Daily Mail - Denver's unsettled backfield

Ron Dayne signs with Denver

by moklerman

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slu...ball&type=lgns

I've never been a huge Ron Dayne fan but if the guy was ever going to resurrect his career it would be with the Broncos. He'll be hard-pressed to beat out Tatum Bell in my opinion but Bell hasn't shown that he can play a full season yet so there's a chance for Dayne. Regardless of his lack of success in New York, he is a Heisman Trophy winning rb. Add to that Denver's usual success at turning low round rb's into superstars. Dayne has very low miles on him and he might have hit the jackpot in getting a chance to play for the Broncos....
- Channel: NFL TALK
-04-02-2005, 11:07 AM
Rams Run Defense Ready for Tough Test

by RamWraith

Thursday, September 7, 2006

By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

After finishing 30th of 32 NFL teams in 2005, the Rams went into the free agent market and spent freely in hopes of boosting their anemic run defense.

Just how much the addition of the likes of La�Roi Glover, Will Witherspoon and Corey Chavous will improve the team�s ability to stop the run will be tested right away. In fact, there might not be a better early test for the Rams� revamped run defense than the one coming to town Sunday.

The Denver Broncos will bring their vaunted running game to St. Louis on Sunday for the regular season opener at the Edward Jones Dome. Although it won�t determine how the team will stop the run all season, it should give the Rams an indication of where they are in their quest to improve.

�This could really set us up for our big picture,� Glover said. �We can have some success against these guys, get back into the confidence that we�ve got after that, and try and put some wins together.�

For now, the small picture is focused on Denver�s zone-blocking running game, a running game that has perennially been among the league�s best for the past 11 years. Under head coach Mike Shanahan, offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak and offensive line coach Alex Gibbs, the Broncos have developed a scheme that seems to work regardless of the running back.

In that timeframe, Denver has seen unknowns such as Olandis Gary, Terrell Davis, Reuben Droughns and Mike Anderson become 1,000-yard rushers. Players such as Davis and Clinton Portis became superstars, but it really hasn�t made much difference whether the player was an undrafted free agent like Anderson or a second-round choice such as Portis. The results are always the same.

�It doesn�t matter,� defensive end Anthony Hargrove said. �Somebody is going to be taking handoffs. We could be looking for Gale Sayers back there and he could be headed toward a thousand yards, but we would still have to stop him.�

Since 1995, the Broncos have had ten 1,000-yard rushers and are first in the league in rushing yards with 25,022, more than one-thousand yards ahead of the next best team. In that same timeframe, Denver has eighty-two 100-yard rushers in a game, 11 more than second-place Pittsburgh.

Last season, the Broncos finished second in the league in rushing at 158.7 yards a game. That group was led by Anderson, who finished with 1,014 yards. Tatum Bell chipped in with 921 yards. Of course, the Broncos thought so much of Anderson�s performance that they released Anderson in the offseason.

This year�s version looks to a pair of Bells and Cedric Cobbs to emerge as the next in the line of rushers to hit the 1K mark. Rookie Mike Bell apparently led the competition for the starting job during camp, but Tatum Bell and Cobbs are both in the mix. Tatum Bell is the only experienced...
- Channel: RAMS NATION TALK
-09-08-2006, 10:17 AM
Will D's Makeover Pay Off?

by evil disco man

By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/10/2006

If it doesn't work out for the Rams' defense this season, it won't be for lack of trying. In the offseason, the Rams invested a potential $73.5 million in free agents Fakhir Brown, Corey Chavous, La'Roi Glover, and Will Witherspoon. They added budget free agents such as linebacker Raonall Smith and tackle Jason Fisk to improve depth.

Three of the Rams' top four draft picks were defensive players, headed by first-rounder Tye Hill at cornerback. As a topper, former New Orleans head coach Jim Haslett was hired for $1 million a year to coordinate the defense.

In short, it has been the most extensive -- and most expensive -- makeover for a Rams defense since the move to St. Louis in 1995. Only the 2001 makeover, which included free agents

Aeneas Williams and Kim Herring; draft picks Adam Archuleta, Ryan Pickett and Tommy Polley; and defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, comes close.

Haslett quickly has earned the respect of the players. This will be a faster, more aggressive, better tackling defense than the 2004 or 2005 units.

"We became better with our acquisitions in the offseason," defensive end Leonard Little said. "We're automatically better. But we've got to go out there and play like we're better."

Particularly when it comes to stopping the run. A year ago, the Rams finished 28th in the NFL in run defense. They allowed a whopping 4.7 yards a carry, which tied for last in the league. On seven occasions, opposing running backs topped 100 yards.

"We can't help but go up," Little said. "We emphasized that during training camp -- stopping the run. This will be a good test for us this week."

On a schedule littered with the likes of Edgerrin James, Shaun Alexander, Larry Johnson, LaDainian Tomlinson and Clinton Portis, the best rushing team the Rams face just might be the Denver Broncos, Sunday's season-opening foe in the Edward Jones Dome.

That's right, the Broncos of Mike Bell, Tatum Bell and Cedric Cobbs in the backfield.

Who?

Well, Mike Bell is an undrafted rookie from Arizona. At 6-0, 220 pounds, he isn't a burner, but he's quick to the hole with enough wiggle to make you miss. He's expected to start Sunday.

