December 19, 2007 12:01 AM

And now what?

In a week marked by the Broncos playoff miss and the frustrations that came with it John Barrows leads a double dip that spoke for a huge crowd of folks almost exclusively wondering about the defense . . .

Q: . . . Here's to hoping there is an abundance of great defensive tackles in next year's draft. Also, I hope Jarvis (Moss) can live up to every one of the wishes the Broncos have at right defensive end. I love Elvis (Dumervil), but the Broncos need to have consistent pressure every game. He's had a number of big games, but the Broncos cannot have that followed up by games where it's tough to tell he's out there . . . I know Javon (Walker) is due a large bonus next spring, but I am not sure why folks are making such a big deal about it. Look at his play last year, less than a year removed from an injury that most say take over one year to fully recover from. I think we forget too easy he single-handedly won the Broncos a couple of games last year, such as against Pittsburgh . . . Javon is easily a top-10 wide receiver (last year top five). The Broncos cannot afford to cut ties with him until they see him for another year after an extended offseason to get healthy. And I hope folks back off on using D.J. Williams at middle linebacker. You got to have your best guys involved in all the action you can, and he certainly is one of the Broncos best.

A: After looking at the games two and three times thus far the Broncos defensive struggles, at least in my mind, are rooted in the fact that at the moment they are caught between two schemes because of personnel issues.

Because they did not believe, after the first month of the season or so, they had the players up front to play Bates' scheme – most of the time in the past his defensive tackles locked on and anchored, filling gaps and allowed the defensive ends and linebackers to close and make plays.

So when they surrendered so much rushing yardage in the early going – the Broncos spent several weeks as the lowest-rated run defense in the league -- they adjusted. They moved a safety down toward the line of scrimmage more, played far more eight-man fronts and also played a little lighter up front in the defensive line by releasing some players and signing others.

So, after digging out some video of Bates' and defensive coordinator Bob Slowik's defenses in years past, it looks to me like the Broncos are now playing a combination of the two looks. There is clearly some elements of Bates' schemes, but there are also plenty of things from Slowik's defenses in the look as well.

It makes it all difficult to play, but the Broncos likely had little choice with the problems they were having and the season already underway. It's not like a pile of top-shelf defenders are available on the street once the season starts.

However, that's why so much has been said about assignment errors and players missing gaps 14 games into the season. They are playing a scheme now that looks to be a melding of two others and it was not something the players expected.

So their first move in the offseason in terms of defense is to simply decide what they are going to play, how they are going to play it and then go about stocking the depth chart as much as they can to do it.

It usually takes more than one offseason to really stock a team after a scheme switch so it was probably a little unreasonable for anybody to think the Broncos could so drastically move away from the system they were playing under Larry Coyer to Bates' in just one offseason.

But to effectively stock the team the Broncos simply have to be certain about what they want to do so they can concentrate their efforts on getting enough starters, and almost as important, enough backups in place to cover the inevitable injuries.

As far as Bates' future, Mike Shanahan is not one to fire coaches so quickly. And with multi-year contracts there are always financial considerations of paying a coach that was let go as well as paying his replacement.

Most team owners I know balk at that if it goes on too many times.

And objectively Bates is a proven coach, he's been successful before. This year has been a struggle, maybe the biggest of his career, but it's not all on the coaches.

Plenty of players have said some guys are messing up their assignments, missing tackles and leaving gaps unfilled. Once the game starts players play and tackling has nothing to do with the scheme.

A good tackling team puts the ballcarrier down at first contract and consistently rallies to the ball and the Broncos just have not done that enough overall this season.

Coaches can make some subtle adjustments, but players play the scheme. And while the message of the week doesn't always look like it's gotten through, that doesn't change the fact sometimes the players made mistakes in things that were covered several times during the week.

The general feeling is that they'll be searching for some help at defensive tackle and at linebacker in the offseason. They signed Jamie Winborn to a two-year extension because of his work on special teams and he will likely play in Ian Gold's weak-side linebacker spot over the final two games.

Gold suffered a right knee injury Thursday in Houston and is not expected to play for the remainder of the years. His future is certainly murky at this point, especially given his salary cap number is one of the biggest on the team.

