Pasquarelli all over Denver's D-line

[MikeB]

He rips them pretty good...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2027049

I wonder what he would have wrote had the Skins got CB... :whew:

(Apologies if this has been posted. I scanned and didn't see anything.)

[Phat Hog]

Defensive line woes continue for BroncosBy Len Pasquarelli,

ESPN.com

Len Pasquarelli Archive

Not exactly a quartet, despite the presence of three former first-round choices, including two of whom were among the top three players selected in their respective draft classes, sufficiently menacing enough to cause restless nights for offensive linemen leaguewide.

This isn't a group that should be mistaken for the Fearsome Foursome, the Steel Curtain, the Purple People Eaters, or any other colorfully captioned front-four unit. Heck, these guys, The Four Flops, have authored fewer hits than the Four Tops. In fact, looking for a handle for this frustrating foursome? How about The Rejects or the Retreads?

Or, given that all four of the veteran defensive linemen labored for Cleveland in 2004, perhaps the Brown-outs is most appropriate.

Last season, the quartet averaged 22.5 tackles, 3.3 sacks and 8.3 starts. Yeah, you can justifiably point out those microscopic numbers are skewed downward by the fact Brown was injured and played in only two games. But, hey, Brown, the first player chosen in the 2000 draft, is always injured. It will probably cost Cleveland ownership more to ship his ponderous medical dossier to Denver than it will to forward his equipment. The guy clearly has more X-rays than big plays.

Here's a more ominous statistic: The four linemen have averaged 19.5 games missed to injuries over the course of their NFL careers and more than two surgeries apiece. None has ever registered more than eight sacks in a season. Neither Brown nor Ekuban, both rehabilitating from surgeries, will be able to run full-speed before May. So dubious is the availability of Ekuban for the outset of training camp that Cleveland tossed Myers into a trade earlier this week as a cheap insurance policy.

Want a less than ringing endorsement? With all four linemen on their roster in 2004, the Browns won, yep, all of four games. Cleveland management might have fared better had it simply erected four speed bumps.

None of this dissuaded the Broncos from finding a way to bring all four to Denver.

The Broncos recruited Brown, released by Cleveland on March 14 for cap and casualty reasons, as if he was the second coming of Bruce Smith. Which is precisely what a lot of scouts felt he would be when he departed Penn State in 2000. And before the defensive end began accumulating enough ailments to be held personally accountable for the spiral in medical insurance costs in Ohio during his five-year tenure near Lake Erie.

So the Broncos signed Brown in hopes of resurrecting his flagging career. Three weeks ago, Denver traded a fourth-round pick for Warren, the third overall selection in the '01 draft, and an interior defender possessed of enormous talent, but whose accomplishments are sparse. Warren is one of our favorite players in the league but "Big Money" has been more a penny stock for four seasons. On Tuesday night, the Broncos shipped disgruntled running back Reuben Droughns to the Browns in exchange for Ekuban and Myers.

It's as if the Broncos' football operation has given new connotation to the high component of the Mile High City. Do they suddenly feel that Brown, who finished each of the last four seasons on injured reserve, is going to stumble upon some panacea while wandering some Rocky Mountain trail? That Warren will find motivation, Ekuban stay healthy and Myers suddenly become a playmaker?

Their hardly flattering resumes notwithstanding, the onetime Cleveland linemen each will be counted upon to play major roles in the refurbished Denver defensive front. But why were the Broncos so incredibly desperate to restock? Why was Denver so willing to roll the dice on players whose careers keep coming up snake-eyes?

Well, in large part because the Broncos' organization has been so bad, and suffered such misfortune, in drafting defensive linemen.

Unlike the NFL's best and most stable teams, the Broncos don't grow defensive linemen. And, thus, Denver seems to be forever addressing its defensive line needs in the always dicey free-agent market. That usually means throwing good money after players who are in decline. None of the former Cleveland linemen are getting big deals financially, but all are stop-gaps, not players to develop for the long run.

And that inability, the failure to draft players and successfully raise them up through your own system, has been a glaring Broncos shortcoming.

