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| Results for matches played in Denver from (2006-01-01) |
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Houston Texans defensive end/outside linebacker Mario Williams is the rock star of this year's defensive free agent class, but that doesn't mean that there aren't many other intriguing options at all positions for teams feeling the need to improve their defenses beyond the draft. Here's our offensive free agency primer ; we now turn our attention to those players charged with the task of keeping the scores down
Defensive Ends
Williams will likely demand and receive a contract in line with what Julius Peppers got from the Chicago Bears in 2010: Six years and $84 million, with half of that figure guaranteed. He's the sure quarterback demolition machine in any 4-3 defense, and the fact that he was coming around at pass-rushing outside linebacker in Wade Phillips' 5-2 scheme before a season-ending injury in 2011 puts his value even higher.
One of the most interesting players in this FA class is end Red Bryant of the Seattle Seahawks. Originally drafted as a tackle. Bryant became a real game-changer when Pete Carroll moved him to five-tech end and let him blow up everyone else's running game. 3-4 teams looking for more run defense out of their ends, like the Packers and Steelers, will surely give Bryant a look.
Beyond that, look for John Abraham to get a lot of play as a rotational end in a 4-3, and Kendall Langford perhaps shopping his skills to teams missing out on Bryant but still in need of a hybrid player, Jaguars DE Jeremy Mincey is one of the most underrated players in this FA class; look for the smarter teams around the league to check him out. Add Chicago's Israel Idonije, Peppers' longtime bookend, to the underrated list. Mike Anderson proved that he could play in multiple fronts with the Pats in 2011, as did Andre Carter.
Defensive Tackles
A very interesting group here. With Sione Pouha's re-signing with the Jets, Miami's Paul Soliai is the best pure 3-4 nose tackle on the open market. At 6-fot-4 and 355 pounds, he can play in different spots inside, but Soliai's primary value is in soaking up blockers so that others can make plays. The Dolphins thought enough of Soliai to franchise him last year -- with their move to a predominant four-man front, some other team will benefit greatly from his abilities, even and especially when that team switches to nickel defenses and required their nose tackle to move around.
Brodrick Bunkley was a hidden factor on Denver's defense in 2011, but the few people who looked past Tim Tebow on the Denver roster knew his value. Bunkley can play a role as a light tackle in a 3-4, but his best role is as a space-eater in a 40 front. At 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds, Tennessee's Jason Jones could get looks at many positions -- straight end, straight tackle, or as a hybrid player capable of creating havoc all over the line. He's best-suited to a creative defensive coordinator with multiple fronts in his playbook.
Those looking for more defensive tackles might be interested in the possibility of three former Saints -- according to some reports, Shaun Rogers, Aubrayo Franklin, and Sedrick Ellis could all be up for grabs.
Linebackers
Stephen Tulloch is probably the most versatile and effective linebacker in this class, but Seattle's David Hawthorne should be an attractive option -- he's played very well at middle and strong-side linebacker, and as it's become on the defensive line, versatility is important at the linebacker position as well. Hawthorne is not a pass-rusher, per se -- more a savvy run-stopper who can spy gaps in certain packages.
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| Despite reports that the Denver Broncos were heavy favorites to lock up the services of Peyton Manning , Manning is planning to make visits to at least a couple more teams. Chris Mortensen reports that, in the next few days, Manning will meet with head coach Joe Philbin of the Miami Dolphins, and head coach Mike Munchack of the Tennessee Titans . Here's Mort:
The meetings are scheduled to be away from the teams' facilities.
Manning, a free agent, definitely will not be choosing a team by 4 p.m. Tuesday, the commencement of the new league year.
His meeting with Philbin, the Dolphins' new coach, likely will be Monday night or Tuesday morning. His meeting with Munchak is expected to take place no later than Wednesday.
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When the New York Knicks signed J.R. Smith several weeks ago , the assumption among many was that the presence of his former Denver Nuggets teammate Carmelo Anthony helped seal the deal. They played together for five seasons, during which they presumably forged a friendship. As you can see above, there's even a photo of the two hanging out at football game . Only true bros would do that!
Except, if a recent report is true, then Anthony told the Knicks front office not to sign Smith. From Marc Berman for the New York Post (via SLAM ): | |
| When news broke that the knee injury Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio suffered in the closing seconds of Friday night's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers was a torn ACL that will knock him out for the rest of his rookie season and prevent him from starting at the point for the Spanish national basketball team during this summer's Olympics in London, just about everyone was bummed out.
Fans far and wide lamented the loss of one of the league's brightest and most exciting young stars. A host of Rubio's NBA peers took to Twitter to express their sympathies and wish the gifted freshman him a full, speedy recovery. Perhaps the coolest sign of support, though, came from George Karl.
