22 July 2023

After an unprecedented occurrence in 2022, where Owner Bradley Kell shut down all Non-Game Media, our ban has finally been lifted!

With that you will see that the Denver Post and I have parted ways in what can only be described, in a politically correct world, as a bi-partisan agreeable lateral promotion... meaning The Post was glad to be rid of me, The Daily is glad to have me, and I am glad to be doing the exact same job here as I was doing there.

We've had some mega excitement this Off-Season, which was surprising after going through Early FA without landing anyone and not being armed with a 2nd Round Pick. Normally an Off-Season like that is like watching paint dry, but Bradley Kell was hyper-active in both the Draft and Late Free Agency.

First and foremost, we have to talk about WSB Samuel Shepard. At the 5th Overall Selection, he was the crowning jewel of the Denver Draft. This kid projects to be a Super Star, with Speed, Strength, Run Defense and Pass Rush and Coverages to boot.

Then Denver started to slowly cobble some kind of an Offensive Line. With no pick in the 2nd Round, we had to wait for the 3-6 for Center Israel Brewer to have his name called. With Veteran Center Cody Ransom coming near the end of his Career, he slid over to LG so the Rookie can start preparing at Center immediately.

Then the 4th Round started as Denver locked down RG Anthony Ernst, projected to Start alongside C Israel Brewer. But Ernst at the 4-5 wasn't the only 4th Round Pick, we added FB Simon Henry at the 4-10 and LT Allen Summers at the 4-20. There was a lot of buzz about the 4-16, but that Trade was pulled seconds before we were rumored to accept, with San Francisco apparently falling in love with a TE. Simon Henry and Allen Summers are also projected to Start, bringing us to 5 Starters on 5 Picks in 4 Rounds.

Charles Danaher joins the team as a Back Up LG at the 5-4 Pick. QB William Anderson arrives in the 6-6 Spot, a speed demon of a project QB who looks like he may be thrust into a Starting Job (more on that in a bit). TE Christian Gillenwater in the 7-3 spot, to which it is rumored Bradley Kell said "What the... seriously? I leave the War Room for one minute to discuss a future trade, and you guys Draft... who? You know what, no big deal. Maybe he surprises at Camp. If not, the Turk knows what to do."

Some picks were swapped into future Rounds as well, but the glaring issue was that we have moved a lot for DT Jake Powell, part of why we didn't have the 2nd in 2023. But no worries, Jake Powell was moved for a Washington 2024 1st and 2nd Rounder, fixing the glaring issue of our 2024 Draft.

The answer to the question 'Why is Rookie FB Simon Henry a Starter?' is 'Louis Havens was Traded for a 2023 4th (SF), and a 2024 and 2025 7th (WAS, SF). For those tracking, that 2023 4th became Starting LT Allen Summers.

Our 2024 5th, 6th and 7th Rounders all went to Detroit for a 2025 4th Rounder.

But then the Megaton Nuke Trade was pulled off. Everyone had suspected Denver of being hard core in love with Rookie MLB Phillip Bolden, as some leaks from Denver suggested they had him Rated as the #1 Player in the Draft. Well, at the cost of SS Edward Cromwell (we hear he's camping as a CB for New York), a 2024 2nd (from Washington) and a 2025 1st (Denver), Phillip Bolden has joined Denver!

Just when you think it's over, that we Fans can take a breath and reflect... another deal that just came through this morning. Battered and rocky QB Benny Worrell, who despite obvious ability has never mattered to do anything of substance in 6 Seasons for Denver, was Traded to Washington for a 2025 1st Rounder and 2026 2nd Rounder. This covers our 2025 1st Round that was shipped for Phillip Bolden and gives us an extra 2nd in 2026.

2024 is looking to be a quick Draft, with only the Washington 1st, and our own 3rd, 4th and 7th.

2025 features Washington's 1st, our 2nd and 3rd, both our 4th and Detroits, our 5th and KC's, our 6th and KC's, and our 7th and SF's. Rumors are starting already about us trying to move many of these 4th Round and Later Picks.

2026 features our 1st, our 2nd and Washington's, and our 3rd through 7th.

Some In-House Moves caused by all the commotion of this Off-Season was FS Edward Powell being moved back to FS. He played some SLB in 2022, and was moved to a Pass Rush DE for 2023 before losing one Powell forced us to replace him with another. Also, Trading for Phillip Bolden lead to FS Kenneth Fletcher moving back to FS, where he was the SLB at the end of 2022. This should make for a major improvement in the Secondary without costing us on the DL or LB spots. Which means, an improved Defense overall is what we should be seeing in 2023.

So the Future Landscape is looking solid, without to much of the immediate future mortaged. Our Cap is also under control now, which was a major concern when Owner Bradley Kell took over. Our Dead Cap is down from over 52 Million in 2022 to only 29 Million in 2023, and a Projected 5 Million in 2024. We have just under 26 Million in actual Cap Space to use as well.

Then we splashed a little in Late Free Agency filling out Roster Spots, with TE Jeff Davis and Kyle Irvin, LT Charles Kibler, C Jeffrey Lavoie (affectionately known as 'La-Vowel'), RG Michael Rosado and RT Richard Webb.

This gives us 4 TE and 15 OL... so if there was any indication of what kind of Offense we were going to have without Benny Worrell at QB, I think the answer is clear. One that feeds the Three Headed Beast of RBs Leon Arana, Sergio Phillips and Donald Richmond. By 'RBs' I do mean, two Converted TE and one Converted WR.

