December 31, 2008 11:58 PM

Broncos Inbox -- Dec. 31

Welcome and Happy New Year, the Broncos Inbox is open and leading off in a busy week is Joe Valdez in a three-pack on the linebackers . . .

Q: What's your evaluation of D.J. Williams? He's now been around five years, and I know he's moved positions almost every year, but is he really an elite or even an above-average player? When I look at Williams, I see a linebacker with good size and speed, but below average instincts. I also see an average tackler at best, and someone who is often out of position. I wonder if this would be a good off-season to trade Williams in order to make room for the promising Wesley Woodyard?

A: The Broncos are still in the process of evaluating how things went on the field. In the past they had each position coach write an evaluation on each player in their group for the season that included what the plan should be for each for the coming offseason into next year.

They also usually let the offensive coaches look at the defensive video and let the defensive coaches look at the offensive video and then had them evaluate the play of those on the other side of the ball.

However, that plan may likely took a hit when Mike Shanahan was fired and his assistants are now in a sort of limbo as they wait to see if they will be retained.

But eventually they will decide how to align the linebackers and who they expect at each spot. There will certainly be changes, however.

Webster is a free agent so it would be a surprise, as it stands now, if they attempted to re-sign him early in free agency. They may approach him later if he doesn't quickly sign with another team.

He did not have a good year tackling, when you poll personnel guys around the league, and the Broncos will be looking to re-vamp the defense and any coach who is hired to replace Shanahan is going to have to tell owner Pat Bowlen how he would accomplish that.

So expect plenty of new faces.

Boss Bailey is a question mark as he currently recovers from microfracture surgery on his knee. That recovery can take some time and often players need an additional procedure along the way.

As a result he may not be able to participate in the offseason program and his readiness for training camp will be a question mark.

Because of all of that it certainly would not be out of the question to see Williams move from the weak side to either the middle of strong side once again. As far as Williams' play this season it wasn't up to previous years in large part because of his health.

He wouldn't say so and neither would the Broncos, but I think a shoulder injury bothered more than anyone let on as the season drew to a close. He wasn't the same guy after his return from a sprained knee and then injured his shoulder.

And given his size-speed combination the expectation is to see more explosive plays from him. Forced fumbles, in my mind, are always a good indication of defensive players who have striking ability and put themselves around the ball.

Williams did not force a fumble this season - he missed five games with a knee injury - but did not force a fumble in the other 11 games and has seven forced fumbles in his five seasons.

That said I think the two injuries - knee and shoulder - impacted his play down the stretch. For his part Woodyard was certainly productive when he played and showed speed to the ball.

The concern from a coaching/scouting perspective is always going to be his size. Other players have played and flourished at between 220-230 pounds.

But coaches have always worried about the durability of those players over the long haul, especially at impact positions like linebacker. Still, the Broncos will almost certainly be looking at a new defensive staff for next season so it will depend on who they bring in before it can be determined what role Woodyard and other rookies from this season will have in '09.

The new defensive staff, if they are looking for speed - and most would be - will likely have Woodyard in the mix.

Al Amatore in San Diego leads a double dip on other defensive matters . . .

Q: Could you give us a quick rundown of the defensive players that you consider to be "keepers?'' I would assume that they will keep Champ Bailey, Williams and Elvis (Dumervil). Are any other defensive players are good enough to keep? Were the defensive free-agents that were brought in worth the money that they were paid?

A: Certainly the Broncos didn't get their money's worth in free agency if the stretch run, including the season finale, is one of the gauges. Koutouvides was a gameday inactive the final two games of the season, safety Marquand Manuel was only playing in the dime, safety Marlon McCree was an inactive, Boss Bailey was on injured reserve and wide receiver Keary Colbert had long ago been traded.

That's not the kind of performance that works in free agency. And the Broncos have watched plenty of signing bonus money go out the door.

What is expected to be a new defensive staff will start to pick and choose in the coming weeks. Objectively a healthy Bailey is still one of the elite cornerbacks in the league, but his challenge will be to leave what can be a nagging type of injury behind.

