By the way, as a Lions fan, Dre’ Bly is top notch. He single covered everyone that was anyone. He will make you proud.

Marinelli released him, because he is a cover corner and the Tampa II defense requires corners that hit. If they are cover as well that is great, but not necessary.

Bly is not a hitter, but a great cover guy.

My Uncle is a Broncos fan living in Denver. Go Broncos.

At WR:
Javon Walker can prove himself this season. He showed off his speed and route running last season and has the potential to become a top tier receiver again (i.e. Prow Bowl). Beyond Walker, many questions abound at the WR position. Can Marshall come into his own? Will a refurbished hip make Rod Smith the man he was just two years ago? Can Stokley recover well enough to contribute? There are also a couple wild cards on their recieving corps that are worth watching. It’ll be interesting.

D.J. Williams:
Does he have what it takes to fill the large gap on D that was Al Wilson? There’s no doubt he has the athleticism, the guy hits like a freight train, but does he have the mental stuff for the position? He may, I’m not sure if Coach Bates would slap somebody he’s not confident with, into a position that equates to the QB of the defense.

CB:
Are these guys for real? We’re about to find out. Both Champ Bailey and Dre Bly have been outstanding during their careers, but now with limited options downfield, opposing QB’s are going to have to take some chances. We’re really going to see what these two have. Should be fun to watch.

Safety:
These guys ain’t getting any younger, but don’t expect them to use that as an excuse. Year in and year out, since his neck surgery, John Lynch has been written off time and again. Is he worth a Pro Bowl selection? Maybe… maybe not, but he doesn’t necessarily have to be. Sure he’s got issues in coverage, but with the secondary becoming more secure with Bly and Bailey, he’ll be given the green light to do what he does best, and that’s disrupting blocking schemes and crossing routes.

O-Line:
Everyone likes to bag on the Broncos blocking scheme, but until the league makes it illegal, they’re going to go with what works… and they’ll thrive on it. The Offensive Line has some questions with Lepsis coming off surgery, but I think they’ll settle in fine. The biggest problem comes next year or the year after when Nalen decides to finally hang it up.

D-Line:
Talk about tinkering! This has been one of the Broncos pet projects over the past few seasons. Now that they’re sure that the whole Cleveland Browncos thing wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, they can move on…. and so they have. Bringing in a couple of wide-bodied veteran tackles may not be the ticket, but you couldn’t tell that to Coach Bates. He likes to plug fat boys into the middle so they can muck up the interior running game and give the Defensive Ends the freedom to flash toward the QB. This has been Denver’s problem for the past few seasons but that may change this season. With newkid Jarvis Moss coming in and Dumerville getting a season under his belt, it will be interesting to see if they can finally improve the pass rush and finally get someone into the QB’s face on a consistent basis.

QB:
You’ve already covered that.

RB:
1200+ yards last season…. for the Titans? Regarding the Broncos running game, as always: No further questions, Your Honor! He’ll get at least a thousand, if not a bunch more.

Special Teams:
Jason Elam, Kicker… what else is there to say? The guy has been like granite… rock solid, during his career. He’s been quoted as saying that he wants to kick at least another ten years. I think he’s got this year covered, at the very least

Todd Sauerbrun, Punter… huge leg… high altitude. This equates to booming kicks. No wonder he was so eager to go back to Denver.

Not sure what they have in mind for KR / PR, but they might have found their man toward the end of last season in the form of Quincy Morgan. We shall see.

Overall, the real question here is about chemistry. Will the Broncos get it? They may, but it’s way too early to tell. With all the new pieces parts they’ve assembled, it’s hard to look at this team and really make an assessment… so the best thing you can do is make an educated guess.

Everything looks to be in place. If they can gel as a whole, then the rest of the league may have to watch their backs. Either way, it’s going to be interesting to watch.