First, it was LT Ryan Clady, who injured his patellar tendon playing basketball in April and could be sidelined until October. Then, it was RBs Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter who hurt themselves within minutes of each other Sunday – Moreno could miss all of training camp, while Buckhalter is expected back soon.On Wednesday, it was 2009 sack leader LB Elvis Dumervil tearing his pectoral muscle that potentially could land him on the Injured Reserve list and cause him to miss the entire season.
The Clady, Moreno and Dumervil injures are particularly harsh blows to a Broncos squad looking to improve upon last year’s 8-8 record.
Let’s look at what the first-team depth chart was supposed to look like as Denver prepares to open its season Sept. 12 at Jacksonville and see how tough it will be for the Broncos to better that .500 record.
LT – Ryan Clady (injured – more than likely, Tyler Polumbus will open the season here.)
LG – Zane Beadles (a rookie)
C – J.D. Walton (a rookie)
RG – Chris Kuper
RT – Ryan Harris (coming off toe surgery)
TE – Daniel Graham
WR – Eddie Royal (coming off a very disappointing sophomore season)
WR – Jabar Gaffney
QB – Kyle Orton (watch out for Brady Quinn or, the savior, Tim Tebow)
RB – Knowshon Moreno (injured – Buckhalter could replace him in the starting lineup)
FB – Spencer Larsen
DE – Justin Bannan (didn’t start last year in Baltimore)
NT – Jamal Williams (started training camp on the PUP list)
DE – Jarvis Green (has started more than seven games in only two of his eight NFL seasons)
OLB – Robert Ayers (zero sacks last year as a rookie)
ILB – Mario Haggan (played OLB last year)
ILB – D.J. Williams (has been missing practice for unspecified reasons)
OLB – Elvis Dumervil (injured, possibly for entire season)
CB – Champ Bailey
FS – Brian Dawkins
SS – Renaldo Hill
CB – Andre Goodman
Wow, looking at that depth chart, that’s absolutely brutal. I didn’t realize it was quite that bad for the Broncos. That’s three of Denver’s top players who are injured, and a host of others who are out for one reason or another - and the Broncos are less than a week into training camp.
At this point, 8-8 seems like a pipe dream.
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