Of the 10 defensive linemen who appeared in games for Denver in 2004, just three -- ends Reggie Hayward and Trevor Pryce and tackle Monsanto Pope -- originally were Denver draft choices. The Broncos' defensive line was like a halfway house for veteran free-agent players like Marco Coleman, Luther Elliss, Darius Holland, Ellis Johnson, Anton Palepoi and Raylee Johnson. Two of those players were added after the start of the season. If you were a defensive lineman who was released, and you had a pulse, chances were good that the Broncos were going to sign you.

Compare the Denver situation to that of, say, the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. The Pats are loaded with young, viable and vital defensive linemen because coach Bill Belichick has made the position, and depth at it, a priority. New England took defensive linemen in the first round of three of the last four drafts. They also invested a couple of second-round picks on the defensive line during that stretch.

The kind of lopsided and unhealthy reliance on free-agent linemen that Denver has demonstrated of late, magnified again over the past month with the fixation on former Cleveland defenders, can be traced to the draft failures of the past. Ineptitude in the draft, and crucial injuries post-draft, have created a culture of failure. Instead of a unit manned by young talent, nurtured through the Denver system, the Broncos instead have holes that have to be filled by free agents or trade acquisitions plucked from other teams' rosters.

Such an approach, characteristically, is a recipe for failure and salary cap problems. The Broncos, it's fair to say, have suffered plenty of both. Someone noted on another site this week that Denver might yet hit a "home run" with its four Cleveland imports. Truth is, the Broncos wouldn't need a home run if they'd just slugged a few doubles, instead of having so many whiffs, with their defensive line selections over the past decade.

Since the arrival of coach Mike Shanahan in '95, the Broncos have selected 13 defensive linemen in 10 lotteries, and the overall results have pretty much been catastrophic. Think the Broncos have had problems choosing cornerbacks? The defensive line selections have been far worse.

Six of the 13 defensive linemen never played in a single game for the Broncos and another appeared in just nine contests. Denver invested four choices on defensive linemen in 2002 -- Nick Eason, Bryant McNeal, Aaron Hunt and Clint Mitchell -- and none has ever gotten onto the field for a game in a Broncos uniform. Hunt is the only one who remains under contract to the Broncos.

Of the 13, only four played in more than 40 games and Pryce, who will be traded or released before training camp, is the only one to appear in more than 47 contests. He has 105 appearances and the other 12 averaged just 14.8 games in Denver. His 98 starts are nearly double the aggregate starts of the others. While Pryce's departure is pending, end Reggie Hayward, a third-round pick in 2001 and the Broncos' best pass-rush threat the last two seasons, already defected, signing with Jacksonville as an unrestricted free agent last month. Last spring, the Broncos also lost a solid pass rusher, Bertrand Berry, in free agency, although it should be noted he wasn't a home-grown player.

The situation, as evidenced by the additions of the four Cleveland linemen, isn't likely to get much better in 2005.

There are currently 15 defensive linemen on the Denver roster who are either signed to contracts or who have been tendered restricted free-agent qualifying offers for 2005 and most likely will return. Of that group, discounting Pryce who was limited to two games in '04 after early-season back surgery, only three are original Broncos signees. That trio has combined for just 31 regular-season starts.

In fairness to Shanahan and the Denver personnel department, the dearth of good, young defensive linemen isn't all a factor of poor draft decisions. There have been injuries to a number of the draftees -- most notably a persistent knee problem that kept defensive end Paul Toviessi, a second-round pick in 2001 and a player who was projected as a double-digit sack man, from ever playing in a game -- that essentially scuttled their careers.

Even with the injuries, however, the Broncos should have plenty more to show for all of their draft forays into the defensive line pool. Such a deficiency has led Denver to make moves out of necessity, even desperation, and most of those gambits have backfired.

The bet here is that bringing in so many defensive linemen from Cleveland, a city known as the "Mistake by the Lake," isn't going to help rectify the errors of the past. In fact, the Broncos' recent shopping spree probably augurs results that, alas, are pretty much the same as those to which Denver has become accustomed.

