Denver Broncos Information
Ask almost any knowledgeable football fan about the history of the Denver Broncos, and they’ll be hard pressed to come up with a topic other than John Elway. Elway played almost two decades for the Broncos and eventually led them to the only two championships in their history in 1997 and 1998. It’s true that Terrell Davis was the best running back in the game and Rod Smith and Shannon Sharpe helped give Elway big targets, and the defense was one of the best in the league as well, but ask someone to think about the two championships, and they’re likely to tell you about how they remember the lasting image of Elway diving head first towards the first down market so the team wouldn’t have to punt, or Elway running onto the field for the last play and jumping up and down while holding the trophy. To put it simply, John Elway was the Denver Broncos for a long time, but the team is ready to put a new face into the public.
The Broncos are coming off a 10-6 season in 2003, their 6th winning season in the last 8 years. Mike Shanahan, who has been with the team since 1995, has put up a 98-56 record in 9 years, and the organization has signaled the possibility of locking him up in a long-term contract. Jake Plummer is the team’s new quarterback, and although he realizes his every move will be compared to Elway the Legend, he’s ready to make a name for himself in the NFL. The Broncos have had 4 different running backs eclipse 1,000 yards since Shanahan took over, and if they have one in 2004, it’s likely to be second round draft pick Tatum Bell or last year’s draft pick Quentin Griffin. Losing Ed McCaffrey and Shannon Sharpe will hurt the receivers, but they still have Rod Smith and Ashley Lelie to help Plummer.
The biggest trade of the off-season involved the Broncos and the Washington Redskins. The Broncos lost their all-world running back Clinton Portis, but they were able to acquire shut down corner back Champ Bailey. Denver’s few problems over the last few seasons have been on the defensive side of the ball, and the team decided that they had enough offense to make this deal. The Broncos didn’t have a single player record more than 90 tackles last season, and although Bailey shouldn’t be recording that many tackles in the secondary, his presence will allow the linebackers to play closer to the line of scrimmage making their jobs easier in the process. The team recorded only 9 interceptions last season, ranking them near the bottom of the list. Although Bailey might not record as many interceptions as others on his defensive unit, he will make the opposition think twice before throwing to his side of the field, freeing up the other defenders to make more aggressive plays on the ball.
The Broncos surprised a few people when they took D.J. Williams with the 23rd pick in the 2004 draft. Many people thought they would look for a solid third receiver, but Williams, the linebacker out of the University of Miami, showed the Broncos what they needed to see in pre-draft workouts. They took offensive players with their two second round picks, but they might have gotten a steal by drafting Jeremy Lesueur with their pick in the third round. Lesueur was a standout cornerback at Michigan and the Broncos must have been happy when he fell into their lap so late. He’ll likely play in the nickel position so that he can get fully acclimated to the speed of the NFL game.