Denver Post sports writer Mike Klis posts his Broncos Mailbag every Tuesday during the 2008 NFL season on DenverPost.com.
To drop a Broncos- or NFL-related question into the Broncos Mailbag or visit DenverPost.com’s .
Champ Bailey is the best all-around cornerback in the league. He can shut down 1/3 of the field, and provides a sure tackler for run support. Since the Broncos are so weak at strong and free Safety, why not move him to one of these? From there you can move around the field a lot more and disguise the coverages and easily dictate to the offense where the ball is going to be thrown. And if it doesn’t work, well it’s not like the defense is going to get worse. Champ study up on it while he is injured.
–Dave, Anchorage, Alaska
Dave, my first reaction to your idea was to torch it. You would no more move Bailey, the NFL’s best all-around cornerback (TV analysts who are trumpeting Asante Samuel aren’t watching enough Bronco games) to safety than you would move Jay Cutler to tight end. Point being it’s much tougher to find a quality left cornerback than it is a safety, which is why corners are far better compensated.
But after giving your idea a few seconds of reflection, it’s not bad. Bailey occasionally plays safety on kickoff coverage and all he does there is save touchdowns. He’s a read-the-quarterback style cornerback, anyway, which would play well at free safety. He’s also a good enough tackler, although I don’t think his slight frame would hold up to the full-time rigors of safety. The ideal safety is 205 to 220 pounds; Bailey is 190. The Broncos did have 180-pound Domonique Foxworth play safety several games the previous two years, but that was on an emergency basis.
And what you’re telling me, Dave, is the Broncos’ safety position is in a state of emergency. Problem is, so is the left cornerback position now that Bailey is down another three to five weeks with his strained groin.
But I like your thinking, Dave. There have been crazier ideas like, say, switching defensive systems during the regular season in back-to-back years.
It has been said that the Broncos will have cap room next year. Why is that? Is it contracts ending or “dead money” from the cap coming back to them? How much dead cap money do we have? I know we have had to eat a few contracts over the past few years and some of that has to be ending.
–Joel, Chicago
Joel, eee-gads, a salary cap question. I’d rather research the history of practice squads than delve into the intricacies of the salary cap, so allow me to answer your question in the simplest way possible: The biggest reason why the Broncos _ and 31 other NFL teams _ will have salary cap room after this season is because the payroll ceiling keeps rising. The cap on team payrolls was $102 million in 2006. It’s projected to be $123 million for the 2009 season.
That’s a 20.6 percent player pay raise in three years, or 6.9 percent a year. In today’s economy? No wonder Broncos’ owner Pat Bowlen started laying off non-player employees last summer.
Here’s another: A Washington Post report earlier this season said the Broncos were tied for second with the San Francisco 49ers in dead money with $80 million since 2000. Only the spendthrift Washington Redskins had more dead money with $83 million during that period. The NFL calls it dead money. I call it, waste, waste, waste.
Who is Denver’s emergency QB? With both Jay Cutler and Patrick Ramsey injured in the New England game, the Broncos faced the very real prospect of turning to their number three QB, but who is it now that Rod Smith has left the building?
–Scott, Farmington, N.M.
Scott, Mike Leach is the emergency QB. If you see him in there, expect nothing but handoffs. He has played quarterback in one game — for the JV team in his sophomore year in high school. He’s a wide receiver/tight end by trade.
Leach must be a good athlete, though, and smart enough to handle such an emergency. He was a punter and tight end at William & Mary, never tried and longsnapping until his rookie year with the Tennessee Titans. Nine seasons later, he’s still making an NFL paycheck.
As for the Broncos’ non-emergency QB situation, Cutler is fine and No. 3 Darrell Hackney is expected to be promoted from the practice squad this week to replace Ramsey, who is lost for the season with an elbow injury.
For years the Broncos have lived by the run. Coaches have designed plays for numerous running backs like Bobby Humphrey, Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary, etc., to run the ball. If Denver can run the ball, why can’t the Broncos design plays to stop the run? It seems our small lighter & faster players are not the answer. Do we need “big corn fed boys from down on the farm” who weigh 325 to stop other teams from running through us?
–Marcus, Goodyear, Ariz.
