Orton named Broncos starting QB

[Pixote]

Orton named Broncos starting QB

 

It should be interesting to see how this develops.

 

Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels just named Kyle Orton his starting quarterback. Orton had been competing with Chris Simms for the job throughout the season.

 

Orton, who was acquired from the Chicago Bears in April as part of the Jay Cutler trade, was named the starter with two days remaining in the Broncos' off-season minicamp training program. He will start regular training camp in July as the Broncos' No. 1 quarterback.

[Connorbear]

Orton named Broncos starting QB

 

It should be interesting to see how this develops.

Kyle was always a stand up guy here. I wish him the best of luck.

 

Peace

[defiantgiant]

Kyle was always a stand up guy here. I wish him the best of luck.

 

Peace

 

Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I'm really excited to see what Cutler can do, but prior to the trade I was looking forward to having Orton for another year. What he did in '08, with Booker/Lloyd/Davis at receiver and a pretty bad ankle injury, was enough to make me a believer. Plus I genuinely liked the guy: he seemed like he didn't expect to get anything without working hard for it, he took his shortcomings seriously and worked until he improved on them, and he had the respect of the other guys on the field. I hope he does really well in Denver.

[bowlingtwig]

Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I'm really excited to see what Cutler can do, but prior to the trade I was looking forward to having Orton for another year. What he did in '08, with Booker/Lloyd/Davis at receiver and a pretty bad ankle injury, was enough to make me a believer. Plus I genuinely liked the guy: he seemed like he didn't expect to get anything without working hard for it, he took his shortcomings seriously and worked until he improved on them, and he had the respect of the other guys on the field. I hope he does really well in Denver.

He wasn't exactly bad last year either. I thought that he really great considering the talent around him.

[defiantgiant]

He wasn't exactly bad last year either. I thought that he really great considering the talent around him.

 

Yeah, before the whole trade went down, I thought he was primed to have a big season for us in '09. Denver might have given up a franchise QB, but Orton is much more than a stopgap. I think he'll do well there.

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

Best of luck to the man.

 

He looks like a total goof in his new, non-revolution style helmet.

[nfoligno]

I always liked Orton, and may of the things I considered Rex' greatest weaknesses appeared strengths for Orton. At the end of the day, I think Orton can be a "good" QB, while Cutler can be a "great" QB. Nothing wrong w/ having a good QB, but it sure is damn nice to have a "great" QB.

 

Yeah, before the whole trade went down, I thought he was primed to have a big season for us in '09. Denver might have given up a franchise QB, but Orton is much more than a stopgap. I think he'll do well there.

[defiantgiant]

I always liked Orton, and may of the things I considered Rex' greatest weaknesses appeared strengths for Orton. At the end of the day, I think Orton can be a "good" QB, while Cutler can be a "great" QB. Nothing wrong w/ having a good QB, but it sure is damn nice to have a "great" QB.

 

Yeah, absolutely. Orton and Rex have totally opposite skillsets. Orton's great under pressure, makes good decisions, and is accurate on short-to-intermediate throws, but he struggles pretty badly with deep-ball placement. Rex gets rattled by pressure, forces throws into coverage, and doesn't have much touch or accuracy on his short passes, but he's got a cannon and usually puts his deep passes right where they need to go.

 

The thing that makes me the most hopeful about Cutler is that he doesn't appear to have any glaring holes in his game. Grossman and Orton each hamstrung the offense in certain situations, because they each had at least one particular area that was a major weakness. Kyle's weaknesses are much more limited in scope than Rex's, but each guy has certain throws you just shouldn't expect him to make. Cutler doesn't have any of those. That alone should make him an upgrade over any of the QBs we've had before.

[nfoligno]

No question. It is sort of like having a Benson at RB, just off cuff example. Due to his inability to block, catch or really run outside, it was pretty easy to predict what would happen w/ him in the game, particularly when we were rotating between he and TJ. Point is, when a player is predictable, then so is the offense.

 

Cutler, as you said, has no glaring holes in his game. That doesn't mean he is perfect. It simply means there is not one area considered such a hole that it creates a level of predictability.

 

Frankly, this is going to be a very interesting year for Turner. Turner's offenses have pretty between "pretty" and "very" predictable. Some would argue players who were limited created a limited, and thus predictable offense. Others would argue Turner was simply incompetent, and thus we were predictable. Now we should be able to find out.

 

Changes in our offense (personnel) in the last year or two which "should" make us less predictable.

 

A. QB - Discussed above.

 

B. RB - We had Forte last year, but I am looking bigger picture. Point is, we now have in place a RB who excels in basically every area. He can run inside, or turn the corner outside. He is a great pass catches, and was solid (as a rookie) pass blocking. In otherwords, he is an everydown RB, and thus doesn't tip our hand one way or another.

 

C. TE - Maybe we are a touch more predictable if Olsen in the single TE, but (1) Olsen often is in motion, thus we are allowing that look anyway and (2) we often have two TEs, and thus avoid the predictability factor.

 

D. WR - I am going some off potential here, but I honestly think we have a WR corp which should better then ever (recent history) avoid predictability. We have the ability to run any route, and to any point on the field. We have versatile WRs who can work well underneath or deep.

 

E. OL - Again, going some on expectation rather than evidence, but all signs point to a dramatically upgraded OL. The better the OL, the more your options expand. Turner flat out said that last year, Orton's arm was not limiting as some said, but that he (Turner) had to "shorten the field" to compensate for the OL. He said the OL simply could not sustain blocks, and thus we had to get rid of the ball quicker so as to avoid the pressure. Thus, we became more predictable as we could only utilize a portion of the field.

 

This year, Turner is loaded w/ potential weapons, an OL that should much better sustain blocks and a QB who can make all the throws at any level of the field. This year, if the offense is predictable, we will know who the true problem is.

 

 

 

Yeah, absolutely. Orton and Rex have totally opposite skillsets. Orton's great under pressure, makes good decisions, and is accurate on short-to-intermediate throws, but he struggles pretty badly with deep-ball placement. Rex gets rattled by pressure, forces throws into coverage, and doesn't have much touch or accuracy on his short passes, but he's got a cannon and usually puts his deep passes right where they need to go.

 

The thing that makes me the most hopeful about Cutler is that he doesn't appear to have any glaring holes in his game. Grossman and Orton each hamstrung the offense in certain situations, because they each had at least one particular area that was a major weakness. Kyle's weaknesses are much more limited in scope than Rex's, but each guy has certain throws you just shouldn't expect him to make. Cutler doesn't have any of those. That alone should make him an upgrade over any of the QBs we've had before.