“In one year, from March to March, Josh McDaniels has created a new regeneration at Dove Valley. These are not your Shanahan’s Broncos. With the addition of Justin Bannan, Jarvis Green and Jamal Williams — 18 feet, 9 inches high and 880 pounds wide — the Broncos have a fresh starting defensive line.” (Denver Post)

In addition to adding size, the Broncos have added age and experience as well. The average age of Denver’s defense? 31 years old. The draft is still over a month away, but the team is letting everyone know that priority # 1 is stopping the run. That’s a good thing considering we have the newest Chief RB, Thomas Jones, to deal with twice next season. We also have Michael Bush, Maurice Jones-Drew, and the Titans (2nd in rushing last year) to stop on the ground in 2010.

Source: Yardbarker.com

The Jets were the #1 defense at the end of the regular season last year, so let’s look to Rex Ryan a.k.a. “D-Rex” to see how he changed his defense around last season.

The Jets take a team oriented approach when it comes to defense. Case in point: There was only one Pro Bowl player (Darrelle Revis) from the Jets’ defense. The Broncos had three defensive players selected - Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins, and Elvis Dumervil. Don’t get me wrong, those three deserved it, but overall the Broncos were far from great on defense. It’s better to have a well-rounded defense than just a few superstars putting the effort in on every play.

The Jets employed the 3-4 just like the Broncos, but they were bigger up front. The front three guys for the Jets were 6-3, 305 lbs, 6-5, 285 lbs, and 6-3, 325 lbs. With the new acquisitions, the Broncos have improved their size up front. The size up front allowed the Jets to blitz frequently, and come up with interceptions. 

We should be excited about the three new additions up front. Bannan (Ravens), Green (Patriots), and Williams (Chargers) all come from great defensive teams and have much more experience than Ryan McBean, Ronnie Fields, and Kenny Peterson did.

Josh McDaniels admitted to getting behind in the free agency and draft period last season. This year, he’s set in his position as head coach, knows what he had to work with last year, and knows what changes to make for a successful 2010 season. 

The Broncos are just getting started this off season. Keep your eyes open for more big changes.

-The defense spread the wealth nicely with Champ Bailey, D.J. Williams, Spencer Larsen, and Josh Barrett all recording 5 tackles. Dancing diva Kenny Peterson came through with 2 sacks while D.J. Williams had 1 sack.

- Kyle Orton had 177 yards in the first half, and scored on the Broncos first two possessions.

- Matt Prater nailed a 53 yard field goal.

- The offensive line did not allow a sack, which has become standard these days. That’s one of my favorite parts about this offense.

- The team has become much more comfortable with the offense, and how it should be run during a game. I really thought that McD would let the first stringers off easy tonight, but I’m glad to see he didn’t.

The Bad:

- Kyle Orton’s left handed pass. If you haven’t mastered the QB position with your dominant hand, why try the weak hand? Some would say he had nothing to lose, but had he taken the sack or incomplete pass, the defense would’ve had a shot at a safety.

- Brandon Marshall’s absence. The team left him back because he “doesn’t know the playbook.” My question is what the hell was he reading while he was flying to and from Atlanta, and nursing his hamstring back to health? There’s obviously some serious internal politics going on there.

- Kenny McKinley and Tony Scheffler both fumbled the ball. It’s one thing to catch it, it’s another thing to hold on to it. Keep it locked in, guys.

- The defense allowed 3 receiving TDs.

- Josh McDaniels’ offense is so complex that sometimes the guys have trouble with getting accustomed to which personnel should take the field. They blew their last timeout early in the first half, and even had to take a penalty to avoid using a timeout.

Up next: Da Bears!

This guy is back:

“The Beast” was back physically, but he’s still not quite there mentally. Brandon Marshall ran a few reps with the second string offense making an occasional appearance with the first stringers. However, he didn’t get into as many plays as I thought he would. He wasn’t the same guy that I saw during the first day at training camp when he was laughing with teammates, chatting it up with the fans, and making spectacular catches. Case in point – this clip:

Brian Dawkins also made his return to camp yesterday after surgery on his broken hand. He was sporting an orange “no contact” jersey as well as a large cast on his hand. If you thought our defense played well against the 49ers without him, then wait until he’s back in action. He gets his teammates so fired up during practice, and you can feel a different sort of energy when he’s out there – even when he’s not able to hit. It’s possible that he’ll play in the next preseason game against Seattle.

With some mistakes by Kyle Orton and some hard work by Chris Simms, Simms is making a great case for himself to be the Broncos starting QB . Today Orton dropped a snap and then followed it up with an incomplete pass inside the 20.

Meanwhile, Simms made some very impressive throws despite being intercepted by Tony Carter after the ball was tipped. He’s got some real zip on the ball and his accuracy is impressive. Most impressive however, was watching Simms run sprints at the end of practice. He beat all the defensive ends and other QBs across the line every time. It was actually quite disappointing to see Orton run his sprints. To give Orton some credit though, he threw a great pass to Jabar Gaffney for a touchdown.

All I’m saying is that there could be a QB battle brewing. Some other observations from practice:

- The media was out in full force with Marshall taking the field again. It kind of died down last week.

- LaMont Jordan and Peyton Hillis were throwing a few passes to other backs. Their arms were quite good, and I can see them throwing a pass or two this season.

- Receiver Kenny McKinley dropped a pass going across the middle, and was so upset with himself that he dropped to the ground to knock out 10 pushups.

- Alphonso Smith dropped another punt  in practice. All the rookie needs is time and experience.

- Kenny Peterson tries to keep things light during practice. You can always find him dancing or talking with teammates.

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