Well, we still have 2 Roster Spots for the 53, and sources say there are 2 Contracts out there in the nether offered... so we'll see if any more excitement ensues.

It's been a wild Off-Season, and one that in many ways has Denver looking much improved, but with some obvious questions (QB???) to be answered.

Camp is just around the corner, and with this many Rookies I'm sure we are all eager to see who steps up and impresses early! Did we land some Diamonds, or are we just lumps of Coal?

Denver... ARE YOU READY FOR FOOTBALL?!?!?!

This is Donnie Darwin, signing off! GO DENVER!

Go Broncs!

:-)

Sept. 03, 2023.

56,147 Souls wandered into Kell Stadium. They wandered in full of wonder. What they wondered was how a team who finished 4-12 in 2022 would start in 2023. So in they wandered and took their seats.

3 Plays and 4 Yards later, wonder turned to worry. Denver was already punting. Now a Defense with a plethora of things like 'Youth' and 'Potential' was heading onto the field. 'Youth' and 'Potential' are nice, but what Denver needs is 'Production'.

On the Punt (by SS John Haynes), Rookie SLB Joshua Velasquez brought down PR/RB John Parrish.

Production is exactly what they got, and they got it from players full of 'Youth' and 'Potential'. 1st and 10 from the KC 34, KC tries to Blast their HB... which is ironic since it turns out Rookie WLB Samuel Shepard was blasting RB John Parrish after only a 2 Yard Gain. Then KC tried to run a HB Delay, and once again WLB Samuel Shepard had the exact same thing in mind, 'delaying' Parrish for a Loss of 3. Looking at 3rd and 12, QB Theodore Cotton was called upon to make a play. Indeed, a Play was made... with Rookie RDE Phillip Bolden recording his First MFN Sack.

A Punt and 3 Defensive Plays and we found 3 Rookies with 3 Tackles and a Sack between them.

After Arana returns the Punt, we drive 52 Yards on 7 Plays to score a Field Goal and take the Lead. After an exchange of Punts between each other, Denver mixes things up by seeing what happens when you throw Footballs at Defenders, as our Rookie QB did his best 'Benny Worrell' impersonation. (No? To soon?)

KC, seeing our Young QB William Anderson was struggling and confused were kind enough to show him what to do with a Football, striking for a 37 Yard TD Pass to WR Campbell who was all alone. We sent the SS Blitz and Cotton made us pay for not staying safe.

Being properly instructed by Cotton, Anderson trotted back out onto the Field and hit Edwin Crews for a 65 Yard TD Pass, and Kenneth 55 Yard TD Pass, while Cotton joins the fun again hitting Vasquez for a 58 Yard TD.

After a barrage of 50+ Yard TDs against both Defense, things start to settle down. Until SS John Haynes trots onto the field and Downs a Punt at the 2 Yard Line. Now, when I say 'Downs a Punt', I don't mean he went out there and ran down the field and touched the ball at the 2... I mean he went out there and PUNTED the ball to the 2. For some reason, SS John Haynes was our PUNTER all game... but I can't knock it because it seemed to have worked out very well.

After pinning KC on the 2 with a sweet Punt, SS Haynes then decides he might as well score some points. KC tried to pitch their way out of being on their own Goal Line, but SS John Haynes came up strong getting the Tackle for a Loss and scoring 2 Points with the huge Safety!

Trust me when I tell you... the Denver Faithful were absolutely rocking the Stadium at this point.

Up 19-14, it wasn't over. KC came back with a FG to make it 19-17, and suddenly it's a game. But no fear. RB Sergio Phillips took all 6'3" and 254 pounds he had and put it into his Singleback Normal HB Counter Weak... which wasn't weak at all. Powering through would-be Tacklers, Sergio broke out on the other side and sprinted the 43 Yards to the End Zone!

Phillip Bolden and company continued to plow Cotton into the Field for the remainder of the 4th Quarter, as Denver Won 29-17.

Rookie QB William Anderson completed 15 of 27 Passes for 55.6%, for 221 Yards at 8.19 YPA, with 2 TD to 1 INT for a Rating of 91.74.

RB Leon Arana ran tough for 70 Yards on 18 Carries for 3.9 YPC, he added 3 Runs of 10+ with a Long of 12. He also added Punt Returns for 95 Yards at 19.0 per Punt Return and Kick Off Returns for 64 Yards at 21.3 Yards per Kick Return. He finished with 229 Total Yards.

RB Sergio Phillips went for 52 Yards on 10 Carries for 5.2 YPC, while breaking a 43 Yard TD, his only Run over 10+.

WR Kenneth McDonald added 6 Receptions for 90 Yards, 15.0 YPC, a Long of 55 and 1 TD.

WR Edwin Crews added 3 Receptions for 81 Yards, 27.0 YPC, a Long of 65 and 1 TD.

FS Kenneth Fletcher recorded 7 Tackles.
MLB Francis Humphries added 6 Tackles and 1 Sack.
WLB Samuel Shepard (Rookie) recorded 6 Tackles.
SLB Joshua Velasquez (Rookie) added 4 Tackles.
Rotational Safety John Haynes added 4 Tackles and a Safety (and 9 Punts).
LDE Phillip Bolden (Rookie) adds 3 Tackles and 4 Sacks.
RDE Preston Michaud adds 2 Tackles and 1 Sack.
CB Richard Jones adds 4 Tackles and 1 INT.

LDE Phillip Bolden (Rookie) is currently Tied for #1 in the MFN with 4 Sacks.