Tim Crowder News

Welcome to SportsNation! On Thursday, ESPN.com AFC West blogger Bill Williamson will stop by to talk about the NFL offseason.

When rookies report to training camp in late July, Robert Ayers plans to be there.

DENVER, Colorado - Broncos coach Josh McDaniels may have settled on a starting quarterback during his three-day mandatory minicamp, but the team will head into training camp next month with open competition at a number of positions.

It's all over, and just beginning. The Denver Broncos on Sunday completed their final on-field work before the start of training camp the final week of July.

Give Chris Simms credit for maintaining his sense of humor in the midst of a very real quarterback competition.

New Broncos safety Brian Dawkins experienced Fan Fair days such as Saturday's at Invesco Field at Mile High when he played for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Posted by Scouts Inc.'s Matt Williamson Despite allowing 28 points per game last season, the Denver Broncos used only four of their 10 draft picks on the defensive side of the ball.

In remembering the defenses that the Broncos have put out the last couple of years, I know it's hard to get really excited about the "new changes" to the Defense... Who Will Start for the Broncos in 2009? by Ryan Ayars In remembering the defenses that the Broncos have put out the last couple of years, I know it's hard to get really excited about ...

As the Broncos prepare for their first draft of the Josh McDaniels era, the new coach has emerged as the face of the franchise - the one man holding all the news conferences, including a 30-minute session Friday morning.

After spending the past three months dismantling and then slowly rebuilding the Broncos ' roster, Josh McDaniels and his staff finally have most of the pieces of what ultimately will be the 2009 team.

The class of the Class of 2009 in the Broncos' draft first-round selections Knowshon Moreno, left, a running back from Georgia, and Robert Ayers, a defensive end/linebacker from Tennessee show off their status at Dove Valley on Sunday.

Consider this, unquestionably, a critique. Consider it, too, a series of predictions .

When Mike Shanahan was fired as Broncos coach, he declared his successor "would have to be crazy" not to keep the offensive staff intact, given the unit's productivity last season.

With the NFL draft just days away, there are thousands of "mock drafts" out there for public consumption.

Watch Brian Orakpo walk through a room, and it's hard not to be impressed. At 6-foot-3 and 263 pounds, Orakpo, who played defensive end at Texas, already looks the part of a prototypical NFL outside linebacker.

ENGLEWOOD Twice during Sunday's workout, Kyle Orton threw a nice pass downfield.

Darrell Reid is a self-professed "Jersey Guy." At the end of our discussion after the Broncos' mini-camp workout Sunday, as the buses were running and about to pull away from the South Suburban Sports Dome, I challenged the recently signed linebacker to define what the term really means.

For good or bad, Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels got a firsthand look over the weekend at what he has to work with as he tries to reconstruct a team that has suffered through a winter of turmoil and several seasons of mediocrity.

With the extra minicamp allowed for new coaching staffs, McDaniels held his a week before the draft. Some of what he saw will shape the Broncos' approach next weekend when he and rookie general manager Brian Xanders dip into the college pool of talent after adding 16 free agents.

The Broncos' new head coach and general manager started the week by ridding the team of much of its past.

Their Dove Valley headquarters essentially compressed and moved to a downtown hotel here, the Broncos have begun their quest for the defensive equivalent of Ryan Clady.