[TXREDSKINS44]

He finally rips someone other than us!!

[dfitzo53]

Originally posted by MikeB

He rips them pretty good...

And he should, too.

[Walking Deadman]

I'm not sure what exactly the Broncos are doing. They do a favor in taking 4 cruddy linemen from Cleveland and in return give the Browns Reuben Droughns?

Plus, after Denver signed Brown I hear that he's still not healthy enough to practice and may not be until May.

Thank you Denver for taking Brown away from us and saving the Skins some $$$$$$$

[TXREDSKINS44]

Originally posted by goskins

I'm not sure what exactly the Broncos are doing. They do a favor in taking 4 cruddy linemen from Cleveland and in return give the Browns Reuben Droughns?

Plus, after Denver signed Brown I hear that he's still not healthy enough to practice and may not be until May.

Thank you Denver for taking Brown away from us and saving the Skins some $$$$$$$

Yes I agree thank you Denver for saving us some money!!

[Walking Deadman]

Plus, I heard that what Brown has Lisc-johns? (I know I am pronouncing the problem wrong, but it's 12:30AM and I'm too tired to look anything up) and that rarely players can be 100% or even be able to particpate fully in their career.

If I had known this while the Skins were persuing Brown--- I would have said, nope I don't want the guy.

[Henry]

Considering we were the team Denver out-bid for Brown's services, I figured ol Len would call him the steal of the century. He must REALLY not like the Bronco line.

[just skins baby]

I liked the part about the speed bumps. That one cracked me up.

[SkinsFTW]

Denver seems like they are going about things the way we used to do it without any success.

[tr1]

I think he wrote this with Washington in mind. Then, when Brown signed with the Broncos, he went after them big time.

The best part was the 3rd from the last paragraph:

In fairness to Shanahan and the Denver personnel department,.. [/quote

He's just ripped the Broncos FO and coaching staff unmercifully and then starts a line with "In fairness...." Ha! Fairness should have been built into the piece well before the end. He's a hack.

[Goaldeje]

I guess you can make the arguement that having Champ back there will make some of these guys at least look a little better, giving the lack of corner play in Cleveland, but I think Pasta-belly is right for the most part. I wanted us to sign CB if possible, and will own up to it, but it sounds like he had a lot more health issues than we knew about. Looks like it turned out for the best for us:)

[dg28daman]

Wait...he wrote and article insulting a team...and it wasn't about....US!?!?!?!

[zoony]

I wanted CB

[PCS]

Len? :rubeyes: That you?

[Bang]

I wonder how many times he had to go back and erase the word "redskins" or "snyder" before sending this to his editor.

Nice to see him rip someone else for a change, and it about time Mike Shanahan started to get exposed for the overrated joker he is.

~Bang

[Ernie5]

I'm sort of w/him on this one. Not so much re: C. Brown, but why would Denver want to bring over the entirety of Cleveland's not very good D-line? I hate agreeing w/Lenny.

[Major Harris]

Originally posted by Park City Skins

Len? :rubeyes: That you?

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

nice to see that pastabelly does actually pay attention to other teams' "mistakes."

[BillyKilmer]

Thr Brown-Outs now thats funny I don't care who u are !

[Johnny Punani2]

The Broncos recruited Brown, released by Cleveland on March 14 for cap and casualty reasons, as if he was the second coming of Bruce Smith. Which is precisely what a lot of scouts felt he would be when he departed Penn State in 2000. And before the defensive end began accumulating enough ailments to be held personally accountable for the spiral in medical insurance costs in Ohio during his five-year tenure near Lake Erie.

ouch!!! LMAO!!

[SkinsNatsFan]

I still can't read the guys nonsense, regardless of what team he's decided to "slam".

The all powerful nobody, Pasqua-whatever.

Pretty much a bunch of blah, blah, blah. Different team, same worthless garbage.

[citigent]

really a sad day when i have to agree with len, still probaly wont ever happen about the skins but iy still hurts alittle.

[adarsh1]

I hope Tatum Bell sucks so that Mike Shanahan will be shown for the fraud that he is