Tatum Bell is a third-year player from Oklahoma State with 1,317 career rushing yards. With 4.3 speed in the 40-yard dash, he's a home-run threat but doesn't break many tackles. He'll probably be the Broncos' change-of-pace back Sunday.

As for Cobbs, he has 50 career rushing yards in the NFL, gained in 2004 for New England before leg injuries slowed his career. He spent the 2005 season on Denver's practice squad.

In the exhibition season, Cobbs led Denver with 195 yards on 36 carries. Mike Bell was next with 187 yards on 35...
- Channel: RAMS NATION TALK
-09-10-2006, 08:44 AM
Opening Day is Here! Rams-Broncos: What to Watch

by evil disco man

Saturday, September 9, 2006

By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

1. For Whom the Bells Toll
For as long as Mike Shanahan has been the head coach of the Broncos, it seems not to matter who his running back is. No matter where that player comes from, he seems to always find his way to the 1,000-yard mark.

The names over the years have included relative unknowns such as Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, Reuben Droughns and Olandis Gary. By the time their seasons are finished, those names are not unknown anymore.

This year, the Broncos have a trio of running backs capable of being the starter in Mike Bell, Tatum Bell and Cedric Cobbs. Shanahan won�t reveal which of those three will get the starting nod, but it apparently doesn�t matter much considering the Broncos recent history. Since 1995, they have had 10 1,000 yard rushers in Shanahan�s zone blocking scheme.

�I think it�s more of a challenge to stop their running game,� coach Scott Linehan said. �Their running backs are all good, in my opinion. They�re running game is the biggest challenge we have. They�ve proven over the years that no matter who�s back there it�s a lethal weapon and we�ve got to stop that before we worry about who�s back there.�

Of that trio, Tatum Bell is the fastest of the group, but more of a straight line runner who has had fumbling issues in the past. Cobbs and Mike Bell are the unproven commodities. Mike Bell has speed and power, but is an undrafted free agent with no NFL experience. Cobbs spent last year in New England and has speed, but also has little to no experience.

The Rams, meanwhile, are looking for resurgence against the run after finishing among the league�s dregs in that category last year. The additions of Will Witherspoon, Corey Chavous and La�Roi Glover are expected to help, but it remains to be seen whether it will.

Denver�s system has been extremely successful mainly because of that zone blocking system. Watch for the Broncos to turn their offensive line in one direction with the running back making a single cutback and turning up field. That offensive line also isn�t afraid to use the cut block to its advantage.

�I think they execute and they just believe in it,� Linehan said. �It�s a little bit different, a little bit unconventional. I noticed another team complaining about that style of running recently. It�s a little intimidating to play because of the style. They get up in their legs and I don�t think people like that. I know you�ve got an advantage if that becomes the issue of how they�re blocking you and all that, then I think they�ve probably won before the game even starts. I think that has a lot to do with it. They just do it with how they play and how they finish.�

2. Misdirection Maneuvers
Of course, the Broncos running game wouldn�t be nearly as successful if not for at least...
- Channel: RAMS NATION TALK
-09-10-2006, 08:57 AM
Ex-Ram Bell Decide Football Isn't Worth The Risk

by r8rh8rmike

Ex-Ram Bell decides football isn't worth the risk

BY JIM THOMAS
Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Former Rams offensive guard Jacob Bell says there were a lot of factors involved in his sudden and surprising retirement from football Tuesday. But at the end of the day it came back to this: He's in good health right now at age 31, and wants to try to make sure he can say the same thing when he's 41, 51 and 61.

In a telling statement of the current landscape in the National Football League � one of concussion lawsuits and Bountygate � Bell is retiring at least in part because of concern and the uncertainty over the long-term effects of head trauma.

"There were a lot of factors that went into it for me," Bell told the Post-Dispatch in a phone interview Tuesday night. "I've had a lot of fun playing. I've seen a lot of things. I've played in a lot of games. The reality is that for me it came down to risk and reward. I think you've always got to weigh that out. At some point, you've got to kind of figure out what you're in the game for.

"One of my biggest concerns when it comes to the game in general is my personal health. One thing that's obviously on the minds of a lot of people lately is brain research and all the stuff that's going on with that. One of the big things that I thought about when I was considering this is how much do I love the game? How much can they pay me to take away my health and my future and being able to be with my family and just have a healthy lifestyle?"

So after eight seasons � the last four of which came with the Rams � encompassing 109 regular-season games and 100 starts, Bell is calling it a career. He said he has contemplated retiring for the last year or so. But the recent death of linebacking great Junior Seau was the "cherry on top." In other words, it may have pushed him over the top in terms of deciding to retire.

Would Bell, who signed a one-year free-agent deal with Cincinnati less than five weeks ago, still be playing if Seau hadn't taken his own life?

"That's a good question," he said. "I've been thinking about some different things, thinking about health, thinking about the future of my family having to deal with some kind of crazy disease that nobody even knows about, where people want their brains studied after they're dead. Donating their brains to research.

"It's just crazy to see how someone like Junior Seau took his own life over � God knows what he was really struggling and dealing with. But you have to believe it came from the game of football. I want to get out before the game makes me get out, where I can get out on my own terms, and I can limit the amount of stress and negative impact that the game would leave on me."

The health concerns for NFL players obviously go beyond concussions....
- Channel: NFL TALK
-05-09-2012, 09:42 AM

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Daily Mail - Denver's unsettled backfield

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