The Denver Nuggets head coach wore the colors of the legendary Spanish soccer side FC Barcelona in Rubio's honor on Sunday, sporting a Barça shirt to his media session before the Nuggets faced the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. Rubio played for the Barcelona sports club's basketball team from 2009 through 2011 before coming over to the U.S. to join the Timberwolves this offseason, earning recognition as the Spanish ACB League's top point guard and Most Spectacular Player in 2010.
The coach's comments were brief — "I feel bad for Ricky Rubio," according to Lindsay H. Jones of the Denver Post — but the gesture spoke volumes about the level of respect that Karl, one of just seven coaches in NBA history with more than 1,000 career wins, has for the young Spanish lead guard's talents.
Karl has some history in Spanish basketball. He coached Spanish club Real Madrid in the late 1980s and early 1990s, leading squads featuring top European players like Fernando Martín, who had just returned to Real after a stint with the Portland Trail Blazers that made him the first Spaniard ever to play in the NBA.
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| Unless you're training for a fight, it's hard to understand the ins and outs of an MMA gym. Even people who train part-time struggle to know just how difficult the days and weeks are for fighters working full-time to prepare for a bout.
With that in mind, MMA Fighting's Ben Fowlkes decided to spend a year with Grudge Training Center in Colorado. Home to Shane Carwin, Brendan Schaub and Nate Marquardt, Fowlkes worked with head trainer Trevor Wittman to get an inside look at what happens in an MMA gym over the course of year, and chronicle it in the must-read series, "The Hurt Business."
What Fowlkes didn't anticipate was how eventful 2011 would be for Grudge. Marquardt went from a UFC contender to unemployed after failing to pass medicals for his UFC on Versus fight in June. Schaub's red-hot streak was stopped by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in August. Carwin lost to Junior dos Santos in June and then did not fight again in 2011 because of injuries.
Fowlkes spoke to Cagewriter, and admitted he had no idea how the year would turn out when he first spoke to Wittman.
"I chose Grudge for two reasons, really. One, Denver is close enough to where I live in Montana that I could get down there often enough," Fowlkes said. "And two, Trevor Wittman was the only trainer I talked to who seemed as interested in the idea as I was. The others I mentioned it to were like, 'Yeah, that would be cool project...for you to do at someone else's gym.'" | |
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As Peyton Manning continues his free agency tour, a few teams have been bounced out of the tournament, whether of their own volition or not. Manning apparently had a very positive and productive visit with the Denver Broncos, according to Mike Klis of the Denver Post , and then, he wound his way down to Arizona, where he met with Cardinals officials, head coach Ken Whisenhunt, and receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Manning is now out of Arizona, having returned to his Florida home. There's no indication whether he will meet with the Miami Dolphins, who are rumored to be ready to put on the full-court press, but Klis says in a very interesting report that Manning intends to make his decision by Tuesday -- that's the starting day of the new league year and the point where teams can officially negotiate with non-released free agents.
Klis wrote that Manning didn't being agent Tom Condon along on either visit, and that neither the Broncos not the Cardinals have made official offers. Manning apparently chose to make these visits more informal so that he could get a better sense of what each team was really like without the potentially adversarial aspect of money talk mucking things up. Manning was apparently very impressed with the Broncos organization after speaking with everyone in the front office, and the Cardinals countered Denver's more informal approach with more of a "red-carpet treatment."
What Klis knows, after speaking to several league sources, is that the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs are out of the running. Both teams contacted Manning and requested that he come to their facilities, but were rebuffed.
Klis also reports that the much-ballyhooed "surprise teams" in the run for Manning might be two: The Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers. Titans owner Bud Adams recently went public with his preference that Manning come back to Tennessee (where he went to college), and there appears to be a school of thought that if the 49ers can't come to terms with free-agent quarterback Alex Smith, they might post a late bid of interest.
This is all speculation at this point, but one thing's for sure -- the Manning derby is about to get even more interesting and intense. Stay tuned! | |
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As with any NFL news -- be it free agency, the draft, various bounties, or anything else, the focus will eventually come around to one thing: How does Tim Tebow factor into this? And so it has become with Peyton Manning's journey through an NFL in which he doesn't have a team for the first time since early 1998. Manning spent a good deal of Friday and Saturday in the company of the Denver Broncos, who reportedly impressed the future Hall-of-Famer with their plans for the present and future. Manning then flew to Arizona, where he's currently hanging out with the Cardinals, who would very much like to forget last year's Kevin Kolb mistake.
That said, if Manning decides that the Broncos are his future team, what on earth happens to Tim Tebow? Nicole Darin, a sports anchor at WTSP-TV in Tampa, Florida, recently reported that Tebow was so "rattled" by Manning's visit with John Elway and the rest of the Broncos' brass, he decided not to speak with the media during any of the public appearances he's making in Florida over the weekend to benefit wounded veterans. Per Pro Football Talk, Darin took down her original tweet saying as much when Tebowmaniacs descended upon her by way of the interwebs.
