got a lot of publicity after working with Tim Tebow.

The 6-7, 242-pound quarterback committed to Gonzaga to play basketball before changing his mind to football at ASU. In actuality, he could probably play baseball as well. He throws some serious strikes to his receivers.

“If he [QB Coach Greg Knapp] feels like he’s [Osweiler] throwing too many fastballs, he’ll tell him to take a little off and know who you’re throwing to,” Gase said. “Obviously, when you’re throwing to a receiver you might juice it up a little bit. Sometimes halfbacks, tight ends—maybe not so much. Our tight ends, I wouldn’t really worry about it. We have guys with some pretty good hands.”

Osweiler’s rookie year went a little something like this: He played in five games, with his first action coming as he took a knee on the Broncos’ final snap of its 37-6 win against Oakland. He also touched the ball four times in Denver’s final series against New Orleans. There he handed it off twice and took two kneeldowns. He finished off the Broncos wins at Baltimore and against Cleveland. Then he complete his first NFL pass for a 5-yard gain on 3rd-and-4 against Kansas City.

The most memorable parts of Osweiler’s rookie year probably came off the field. Hopefully they came in the classroom with Manning wearing the professor’s hat.

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Ronnie Hillman (21) runs with football against the Baltimore Ravens in double overtime of the AFC divisional round playoff game at Sports Authority Field. (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

There are three tiers of running backs on the Denver Broncos’ roster.

The first consists of 31-year-old Willis McGahee. He’s a proven veteran, and averaged 4.4 yards per carry before he went down in week 11 with a torn MCL and a compression fracture in his right knee when it hit the helmet of Chargers’ CB Quentin Jammer.

The second level of running backs consists of Knowshon Moreno, Lance Ball, and Jeremiah Johnson. All of them are in their mid-20′s and have shown glimpses of greatness at times. The things about greatness is it has to be more consistent. Moreno has played in 15 games combined over the past two seasons thanks to injuries. Ball averaged 3.8 yards per carry in 2012. Johnson replaced Moreno in 2011 and averaged 5.5 yards per carry in eight games. Perhaps for reasons related to consistency, these three guys haven’t received the starting call.

Then there’s the third tier of running backs on the roster. Ronnie Hillman, 21, and Montee Ball, 22, have sparked the Broncos’ interest in the last two drafts, respectively.

In his rookie year, Hillman rushed for 330 yards (3.9 average) and one touchdown in 14 games. Typical for rookies, Hillman ended the season much lighter than he started. After Wednesday’s OTA, Hillman said he weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 180 pounds when the season ended.

We can all remember this series of plays from the playoff loss to the Ravens: With the Broncos up by seven points late in the fourth quarter, the team simply needed just a few first downs to run out the clock.

After a timeout by the Ravens, the Broncos had the ball on their own 44-yard line on 1st-and-10. Remember the team had lost Moreno for the game due to injury. Hillman rushed up the middle until he was tackled by Ray Lewis. The result: 2 yards. The Ravens burned another timeout. On the next play, Hillman ran to the left until he was tackled by Ma’ake Kemoeatu and Lewis. The result: 1 yard. This brings the Broncos to their own 47-yard line at the two-minute warning. Things didn’t work out for Hillman up the middle or on the left side, so on third down he went up the right side. The result: No gain and another tackle by Kemoeatu. Britton Colquitt trotted out onto the field to punt the ball to Joe Flacco, Jacoby Jones and the rest of the Ravens. We know what happens from there.

*Cease the flashback to “The Nightmare.”

After averaging 1.0 yard per carry on that important series, Hillman realized he needed to put on some bulk.

“Right now, I’m probably about 15 pounds heavier than I was in the last game that we played,” Hillman said on Wednesday. “I’ll probably play at like 195 [pounds].”

Hillman worked out in California this off season and he says that since he’s practicing with the extra weight now, he’ll be comfortable with it by the time the season gets underway. The extra weight should also help him with his pass blocking.

Montee Ball (38) during rookie minicamp at the Broncos training facility. (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

“The thing that he’s shown us the last three days is at least his aggressiveness and willingness to go attack the blitzer,” offensive coordinator Adam Gase said. “That’s what we need to see. When we get in pads, that’s going to be a different deal as far as, OK, is he going to be able to sustain and do it consistently? I think he will. That size that he’s put on, that should help him.”

After injuries to McGahee and Moreno last season, the Broncos realized that they needed to add even more youth to the running back position. That’s why they drafted Ball. The rookie out of Wisconsin currently has over 20 pounds on Hillman. He was the country’s leading rusher in 2011 with 1,923 yards and 39 touchdowns (33 rushing), which was also the year that he was a Heisman Trophy finalist. In 2012, Ball racked up 1,850 yards and 22 touchdowns.

“He’s trying to pick up the offense. He’s a rookie,” Gase said. “There are a lot of things going on and he’s trying to pick it up as quick as possible. Obviously drafting him in the second round, we’re looking for him to make some kind of impact for us and be able to be on the field five, six plays and work together with that group of running backs.”

“Another great player added to the roster,” Hillman said of Ball.

Just like John Elway always says, the young guys are our future.

With productivity, they’re also another good insurance policy on Peyton Manning.

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The Denver Broncos have their 24th Ring of Fame member. Welcome former center Tom Nalen to the club.

Nalen played 14 seasons for the Broncos and anchored an offensive line that was among the best in the NFL. He played in the third-most regular season games (194) in team history, and his 188 starts are second only to John Elway.

Nalen will be honored on September 29 at halftime when the Broncos host the Philadelphia Eagles.

Drafted in the seventh round of the 1994 draft out of Boston College, Nalen made five Pro Bowl appearances, which is the most by an offensive lineman in franchise history. He was part of seven playoff teams, three division champions, and two Super Bowl winners.

Nalen blocked for 1997 NFL MVP Terrell Davis’ memorable 2,000-yard year in 1998 and helped clear holes for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year performances by Mike Anderson (2000) and Clinton Portis (2002).

The only other offensive lineman to be elected to the Ring of Fame is Gary Zimmerman.

“That’s pretty cool,” Nalen said of the honor. “My name’s going to be in the stadium.” -DenverBroncos.com

The team’s Ring of Fame was created by Pat Bowlen in 1984 to recognize former players and administrators who played significant roles in the franchise’s history.

My guess as to who the next Ring of Fame member will be after Nalen? None of than Ed McCaffrey.

Here’s a look at other inductees:

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