Williams still has an upside from what I've seen, but does need to make more plays at the point of attack. And younger players like Woodyard, Dumervil and safety Josh Barrett are potential starters if they put in the time to make it that way.

But there will be plenty of changes in the defensive front - they need help in the pass rush and Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder, both ends taken in the '06 draft, were gameday inactives four and 10 times this season respectively this season.

Ebenezer Ekuban was a solid player at the power end and he is a great player in the locker room, working with young players. He is a free agent, however, so he likely will have to wait to see who is on the new defensive staff before he knows his future.

With nine picks in the draft it is expected many of those will be on the defensive side of the ball and that, in addition to any money they're paying to Shanahan or his assistants who aren't retained to fulfill those contracts, could limit how active the team will be in free agency.

Q: Jemal Duran asked, before Tuesday's firing came down, a question about Bob Slowik's future as defensive coordinator

As did W. Sanders

A: Broncos officials said quietly this week and Shanahan then said publicly a major overhaul of the defensive staff is expected and most of the defensive coaches are not expected to be retained once a new head coach is named. And what happens when a new staff comes in, or even a new position coach, is every player then goes back to square one.

They are going to evaluated by a new staff from the beginning and possibly by coaches, who having spent time looking at opposing offenses, who haven't seen them all that much. So, the pecking order is gone and there could be several players, like Woodyard, who earn starting jobs because the new staff will likely start most everybody at zero.

But Slowik is not expected to be retained and the Broncos told many of the assistant coaches, especially on defense, they were free to look around for a new job. Since all of the assistants are under contract at least through the '09 season, the Broncos would have to pay the guys who are not retained and who do not get other jobs to honor the contracts.

So, by giving those assistants permission to look around, the Broncos are likely hoping the chances improve they could find others jobs, which would give the Broncos a little financial relief in the process. Also there are three years remaining on Shanahan's deal worth about $21 million.

The Broncos would be responsible for that too if Shanahan didn't get another job.

It is enough money overall that, if they end up paying to honor a lot of those contracts, especially Shanahan's for a year or so, it could impact how much they spend in other areas, facing that kind of outlay to deal with the coaches.

There were some questions about free agency as well this week, but until I speak to and can evaluate the staff they bring in, you can't really determine their approach in free agency.

I would think, however, that they will again try to sign a safety or two this time around - they were unhappy with almost every combination during the early and middle parts of the season, but again they won't likely have the cash on hand to be a player with the real big money guys like Haynesworth if the Titans don't resign him.

And finally . . . I close with just a thought for many who offered reminders this week that Shanahan never won a Super Bowl without John Elway.

My response to that is he had a lot of company in that thought.

And as some folks know I have banged on this drum many times....

Super Bowl wins for Chuck Noll without Terry Bradshaw: 0.
Super Bowl wins for Vince Lombardi without Bart Starr: 0.
Super Bowl wins for George Seifert without Steve Young: 0.
Super Bowl wins for Bill Walsh without Joe Montana: 0.
Super Bowl wins for Jimmy Johnson without Troy Aikman: 0.
Super Bowl wins for Tom Landry without Roger Staubach: 0.
Championships for Paul Brown without Otto Graham: 0.

Plenty of spectacular, Hall of Fame coaches, have not climbed the league's highest peak without a remember-when quarterback to help them.

So it makes for a memorable statistic, but not sure it is a true measure of whether or not somebody is past their prime in the coaching game.

Even Bill Parcells, who many people consider one of the best team builders in the game right now, is still looking - with his fourth different team - to re-capture what he had with the Giants 19 years ago. Nineteen years.

The Cowboys have no playoff wins - none - in 12 years. They have changed head coaches four times so change isn't always the answer either.

Pat Bowlen has taken a risk by firing one of just 12 coaches who have won at least two Super Bowls and the winningest coach in franchise history.

Because it could be said Bowlen has never won a Super Bowl without Mike Shanahan.

That's it, Happy New Year and thanks. Please remember I'll try, if events cooperate to get the Inbox up as scheduled next week. Please keep the questions coming.

--Jeff Legwold

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