Why would anybody fiddle with a Broncos defense that yielded just 16.1 points per game last season and returns every starter except Trevor Pryce?
The fun answer is: Football coaches simply can’t help themselves.
The real answer is: There always is room for improvement.
Mike Shanahan’s latest tweak has linebacker D.J. Williams staying put. Williams, a third-year pro, will remain on the tight end side (strong side) this season, Shanahan said.
That will enable veteran Ian Gold to stay on the weak side. Williams and Gold played both positions last season while flanking middle linebacker Al Wilson.
“D.J. and Ian flip-flopped last year, so this is a little something we’re doing different,” Shana- han said Friday after a two-hour team workout at Dove Valley.
Although the Broncos’ linebacker corps rates among the NFL’s best, the hope is that the trio will become even more effective when each player is able to concentrate on one set of responsibilities.
Williams’ statistical production fell dramatically last season compared with his spectacular debut season. As a 2004 rookie playing mostly on the weak side, Williams became the first Bronco in 32 years to lead the team in tackles, joining Tom Graham (who tied Lyle Alzado in 1972) as the only rookies in franchise history to accomplish that. Of his 114 stops in the regular season, 82 were unassisted.
Last season, after Gold returned to the Broncos, Williams slid to sixth on the team in regular-season tackles with 68, including 44 solo.
Regardless of Williams’ slimmer stats, Shanahan said the former first-round draft choice from Miami played “very well” last season.
“Stats don’t always reflect how well a guy plays,” Shanahan said. “Sometimes they just reflect where the point of attack was.”
Williams declined an interview request, but Shanahan said the California native never became discouraged. The Broncos secured early leads in many games last season and Williams often became the odd man out – coming off the field when the defense switched to a nickel package.
“Players know when they’re playing well and doing their job; they don’t have to be told that,” Shanahan said. “D.J. did a really good job and he knew that.”
Still, linebackers with 68 tackles don’t earn many Pro Bowl votes. Perhaps settling into one spot will get Williams more involved this fall. A 6-foot-1, 242-pounder, Williams can hold his ground better against tight ends than the 6-foot, 223-pound Gold.
“I’m looking for D.J. to have a great year,” Shanahan said. “He can run. He’s a great athlete. He’s done a great job since he’s been here.”
In 2004, Williams ranked third in voting for NFL defensive rookie of the year, behind winner and former University of Miami teammate Jonathan Vilma, a linebacker with the New York Jets, and Houston Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson.
Williams became the only rookie to earn an NFL defensive player of the week honor, in Week 16. A former USA Today national high school defensive player of the year, Williams recorded more than five tackles in only three of 16 regular-season games last season.
“D.J.’s time will come,” Wilson said. “He’s definitely going to be the man.”
Learning curve
Shanahan said rookie quarterback Jay Cutler is progressing on schedule.
“It’s a learning process, but he’s done a good job,” Shanahan said Friday as the first week of team camp workouts concluded. “It’s just going to take a lot of repetitions.”
Nothing in the Broncos’ playbook has been held back from Cutler, a first-round pick from Vanderbilt.
“We’ve thrown it all at him, and after next week, Jay will need to study for two or three weeks,” Shanahan said.
Asked whether Cutler must learn three or four times as much as he did at Vandy, Shanahan grinned.
“Oh, I’d say much more than that,” he said.
Cutler joked that he planned to curl up with a good book this weekend – the Broncos’ playbook.
Footnotes
The team camp concludes with workouts Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. … Disgruntled fifth-year wideout Ashley Lelie continued to be AWOL. When Shanahan was asked by a media member if Lelie’s status had changed, the coach replied, “I don’t know, you tell me.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
