Guess what? Peyton Manning is a Bronco

Due to an irregular sleeping pattern I awoke around 12 pm today. I came across my phone which I had left upstairs to charge overnight. I glanced at the 3 unread messages, which all invariably carried the message, "Congrats on Peyton" in some form or the other. Later in the day, when I logged onto the facebook I would realize not all my friends were gracious in Mr. Manning's choice of the future. And if they weren't dismissing Manning signing, they were quick to jump on the other "go to" Broncos' insult -- dissing Tebow. I can note nothing more original than dissing a starting QB in the NFL. A position that only has 32 placements in entire world, in a manner of looking at a sports organization as any commercial entity that is looking to achieve max. success and profitability, you can't help but call the season of Tebow a success simply in the fact they were able to sell these and even more of these.


Obviously I had a biased interest in Manning going to the Broncos and only made one argument through the podcast with KD last week. For those who can't stand hearing the soulful sounds of KD and myself, I'll try reiterate what I had said in the podcast about the reason behind Manning coming to the Broncos.

The offensive line for the Broncos actually had decent pass protection this year. Unfortunately due to Tebow's lack of NFL offensive experience he was unable to take advantage of the time alleviated to him. To further this argument, especially to those who don't think I'm correct in my statement. Do you really think a quarterback of Manning's style (stay in the pocket) is going to sign with a team with a weak offensive line? For a guy who is known to be dedicated to the video room, I imagine as much as he visited the facilities of some of these teams over the last week he also went extensively over some game film of the offensive lines of the teams that were supposedly in the hunt. 

Another thing I alluded to in the podcast was Manning wanting to take on a challenge of playing outdoors. While his career may blossomed in a dome, his demise was outside of those confines. Given the ability to switch to an outdoor stadium will allow Manning to take on his biggest enemy, the outdoor elements. If Peyton had more opportunities to play in cold weather do you think, he'd still had the same problems he did against the Patriots all those years in the early aughts? Given his Southern roots, you'd think that he would hate living in a colder climate. Well the truth of the matter, is he did the same living in Indy for all those years but did you ever hear any complaints?

Receivers had been a notion KD brought up during the podcast as a reason why Manning shouldn't sign with the Broncos. This was before the 49ers got involved in the deal but the Arizona Cardinals were considered a front runner with Larry Fitzgerald, who was an active participant in the recruitment of Manning. When the 49ers emerged as a contending team in the Manning sweepstakes people couldn't stop salivating over the potential of the Peyton Manning-Vernon Davis/Randy Moss/Michael Crabtree TD combinations. With only Vernon Davis, truly showing an improvement in the new Jim Harbaugh offense set, how successful would Manning and Harbaugh as a team convince Randy Moss and Michael Crabtree that the receiver route tree doesn't begin and end with the number 9? Sure the first couple weeks would have been awesome. Only as a matter of a honeymoon effect combined with defenses adjusting to the decoys set out by having big names on either side of your offensive line. To further this example, one reason why Moss was able to have varied success in New England was the fact that he was simply told to run Go routes (Run straight). It left teams to employ safeties over top in combination to the cornerback, who would be responsible for man to man coverage on Moss. This left Wes Welker to run across the middle, free to catch over 100 catches in each of the 3 seasons that Moss was employed in New England full time. You'll realize that this novelty wore off once Moss was released from the New England, as Welker did not end up with 100 catches in 2010. All that being said, I'd imagine that Vernon Davis would still be the main go to guy in a 49ers system as well he looks to be the main target in the offense and considering he is the highest paid receiver on the team, it's a matter of cost benefit analysis to "get the most for your buck".

Demaryius Thomas only has 54 catches in his career. Excluding this one.

With the Broncos on the other hand, it's more than true that inexperience runs rampant in this corps but that may be the best recipe for success in a new offense. Players who are drafted in lower rounds and don't have the biggest contracts don't generally demand for the ball at all times and are willing to work the system to achieve results in the long run. Ask Pierre Garcon, who from his rookie season, took on the advice from Manning to adhere to the system and blossomed under it. Undersized, and overlooked during his draft year just recently signed a huge contract with the granter of large contracts, Dan Snyder and the Washington Redskins. I imagine Pierre Garcon is very thankful for what he learned from Peyton on timings of routes and defense recognition at the pro level. Currently the Denver Broncos WR set contains Eric Decker, Demaryius Thomas, and Matt Willis. With a combined total of 120 receptions between them, they will be sponges to whatever offense that comes their way after the dearth of passing that happened last year under the Tebow offense. I'd imagine as well that the Broncos take a dedicated effort at looking at a lot of different wide receivers during the draft and look for the ones, not at the forefront of the drafting order but more of the Victor Cruzs'(undrafted) and Pierre Garcons' (6th Round).

While I never have or will compare the two quarterbacks in their ability, I must admit that the general reaction to both quarterbacks is oddly similar in the amplitude of opinion they produce. You could argue that Tebow's sample size is rather small with only one season of play but I dare you to name me a bigger regular season story than the plight of Tebow's improbable run. In Manning's case, for the last 13 of 14 seasons, any general NFL fan may have had a polarizing attitude toward the quarterback but was respected. Nonetheless, he too was the talk of the league not only for his play but the way he helped shape a franchise over the last decade. So while Tebow may have stumbled, juked, ran, prayed but definitely not passed his way to NFL stardom; Manning procured a more efficient way of becoming a bonafide star with a dedication to his position, offensive preparation and team leadership. For I can't wait for the 2012 season to begin and for the messages I'll receive when Manning fails and the silence I'll hear when he succeeds.