Denver Broncos Bunk: Dispelling Myths About Josh McDaniels

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

The Broncos needed to replace their defensive line

The reason for this myth is the misconception that because Denver’s defense was poor in 2008-2009 and it's line performed so poorly that all of Denver’s defensive linemen had to be replaced. Denver’s defense was poor, and its line did play badly, but the reason for that is under-reported mainly because most sports-writers only look at stats.

Denver’s defensive guru throughout the glory years of the 70’s and 80’s was a coach named Joe Collier. Collier was the architect of the "Orange Crush Defense" and easily the greatest defensive coach in Denver history. Collier is also regarded as the first man to ever use the 3-4 defense in the pros while an assistant coach with the Bills in 1964.

From Collier, Shanahan learned the notion of using defensive linemen as blockers to keep offensive linemen off of your linebackers. In Shanahan’s system, the defensive lineman’s first job was to keep the offensive linemen on the line and only rush after they determined it was a pass play. 

Where Collier still used penetration to get that control of the line Shanahan’s approach was more passive. Only the ends were expected to rush in Shanahan's defense, making them easy to block. 

Because of the way Shanahan used his defensive linemen, there were rarely more than two pass rushers on any pass play unless they were blitzing. This resulted in poor stats for the defensive linemen. That was part of the system.

Added to all that was Shanahan’s poor management skill when it came to working with defensive coordinators—they had four defensive coordinators in eight years with two of them (Rhodes and Slowik) lasting less than a season each.

Denver’s defense was constantly changing schemes and players often were simply confused by it all.

McDaniels screwed up the draft

A lot of this myth comes from the perception that the defensive line had to be replaced. McDaniels smartly realized that focusing on the line would prevent him from making more urgent upgrades to the team. 

McDaniels used the draft to give the Broncos more athleticism in the defensive backfield and to get a player that could be an offensive focus along with acquiring a potential outside linebacker to rush the passer in the 3-4.

McDaniels alienated Brandon Marshall

Frankly this one puzzles me. Marshall claims that his beef is because the Bronco medical staff gave him poor advice last season. This doesn’t even have anything to do with McDaniels if we are to believe Marshall.

The reason blame is attributed to McDaniels is that no one actually believes Marshall’s stated complaint. 

The obvious situation here is that Brandon Marshall is in a contract year, coming off of hip surgery and might possibly be suspended for his plethora of legal problems.  McDaniels’ detractors are so desperate that they somehow gloss over all of this to sympathize with Marshall

Prediction

McDaniels has very smartly kept the best parts of the Shanahan era Broncos while letting a lot of questionable pieces go. The likelihood is that the 2009-2010 Broncos will be at least as good as last year’s version.

The trade of Cutler will prove to be a good one as Orton will be a better fit in McDaniels system and will be fairly efficient. The Broncos' offense will be more diverse than in 2008-2009 and, while no one player will have a dominant year, they will post similar numbers in passing yardage and better numbers rushing.

The defense will be solid with strong secondary play and good, though unspectacular line play. They’ll finish with a defensive rating in the middle of the NFL pack.

Realistically they will win between 7-to-10 games and finish second in the division.

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