The best defensive tackle in the draft is LSU's Glen Dorsey, but the Broncos, even with the playoff miss won't be sitting high enough in the first round to get him without a major trade.

That could change a little with what is expected to be a big-time group of juniors to enter the draft and take over the first round. Still, no matter who enters, Dorsey won't come down very far.

An intriguing prospect is Virginia's Chris Long, Hall of Famer Howie's son. Long has played end for the Cavaliers, but most feel he could play both tackle and end in some defensive schemes.

However, at 274 pounds the Broncos couldn't play him at tackle if they are going to return to the 330-pounders in the middle at the start of the '08 season. Still he's a quality prospect, plays great with his hands and like Dumervil, consistently gets his pads under the offensive linemen's to drive off the ball.

As far as Walker, I'll just pass along what I've put down before, but he will certainly get a look from the team as far as re-negotiation because he is currently scheduled to have the second-highest cap figure for '08 behind only Champ Bailey.

The team has an option bonus to make a decision about before the start of the '08 season that bumps up his cap number significantly. They also have to pay him a significant sum of money if they don't exercise the option.

The bonus adds 2011 to Walker's deal and is currently scheduled for two payments if exercised, one before the '08 season, one late in the '08 season. Currently his salary cap figure for '08 is scheduled to be just over $7 million -- $7.05 million.

Walker compared his situation last week to Chiefs running back Larry Johnson, wondering if the Chiefs would ask Johnson to re-negotiate next season simply because he had been hurt.

So it's tough to tell what his reaction would be if the team formally approaches him about re-doing his deal. If the Broncos engage that option bonus Walker's cap figures jump to $7 million for '08, over $8 million in both '09 and '10 and over $9 million in '11.

If they don't believe his knee is responding quickly enough or just need some cap wiggle room or simply believe Brandon Marshall projects to their No. 1 receiver, they will likely ask Walker to re-do.

Whether he would agree is another matter. Most guys agree when they get the same amount of money, just in different payment forms – others kinds of bonuses, deferred bonuses, etc… -- but balk when it means taking a pay cut.

Also, to release him would likely be to take a salary cap hit on the order of $8.5 million to $10 million so that's not something the team would be all that excited to do.

The Broncos aren’t to that point yet where they have made those decisions, but it's all in the mix to be sure.

Frank Martinez did not like what he saw Thursday . . .

Q: It really is too bad, the Broncos' season is from here on is un-exciting, (Thursday) night's game showed that, what more can Bronco fans expect from a team that hasn't the desire to at least fake a let's-go-get-them attitude. I have watched the Broncos since their first game at Bears' Stadium. Even in their AFL days they showed a will to win...the 2007 team: Boring.

A: There is a lot to learn about a team once they have been eliminated from playoff contention.

People will see which Broncos are still playing at a quality level through the final two games even though they don't mean anything in the postseason picture.

But there are no sympathy downs in the league and anyone who saw the Chargers play Sunday knows that team is trying to re-capture its 2006 momentum and simply barreled through a Detroit team that wasn't ready for that kind of stage this past weekend.

The Broncos could suffer some significant embarrassment if they don't play with some passion, certainly against the Chargers, as well as against the Vikings uber-rookie Adrian Peterson.

Some of the team's veterans, players like John Lynch and Champ Bailey, have questioned the total effort at times this season. But I think it's more a question about maturity rather than a lack of desire.

The Broncos may have some players who don't understand what it means to be a professional player, in terms of offseason commitment and in-season study habits.

So, these two weeks will say a lot about where the team could go from here. It's easy for guys to stand up and be counted when things are going well – victory makes for a crowded podium.

But when things are a struggle is when those are interested in fixing the problems now and down the road will be revealed.

Mitch Boehm in Dallas took a look up front . . .

Q: Which five players do you think give the Broncos the strongest offensive line for 2008 -- assuming Tom Nalen, Ben Hamilton and Matt Lepsis are 100 percent healed -- and where should they line up? For example, should they move Lepsis back to the right and insert (Ryan) Harris in the left tackle spot? Should they start Hamilton and bench (Chris) Kuper and, if so, do you move Kuper into Montrae Holland's starting spot?

A: The Broncos will really get into those sorts of decisions when they start those end-of-season meetings.

