It’s been an eventful off-season, but you know that when they lace ‘em up, the Denver Broncos will be on top of their game, and BroncosLocker.com is right there with them. This is your daily dose of Bronco-mania, from the field to the locker room to the “man on the street.” Get it all right here!
Carlton Powell was just drafted for depth on the D-Line as he wasn’t even that great at Virginia Tech. He is 6′1″, 301 pounds but he often gets pushed around by stronger players. Unless he gets serious about playing in the NFL he won’t last too long for the Broncos. Powell played in 53 games (32 starts) at Virginia Tech and he made 107 tackles, had 21.5 tackles for a loss, had 6.5 sacks, forced a fumble and recovered 2 fumbles.
Ryan Torain is a pure power runner and he likes to run north and south. He often looks like he’s running downhill as he always seems to get the extra yard by pushing the pile. Torain played in 19 games (14 starts) at Arizona State and he carried the ball 333 times for 1,782 yards (5.4 ypc) with 12 TD runs. He also caught 25 passes for 305 yards (12.2 avg) with 5 TD grabs. The big problem with Torain is that he had the dreaded Lisfranc surgery last October and he might have to start the season on the PUP list.
Jack Williams has speed to burn (4.34 40) but he’s very small at 5′8″, 181 pounds. Williams only flaw is his size as he does support the run with vigor. Still, it’s hard to see a player as small as Williams dealing well with the big receivers in the NFL as he has had trouble with man to man coverage in college. Williams played in 44 games (39 starts) at Kent State and he finished with 245 tackles, broke up 32 passes, had 13 interceptions, forced 7 fumbles and he has recovered 3 fumbles. Williams will likely play on special teams and in the nickel and dime packages for the Broncos.
Kory Lichtensteiger is the classic Broncos’ lineman as he’s not the biggest guy around but he’s quick. He started in all 48 games he played in at Bowling Green in 4 seasons there. Lichtensteiger is 6′2″, 296 pounds and he plays hard so he will likely be a starter in the future for the Broncos at either center or guard.
The Broncos have cut loose RB Travis Henry as Mike Shanahan said that he was not committed to the team. That is quite a blast that could signal the end of Henry’s career as it might be hard for a team to take a chance on him now. Henry played in 12 games (7 starts) for the Broncos last season and he carried the ball 167 times for 691 yards (4.1 ypc) with 4 TD runs. He also caught 7 passes for 65 yards (9.3 avg). Henry won’t likely be missed much as 2nd year man Selvin Young and Michael Pittman will pick up the load in the running game.
