Walk into the Broncos’ merchandise store at the team’s Dove Valley headquarters, and it is easy to get confused.
The store screams “quarterback controversy,” what with rack after rack of No. 15 Tim Tebow jerseys, in every size, color and style. You can find a No. 8, but you’ll have to search for it.
Even in his own team’s home store, Kyle Orton is the forgotten man.
There is a different message, though, coming from the other building at Dove Valley — the main building where the coaches’ offices and the player locker room are located. Inside that facility, no one is forgetting Orton, who is having perhaps the most impressive camp of any Broncos player.
Through two weeks of camp, this much is clear: Orton is the starting quarterback and unquestioned leader of the Broncos’ offense.
“I’m feeling great,” Orton said. “This is still the best that I’ve felt, and I’m throwing the ball better than I ever have and mentally just playing at a high level right now.”
In Orton’s head, things are clearer. In the huddle, his voice is louder and more confident. And when the ball is snapped, it’s almost as if he’s a different player.
“The other day, he zipped one in in the red zone, and I think everyone turned around and was like, ‘Is that Kyle’s ball?’ because it had so much zip on it,” cornerback Andre Goodman said. “You can tell he’s been working.”
Consider it a combination of experience in coach Josh McDaniels’ offense, improved health and maybe a good old-fashioned case of a flame — in the form of Tebow and Brady Quinn — lit under his derrière.
“I’m sure he’s thinking, this is my job and I’m going out to prove to myself, to everyone, to my teammates what they have in me,” veteran safety Brian Dawkins said. “I know he’s proved it to us guys on the other side. He’s putting the ball in some tight spaces, making the checks that need to be made, and that builds confidence from the other guys.”
Orton never will have the mobility of Tebow — “His wheels don’t take him very far,” McDaniels joked about Orton this week. He won’t throw as pure and pretty a deep spiral as Quinn, but Orton has shown through the first two weeks of camp an increased mastery of McDaniels’ playbook. Orton, along with most of the veteran starters, expects to play between 20 and 25 plays in Sunday’s preseason opener at Cincinnati.
In 2009, Orton’s critics said he wouldn’t throw the ball deep, that he locked on to Brandon Marshall too much and ran a conservative, bubble-screen-based offense. Still, he threw for 3,802 yards and 21 touchdowns, both career highs.
Through this camp, Orton has hardly held back. His mistakes are down — despite working without his top three running backs and behind a mostly new offensive line — and he has particularly excelled in the two-minute drill.
It also helps that for the first time in nearly two years, Orton is playing on two healthy ankles.
“He’s made a lot of big throws down the field. We’ve changed, certainly, a lot of things that we’re doing and being a little bit more aggressive in some areas, and he’s really done that well,” McDaniels said. “There are a lot of good things that he’s feeling, and I think that’s why he has so much confidence right now.”
Lindsay H. Jones: 303-954-1262 or ljones@denverpost.com
Orton more confident, more aggressive
Despite the offseason additions of Tim Tebow and Brady Quinn, nothing has changed regarding Kyle Orton’s status as the Broncos’ starting quarterback. NFL reporter Lindsay H. Jones provides a snapshot:
Height, weight, experience: 6-feet-4, 225 pounds, sixth year
Career record: 29-19
Strength: In his second year in Josh McDaniels’ offense, Orton has command of the entire playbook. He’s not a risk-taker, though he has been more aggressive with deep throws and against tight coverage during this camp than he was in 2009.
Weakness: Even playing on two healthy ankles, Orton never will be known as a major threat when he leaves the pocket. The Broncos’ offensive line must work hard to keep Orton upright.
Lindsay H. Jones, The Denver Post
Orton more confident, more aggressive
Despite the offseason additions of Tim Tebow and Brady Quinn, nothing has changed regarding Kyle Orton’s status as the Broncos’ starting quarterback. NFL reporter Lindsay H. Jones provides a snapshot:
Height, weight, experience: 6-feet-4, 225 pounds, sixth year
Career record: 29-19
Strength: In his second year in Josh McDaniels’ offense, Orton has command of the entire playbook. He’s not a risk-taker, though he has been more aggressive with deep throws and against tight coverage during this camp than he was in 2009.
Weakness: Even playing on two healthy ankles, Orton never will be known as a major threat when he leaves the pocket. The Broncos’ offensive line must work hard to keep Orton upright.