Marcus, I like the way you phrased the question. How can a team, whose identity over the years has been its zone-blocking running scheme, be so poor at stopping the run? I find a humorous bent in the Broncos’ struggles to stop the run. Every time I hear people knock it, I harken back to the 2005 season, when the NFL world was poking fun at the Brown-cos.
Remember? The Broncos’ front four that year rotated in Gerard Warren, Courtney Brown, Ebenezer Ekuban and Michael Myers, all of whom played the previous season with the lowly Cleveland Browns. Yet in 2005, the Browns’ defense ranked second against the run. Granted, a healthy Al Wilson at middle linebacker and a younger John Lynch at safety had a lot to do with that stingy run defense. But as they say, it all started up front.
Yet, every year since 2005, people have said the Brown-cos were bust. Hilarious, when you consider the Broncos finished 30th against the run last year and are 30th again this year.
Since the injury to Boss Bailey, I’ve seen it suggested that they put Niko in at MLB and slide Nate Webster outside. He’s got a long way to go, but I’m seeing Webster start to emerge as that vocal, in-your-face defensive leader that we’ve been craving since Al Wilson retired. Although the Mike backer usually calls the defensive signals, could Webster play that leadership role as an OLB?
–Dave O., Long Valley, S.D.
Dave, I’m going to call this my favorite mailbag of the season. So many letters relayed ingenious solutions without getting too whacky. I’m sure Niko Koutouvides is with you, Dave. And it would give the Broncos more return on the $2.6 million they’re paying Koutouvides this year. But it appears the Broncos like Jamie Winborn more at outside linebacker than they do Koutouvides at middle linebacker. As you’ve observed, Dave, Webster is the vocal, emotional leader of the defense. He will stay in the middle, Winborn will fill Boss Bailey’s strongside spot and D.J. Williams will stay at the weakside linebacker spot.
Niko could get some playing time at inside linebacker should the Broncos stay in their 3-4 alignment. But with Boss gone and the Broncos struggling against the run, my guess is they’ll return to their more conventional 4-3 set this week against the strong-running Miami Dolphins.
Mike, could you update me on the going’s on of Al Wilson, and Ian Gold?
–Robert, New Windsor, Ill.
Robert, both retired at a too early age. Wilson was forced to retire essentially after suffering a career-ending neck injury late in the 2006 season. Big Al was 29 at the time. Gold was also 29 when he voluntarily retired after the Broncos released him following last season. Wilson and Gold were terrific in 2005, when the Broncos went 14-4 and reached the AFC Championship Game. I wish them both happiness.
Hey, Mike, I’m the guy who recognized you from your Ute Pass Courier days. There’s a big part of me who wants to sack the entire defense and start from scratch, but clearly a big issue has been consistency at the coordinator level. As painful as it may be, they HAVE to keep Slowik for another year or two. They are going to have to draft defense the next couple years and maybe sign a solid veteran FA. I see their needs as first the D Line, then safety. But, I also think they need a leader at the mike spot. I’m not totally down on Webster, though he seems to overrun plays all the time, but this D needs a Lewis/Urlacher type personality to lead it. What do you think?
–Bret, Minneapolis
Bret, I think it’s a long way from Woodland Park to Minneapolis. I don’t recall ever using the Internet the last time we were in Woodland Park. Anyway, Bret, I’m with you. No more defensive coordinator changes. It seems like Mike Shanahan has considerable influence on the defense, anyway. Slowik stays and the defensive roster get a shakeup.
I’m not sure exactly how to prioritize the order of defensive need, but I wouldn’t overlook cornerback.
I already know how it’s going to work for the Broncos on 2009 Draft Day: Say they have the No. 21 pick, or the number of the lowest-ranked playoff team. If they feel the best available defensive player is a cornerback, they’ll take a cornerback. If the Broncos like a D-lineman there, they’ll take a D-lineman. If it’s Brian Urlacher-type, they’ll take Brian Urlacher.
If they like a receiver there, they better take a safety, or D-lineman, or cornerback or linebacker.
Mike Klis is in his fourth season of covering the Broncos after previously covering the Colorado Rockies and Major League Baseball for 15 years. To drop a question into his Broncos Mailbag, or visit DenverPost.com’s .
