Shanahan Throwing the Trash Out

Coach Mike Shanahan finally threw out the last bit of trash from the Broncos roster. Part of it had to do with Travis Henry spending more time in a Broncos T-shirt and less time in his jersey.

I personally didn't like the signing of Travis Henry last year. I thought they gave him too much money especially since the Broncos are known for finding running backs through the draft, but lately the running game suffered in production. My theory is the offensive line had more to do with it than the running back. Nevertheless I thought Henry could be successful in Denver's running game but I found it hard to root for him and even harder to root for him after it was revealed he had fathered 9 children from 9 different money. Look up the word "promiscuous" in the dictionary and you'll find a picture of Travis Henry there.

The trash that Shanahan has been been getting rid of included malcontents like Javon Walker, who couldn't handle being the number 2 receiver and thought his talents weren't being utilized. I saw a receiver who wasn't getting seperation on short post routes. His knee hasn't been right for 3 years now and he may soon have a bone on bone condition in his knee.

It appears some of the blame goes right back to Shanahan and maybe the GM for taking risks on high priced players. The Broncos drafted very poorly for 3 years (2001,2002,2003) which left them with holes in their roster they tried to fill with free agents and trades that didn't work out. The only trade that worked out was for Champ Bailey, but he can't do much if the defense doesn't generate much of a pass rush.

However the last three years have been much better in the draft making Walker and Henry expendable. The team will have to eat their signing bonuses but they are gone making room for younger cheaper talent.

There are still some questions to be answered from the past few drafts. The two biggest are how well that last two first rounders will play. Ryan Clady appears from his limited OTCs to be the real deal but Jarvis Moss is coming off an ankle surgery and hasn't shown much yet. If those two players end up being very productive this year Denver has a great shot at making the playoffs as a wild card team.