Believe it or not, training camp for the Denver Broncos is only 10 days away. Football fans have been waiting since February and the wait is almost over. With that said, it’s time to start looking at some of the different storylines as camp begins. Outside of Peyton Manning, the position that should get a lot of attention is defensive back.
Bronco fans remember all too well how bad the secondary was, especially when Denver played New England.
The sub-standard play was not lost on John Elway and the Broncos either because they completely revamped the secondary.
Denver signed; safety Mike Adams, cornerbacks Tracy Porter and Drayton Florence in free agency. Porter and Florence are above average cornerbacks who would be considered the #1 corner on most teams. Now combined with Champ Bailey, still a top 5 cornerback, the trio in one of the best in the NFL.
All 3 players can cover man-to-man and all are capable of taking away the opposing team’s best receiver. Last season, teams knew they didn’t have to challenge Bailey because they could make big plays everywhere else on the field. The Broncos now have guys at the cornerback position that can all make a game-changing play at any given time. Denver also drafted, Omar Bolden in the NFL Draft and if he’s healthy then the Broncos may have the steal of the draft. If Bolden not torn his ACL, he would have been the #1 cornerback in the draft. All indications are that Bolden is completely healthy and ready to go.
As big of a concern as the cornerback position was, safety was even bigger and is still a question as camp approaches. The Broncos first free agent signing back in March was safety Mike Adams. The casual fan probably does not know a lot about Adams, that happens when you play your whole career in Cleveland but he’s a player. Adams is a professional, knows where he supposed to be and will provide much needed leadership to young safeties Rahim Moore and Quinton Carter. The retirement of future Hall of Famer, Brian Dawkins left a huge void in the leadership department but Adams is more than capable. He’s not Dawkins, no one is, but that was Adam’s idol and Bronco fans will love the way this guy plays.
The addition of Adams is big but that doesn’t change the fact that Moore and Carter have to be better in their second season, especially Moore. Moore began the season in 2011 as one of the starting safeties but looked lost a lot of times, and eventually was replaced by Carter. All reports are that Moore has had a terrific off-season program and has admitted that he was “not ready” last year. He has a ton of talent and the Broncos are still looking for big things from him, starting in this training camp. Carter got better as last season progressed and played 2 of his better games in the playoffs, including an interception in both contests. If Carter continues to develop at the pace he set last season, the Denver should be fine on the back end of their defense.
No one knows how any move is going to work out until they start playing games but the Broncos now have the players in the secondary to matchup better with teams like; the Patriots, the Chargers, the Falcons and so on. Everyone knows that Denver can rush the quarterback with Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller, and if the secondary can give those 2 another second or two to get there then look out.
