Month: August 2015

For those of you who are not regular Bleacher Report readers, (trust me, I don’t blame you) Ted Sunquist, former Broncos GM, wrote an interesting article for them today.  Continue reading Ted Sundquist Bleacher Report Article

Mike Tanier has a great article about how NFL teams can reduce preseason ACL injuries without having to eliminate the games.

One point he brings up is that the CBA requirements about offseason training may have done more harm than good.

The 2011 collective bargaining agreement added a dizzying array of restrictions on offseason training. The nine-week OTA period is broken into three phases. Strength and conditioning, with no on-field work, is limited to the first three-week phase. After that, coaches can schedule 90-minute on-field practices, while players are only required to be at the team facility for four hours; factor in everything from meetings to suiting up, and conditioning gets the short shrift.

The CBA rules were designed to severely limit full-contact practices and keep coaches from requiring 60-hour work weeks in May, both worthy goals from a player-safety standpoint. But the rules squeezed out much of the offseason conditioning work. That’s a problem, because the exercises and drills that can prevent ACL tears and soft-tissue injuries take additional time and must be reinforced over a series of weeks.

There’s more discussed about what NFL teams should do, based on medical research.

While there are legitimate arguments to make about changing the preseason, we do need to ask ourselves if the changes are really going to help reduce injury risks as much as they think they will.

Things just keep getting grimmer in the Bay:

The 49ers announced Wednesday that outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks is being sent back to California and will not participate in Saturday’s exhibition game against the Denver Broncos after a grand jury charged him with misdemeanor sexual battery.

Unfortunately, this has been a recurring theme the entire offseason, but it has to be asked again: have the 49ers suffered the worst offseason ever?  You can be reminded of the devastation of the 2014 starting lineup beyond the fold.

Continue reading These Aren’t The 49ers You Once Knew…

Evan Mathis is officially a Bronco and Connor Barth is gone, but these roster moves won’t be the only ones the Broncos will have to make in the coming days.

That is because on Tuesday, Sept. 1, all NFL teams must reduce their rosters to 75 players, meaning each team will have to make a decision about 15 players.

The players who make up the first wave of cuts usually fall into three categories:
Continue reading Midweek Musings: Those In Danger Of Being Sept. 1 Cuts

If nothing else, John Elway is a tough son of a gun.

Continue reading John Elway Played Entire Football Career with No Left ACL

#Broncos release K Connor Barth, making room for newly signed G Evan Mathis http://t.co/T3heGOVumW

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) August 26, 2015

Well, that settles that training camp battle. Brandon McManus has looked good so far and the Broncos are clearly confident in him.

It was just a few weeks ago that some of you were wondering if the Broncos might bring in another veteran lineman. Well, look no further as the Broncos have signed former Philadelphia Eagles guard Evan Mathis to a one-year deal.

Mathis was very good last season, ranked by Pro Football Focus as one of the top guards in the NFL. He’s 33 years old, though, so one has to wonder how much he has left in the tank.

So why would the Broncos bring him on board? Does it mean they might look at more veterans? Let’s consider a few possibilities.
Continue reading Gut Reaction: Broncos Sign Evan Mathis

Denver is giving former Eagles' guard Evan Mathis a one-year deal that could be worth up to $4 million with playtime incentives, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 25, 2015

Evan Mathis deal is 1 year, $2.5 million with chance to earn $4 million. He had protested $5.5 mill salary in Philly, leading to release.

— Mike Klis (@MikeKlis) August 25, 2015