According to PFT's Mike Florio, Tebow has every right to be rattled. Florio wrote that according to a source with knowledge of the situation, the Broncos would most likely not keep Tebow and have him learn the finer points of the position from Manning -- more likely, Tebow would be traded. Or, at least the attempt would be made -- you have to imagine that the rest of the NFL watched the Broncos' 2011 season with rapt interest and wondered if whatever Tebow brings to the table is worth the fanaticism and fury of a fanbase so bent on their Tebow love.
One organization that has already put its cards on the table is the Jacksonville Jaguars, and new team owner Shahid Khan. When he bought the Jaguars from Wayne Weaver in January, 2012, one of the first things Khan brought up was his take on Tebow, the longtime Florida hero. Khan was in discussions to purchase the St. Louis Rams when Tebow was drafted in 2010, and he had conversations with Weaver about the ex-Florida Gator .
"You know something? I think I can tell you this. I had a long chat with Wayne that year. Obviously the Rams drafted Sam Bradford, and I was talking to Wayne then on what they ought to do. I should have an offline conversation with you, OK? I'm going to absolutely talk your ear off. Some of the stuff might not be politically correct, but I share your sentiment.
I think, when is the next time Jacksonville is going to have an athlete like Tim Tebow? Coming from being raised in Illinois, I couldn't see Red Grange playing for anybody other than the Bears or Dick Butkus playing for anybody other than the Bears. I don't want to get into 20/20 hindsight, and God help us, the draft record has not been the best with the Jaguars."
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All but one year of Joe Namath's 13-year NFL career was spent with the New York Jets, so the Hall of Fame quarterback knows a little bit about what Peyton Manning is going through right now. Manning, who missed the entirety of last season following multiple neck surgeries, was released from the Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday , drawing a close to a legacy that turned around the downtrodden franchise.
Much like Namath, who left the Jets in 1977 to play one season with the Los Angeles Rams, Manning is now looking for his first team since being drafted by the Colts 14 years ago.
"I made that move after 12 years and it was very difficult. So much newness involved and I made the move because I wanted to play," Namath told Yahoo! Sports.
"The move was made because the Rams' coach was Chuck Knox and I had a relationship with him, one dating back to high school, actually. I thought I was sound enough to play and the Jets were going through a rebuilding situation and Richard Todd wanted to play. But I see Peyton going to a contender; I can't see him going to someone who can't contend. If he goes to Miami, he'd be in that situation certainly."
Namath (a contributor to the Shutdown Corner Blog during the playoffs ), sees that Manning playing in Miami with the Dolphins would make sense, especially since the team finished last year on a strong note and has several offensive playmakers plus a good offensive line. In addition, Manning lives in south Florida, seemingly making it a natural fit.
On Friday, Manning visited the Denver Broncos, and the Arizona Cardinals will also get consideration from a quarterback who has thrown over 54,000 yards and 399 touchdowns in the regular season alone.
First and foremost, Namath is concerned with Manning's health, but he doesn't think teams should shy away from him just because of the neck surgeries and nerve impingement.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he can play another five years if he's healthy," Namath said.
"The number one thing with him is his arm strength because he does have excellent health otherwise .If anyone can swing this and be successful it is Peyton Manning — and let's not forget that Joe Montana was reasonably successful in Kansas City after all those years in San Francisco. I'm not concerned about him going somewhere new. I'd want to see him throw that ball. What about that arm strength?"
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| File this under "Things John Elway would rather not happen when Peyton Manning is at Broncos headquarters while you're trying to convince him that Denver is a wonderful place to play football".
Three Broncos, linebacker D.J. Williams, defensive tackle Ryan McBean, and tight end Virgil Green, have been suspended for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances . Williams and McBean are out for the first six games of the 2012 season. Green will sit for four.
Vic Lombardi of CBS4 in Denver reports that Williams and McBean will file federal lawsuits against the NFL on Monday .
The tests for those two turned up a "non-human" sample, but Williams released a statement in which he claims that he's the victim of a Ryan Braun-type situation . He accuses the NFL's specimen collector of failing to do his job properly. Here's the full statement he released:
I understand from media reports today that the NFL has announced a suspension based on a specimen that the NFL acknowledges did not contain steroids or any illegal substance. Instead, the NFL contends that I provided a non-human specimen.
I have never failed a test of any kind — for steroids or illegal substances — during my eight-year pro career. I am proud of my record and proud of the way in which I conduct myself as a professional athlete and citizen. We proved — conclusively — at the NFL hearing on this matter that the NFL and its specimen collector wholly failed in their duties to safeguard and process my specimen properly.
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| DENVER (AP) The Colorado Rapids say defender Anthony Wallace is expected to miss six to nine months after tearing the Achilles tendon in his left leg during practice Sunday. |
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