Orton gets a vote of confidence

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by Mike Florio

So with Kyle Orton throwing three interceptions and Chris Simms racking up two touchdowns passes, Simms could be on track to topple Orton at the top of the depth chart, right?

Um, no.

Per Bob Glauber of Newsday, coach Josh McDaniels said after Friday night's 17-16 loss to the 49ers that there's no quarterback controversy in Denver.

"I feel very confident where we're at," McDaniels said. "There's no reason to start tailspinning into this and that when we've only had one preseason game."

And McDaniels has some fairly recent experience regarding the disconnect between preseason performance and regular-season play. Last year, McDaniels was the offensive coordinator for a team whose primary backup looked awful in August. The backup in question became a fairly good player once the starter blew out a knee in Week One.

How good? So good that McDaniels was willing to risk his relationship with a franchise quarterback in order to trade for the guy.

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Holmes had a brilliant playoff run, but that makes him a star?

He's got to be more consistent. Right now, he's nothing more than an inconsistent underachiever in my book.
He shouldn't be running as many bad routes and bad reads at this point in his career. Nor should drops due to apparent lack of concentration still be an issue.

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01/25/2010 - Senior Bowl, Monday: Boise State's Kyle Wilson stole the show among corners. His 5-10, 190-pound build was stronger than most scouts anticipated, and no corner mirrored his man or made plays on the ball better. Corners knew what routes receivers were running early on, so Wilson easily stepped in front of a deep comebacks run by Gilyard for an interception. Even when the routes were changed up, Wilson stayed with the speedy Ford or any other receiver on go routes and comebacks. He also showed the strength to knock a short pass out of the hands of Pittsburgh fullback Dustin Dickerson (who played receiver, without much suddenness or sure-handedness, after weighing in at only 6-1, 222 pounds) after it appeared he made the catch. - Chad Reuter, The Sports Xchange, NFLDraftScout.com

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01/25/2010 - Senior Bowl, Monday: Pike's teammate, Mardy Gilyard, and Clemson's Jacoby Ford took advantage of the lack of accuracy by their quarterbacks to show scouts their ability to snatch the ball away from their bodies. Ford in particular showed outstanding hands most of the day, only dropping a couple of balls in drills when allowing it too far into his chest. When matched up against a corner, however, he created separation with good foot quickness in his routes and caught wildly inaccurate throws from all three quarterbacks. He stands just 5-feet-9 and 180 pounds, but he's a prototypical slot receiver with a lot of potential as a return man. - Chad Reuter, The Sports Xchange, NFLDraftScout.com

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01/25/2010 - Senior Bowl, Monday: Former Alabama-Birmingham quarterback Joe Webb was moved to wide receiver for this week's practices, and his inexperience showed. He had an opportunity for a big play early in practice, beating Cox with a double move to get deep, but after initially catching the ball he allowed the former Cowboy cornerback to rip it from his hands to break up the pass. Webb's 6-3, 223-pound frame will intrigue scouts, but he lacks explosiveness and struggled with drops. In the opinion of some, Webb isn't the only former collegiate quarterback who should be playing another position this week. "Every team is going to have to do their own evaluating of (Tebow)," said Randy Mueller, the former general manager of the Saints and now a front office executive with the Chargers. "Regardless of what teams feel about his ability as a quarterback, there is no denying his leadership ability. He's the type of player every team needs." - Rob Rang, The Sports Xchange, NFLDraftScout.com
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01/25/2010 - Senior Bowl, Monday: Jared Odrick, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year from Penn State, had a similar day. He penetrated with good quickness off the snap as a pass rusher (especially since the quarterbacks didn't change up the snap count much), but was blown off the ball by Arizona State's strong guard Shawn Lauvao on a running play. That dichotomous play was commonplace the past few seasons in Happy Valley. - Chad Reuter, The Sports Xchange, NFLDraftScout.com
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