But by most accounts they've been fairly happy with how Chris Myers has filled in at center and Kuper at guard. There were some rough spots initially and they are still having to play plenty of two tight end looks to bolster their pass protection overall, but the Broncos like those players as prospects.

They would only move Lepsis if Harris presented himself as ready to step in at one of the most difficult spots to play on the field -- left tackle. That is Cutler's blind side so no small decision there.

They also believe Harris could be a right tackle and may even be able to play guard as well. So there is a scenario if they believe Lepsis' knee continues to improve with another offseason of work, that Harris could compete on the right side with Erik Pears and Lepsis stays put on the left.

Lepsis started his career on the right side and knows the issues that come what position. A right tackle faces more power rushers, for the most part, than the speed rushers that line up across from left tackles.

Lepsis' game at this point in his career is more reliant on footwork and quickness than power. It would be an adjustment for him to go back to the right, but he would also consistently get more help from the tight end on that side as well.

They expect Nalen to be back for at least one more go in '08. He should recover from the biceps surgery and they expect him to be ready for training camp.

Hamilton, who has a high salary cap figure for next season and has missed all of '07, is still an unknown. Post concussion symptoms are nothing to mess with in terms of a person's long-term outlook beyond football.

They'll have to wait and see how he's doing when the offseason minicamps approach in May, June and July. Judging from their thoughts right now, and plenty could change as they approach free agency, but Lepsis at left tackle, Myers and Kuper competing with Hamilton to fill the left guard spot – Myers may have the upper hand at the moment – Nalen at center, Holland at right guard and Harris gives it a run for right tackle with Pears.

They like Harris as a long-term prospect and at least initially he would likely be Lepsis' replacement at some point at left tackle, but may get his first look on the right side to get him on the field.

Matt Carter in Seattle wondered . . .

Early in the season, a number of articles commented that the Broncos had one of the highest average age for starting players. As this season of change and attrition winds down, how much has that situation changed?

A: Broncos defensive tackle Alvin McKinley has been called for holding on three running plays this season, twice in the same game. Not sure I've seen that called on the same player twice in the same game in my career thus far before this season.

It may have been a "point of emphasis'' the officials are given each season, but that wasn't something that was talked about a lot before the year began. It's really to keep defensive linemen from dragging and pulling offensive linemen to the ground by using the jersey or any part of the shoulder pads.

As far as their roster's average age now, injuries have certainly forced them to be younger. Third-year veteran in Chris Myers is now playing at center in place of a 14-year veteran in Nalen while Kuper, a second-year player is playing for a seven-year veteran in Hamilton.

Stephen Alexander, a 10-year veteran, is also on injured reserve with second-year tight end Tony Scheffler and fourth-year veteran Chad Mustard now playing behind Daniel Graham. Same on defense as well with three rookies now in the defensive line rotation and Sam Adams having been released.

Hamza Abdullah, in his third year is also now starting in place of Nick Ferguson, an eighth-year player, at safety. So they started the year as one the oldest teams in the league – I believe they were 31st when it comes to opening day rosters – but are probably now closer to the middle of the pack.

The intriguing thing will be where they go from here. There front-line playmakers – Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Elvis Dumervil, Scheffler – are all in their second seasons.

Shanahan has always had one of the older teams in the league, but his roster core is suddenly very young. It will be interesting if they stick to that theme and load up on the draft picks in the next couple years to surround them or go trolling in the free agency waters once again.

And finally Carol Pershing has a question about who decides what she sees when the Broncos aren't on . . .

Q: Who decides what NFL games to show locally on TV? I live in Colorado Springs and was wondering if fans can have any say/influence on upcoming local broadcast games? . . . .Do fans have any influence on upcoming local broadcast games?A: Fans' influence comes in the form of ratings, in how folks watch given teams when the Broncos aren't in the mix.

Generally if the local team is not in a time slot, the network will assign games to the local affiliates – meaning CBS or Fox, at a national level will tell their respective Denver affiliates which games they are getting in the non-Broncos slots.

The local affiliate can either simply accept the assignment or request another game they believe would be of more interest to the local viewers. Sunday, there was probably the thinking the Chargers, being the Broncos next opponent as well as an AFC West team would be of more interest than Dallas-Philadelphia or another game.

It's a system that never satisfies everyone, but that's how it works in general terms.

That's it and thanks.

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