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Bronco Rob · #1 (**permalink**) September 23rd, 2010

Broncos have fallen off national radar

Jason from Massachusetts asks Woody how the Broncos are perceived throughout the country.
By Woody Paige
The Denver Post

Posted: 09/23/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT

I am a Broncos fan who lives near Boston. I listen to a lot of sports radio on my commute to work. This morning there was talk about the Laurence Maroney trade. The morning crew referred to the Broncos organization as a joke. They claim that Josh McDaniels likes anything that Bill Belichick ever got his hands on. They picked on Josh for wearing the hoodie, for signing Jarvis Green to guaranteed money and then cutting him, for moving up and drafting Tim Tebow and for (the Maroney) trade. They even went so far as to blast the organization for picking up Chad Jackson in 2008 at one point (although I don't believe that McDaniels was there yet). It made me sick to my stomach to listen to, as does most Patriots talk. But it got me thinking. Is this the perception of the Broncos organization across the country, and are those thoughts starting to creep into Denver? I like the direction that Josh is taking the team, but I think he just needs some time, which is often a luxury teams can't afford in the win-now NFL. What are your thoughts? — Jason, Haverhill, Mass

Jason: Doing the ESPN show "Around The Horn" every day, several other shows on ESPN and other networks regularly, and a dozen or so radio shows in various markets throughout the country every week, I think I get a sense of the national pulse. Few (almost none) of the commentators and NFL fans care about the Broncos.

Except for the signing of Tim Tebow, there's no interest in the Broncos beyond the Colorado border (and among those few scattered Broncos loyalists elsewhere). The Broncos rarely come up in the shows (or the preshow discussions). The Broncos are irrelevant. Most people who do bring up Josh McDaniels put him a class with the other failed Bill Belichick-schooled assistants.

People outside Florida laughed when McDaniels traded up to get Tebow. People scoffed when he traded away the Broncos' two most noteworthy players. But the worst thing in life is apathy, and the world is apathetic when it comes to the Broncos. They really haven't been on the national radar since the Super Bowl championships. Even the year the Broncos were in the AFC championship game again (2005), there weren't considered a threat to win the Super Bowl.

It's understandable. They're a .500 team and franchise since 2006. They don't often appear on national games. Kyle Orton is not considered much of a quarterback, and the only players really known are Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins and Elvis Dumervil (because of his name and his sacks). You've got to win more than one division championship every 10 years. You've got to win at least an occasional playoff game to be in the discussion.

I actually had a dream recently that HBO couldn't get any team to do "Hard Knocks" next year, and the Jets said bring it on again. I know this: Josh McDaniels would never do "Hard Knocks," no matter how much attention the show brought to the Broncos. He's not that kind of guy or coach. The Broncos are not wide-open about what goes on inside the building.

Josh McDaniels will be a very good NFL head coach. It may take awhile — and will depend on the heads of the Broncos' state and their patience. I don't think owner Pat Bowlen and CEO Joe Ellis would ever act quickly to fire Josh. He'll likely get another two years, at the very minimum, especially with the presence of Tebow, and I would guess McDaniels will be here for years and ultimately will be successful.

They'll give the coach time to develop the quarterback, and they're willing to wait, unless, suddenly, all the season-ticket holders vanished, and that won't happen. People will say, well, Bowlen fired Wade Phillips after two years. Wade was holding the chair until Mike Shanahan wanted the job. (He had turned it down before it was given to Wade.)

Bowlen bought the team in 1984. He had Dan Reeves as coach through 1992. Shanahan was head coach here from 1995 to 2008. Those thinking McDaniels is going away are totally wrong. He'll be here after they are gone.

Why are you so hard on Kyle Orton, Woody? What you said in the last mailbag made you look like a lost high school kid. Orton did lead the NFL in Week 1 in completions over 20 yards. What does Orton have to do to start to win you over? — Andrew, Houston

Andrew: One of Orton's best friends recently asked me the same thing. Actually, he ordered me to. Pleasant fellow. I told him what I'll tell you. Orton needs to prove it over 16 games, not one, not two, not eight. He hasn't as a pro yet.

When he gets into a playoff game or a Pro Bowl as an NFL quarterback, then we'll talk. Let's see what he does in this four-game stretch before you and his friends declare Orton the No. 1 quarterback in the league. I wish I were a lost high school kid again. But I will never wish I lived in Houston.

As analysts try to evaluate the Broncos' 2009 draft class, I continue to see Knowshon Moreno lauded as a good pick. He's a starting back who last season rushed for fewer than 1,000 yards — and even more shameful, under 4 yards a carry. He's too slow to break long runs and too weak to run through linebackers or safeties. Can you tell me the last great back to carry for less than 4 yards through a season? Am I the only one that feels this way about Moreno? — Chris, Raleigh, N.C.

Chris: You are not alone in the wilderness. A lot of people who aren't in North Carolina agree with you. Knowshon continues to be a tentative runner who waits for a hole to open rather than getting into and through the hole. He hasn't had a long run yet (as a running back). He did have a 45-yard pass play on Sunday against the Seahawks. Oddly, enough, he just ran after catching the screen; he didn't stand around and think about running.

I charted every run Knowshon had last year, and, based on that, I'll tell you something you already knew with no research. A vast majority of his carries were for 0, 1 or 2 yards. I called him NoShow Moreno, NoGain Moreno. He has been hurt again but still hasn't shown a burst a speed, can't turn the corner and can't find the hole soon enough.

He won't be a bust, but he won't be a Pro Bowl back, which might, after all, make him a bust, since he was the No. 1 running back taken in the 2009 draft. However, frankly speaking, at the end of the day (as my former ESPN partner on "Dream Job," Stephen A. Smith would say), Moreno still has a chance.

Emmitt Smith, you may have heard of. He has the NFL record for all-time rushing yardage. In his rookie season, 1990, Emmitt rushed for 937 yards and had a 3.9-yard-per-carry average. He picked it up dramatically his second season. Moreno must, too.

Woody's Mailbag: Broncos have fallen off national radar - The Denver Post

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