KUSA – Aqib Talib is gone but he is coming back on October 14.
While the All Pro cornerback and one of the most colorful personalities to ever swipe jewelry while donning a Broncos jersey has been reunited with Wade Phillips in Los Angeles, his high-pitched voice has carried back across the Rockies.
In an interview with MMQB published this week, Talib pointed blame at Broncos’ general manager John Elway and defensive coordinator Joe Woods for Denver’s decline the past two years.
Talib basically said Woods was no Wade when it came to play calling.
“It was new to this coach, so things were less disguised with fewer calls,’’ Talib said. “If 40 calls were available to us in a game in 2016, we had half of that last season.”
Talib speaks the stinging truth here, although there is more to the story. Such as Woods would have been a better coordinator had Talib not got burned on a touchdown go-route by Philadelphia’s Alshon Jefferey; and had he not got himself kicked out of the game early at Oakland for snatching Michael Crabrree’s necklace, a heist that ignited a brawl with the receiver; and had Talib not loafed on Kareem Hunt’s 35-yard touchdown run to cap Kansas City’s opening drive in the season finale.
But as for Talib’s play-calling reference, it shouldn't be dismissed. I often wrote Phillips schemed the defense so it looked like the Broncos had 12 to 14 guys swarming all over the field. It didn’t look that way last season.
In Woods’ defense, Phillips has been an NFL coordinator or head coach since 1981 – when Woods was 11. And Woods to his credit has done self-reflection about his play calling.
“The biggest thing is learning the stunts, learning what pressures you want to run versus different protections,’’ Woods said. “Having (assistant coaches) Bill Kollar and Reggie Herring in the room helped me tremendously. Right now, I have a better grasp on everything, so I feel extremely confident going into my second season calling (plays).”
It was Talib’s salvo at Elway, though, that got more attention.
“Maybe, they should stop firing all the dogs,” Talib says. “That team was full of dogs, and now they’re all gone. So, stop firing all the dogs.”
Presumably, DeMarcus Ware, Malik Jackson, T.J. Ward, Danny Trevathan, Sylvester Williams and Talib himself were the dogs from that Super 2015 Broncos defense who have been dismissed.
In Elway’s defense, he kept Von Miller, Chris Harris Jr., Bradley Roby, Derek Wolfe, Brandon Marshall and Darian Stewart.
Six here and six gone. And so it goes in the third decade of unrestricted free agency.
Looking deeper into the “fired” six: Ward, Williams and Trevathan are declined performers (Trevathan because of injury). Ware couldn’t shake an old back injury that led first to his release and then retirement.
Jackson is still what Talib would call a “dog” with Jacksonville, but how could Elway pay him $14.25 million a year in the same offseason he gave $19.08 million per to Miller?
That leaves Talib. He is 32 and making $11 million. With 26-year-old Roby, the No. 3 cornerback, going from $1.02 million in 2017 to $8.526 million in 2018, Elway again had to make a business decision.
And so Talib was traded to the Rams, who play in Denver in week 6 of the regular season. Wonder if Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders would be tempted to wear a necklace above their shoulder pads. Wonder, too, if Broncos offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave has a flurry of double-move routes in his game plan that week.
During his four-year term with the Broncos, Talib may have been the paradigm of “smh.” Yet, he was mostly loved. For all his controversy, he could play. He joined John Lynch as the only Broncos to have played at least four years with the team and make the Pro Bowl all four years.
With the Broncos just eight days away from their first training camp practice of 2018, a look at one of their primary positions of concern: Cornerback AA. After Aqib.
Overview: With Talib gone, Harris and Roby move up and veteran Tramaine Brock was signed to a one-year deal to become the new No. 3 corner. The Broncos have two young corners in Brendan Langley and Isaac Yiadom who must develop quickly.
Strength: In 2015-16, the Broncos were considered to have the league’s best cornerback trio in Talib, Harris and Roby. Harris and Roby are still around. Harris is a third-team Pro Bowler who was a first-team All Pro two years ago. He is still the best slot corner in the league. With Talib gone, Harris is free to assume complete leadership of the secondary.
Question mark: Can Roby step up and handle 100 percent of the snaps instead of 60? And depth after the top 3 is a huge concern.
Pro Bowl material: Harris is established. Roby will get his first chance to prove he ranks with the elite.
Sleeper: Marcus Rios. He was actually the “sleeper” at this position last year. An undrafted rookie last year, he wound up outplaying Langley and got decent playing time in the final three games.
Sleeper: Marcus Rios. He was actually the “sleeper” at this position last year. An undrafted rookie last year, he wound up outplaying Langley and got decent playing time in the final three games.
