Ryan Lilja to Broncos?

[oldunclemark]

What Ryan Lilja Brings to the Table for the Denver Broncos

By

Christopher Hansen

(AFC West Lead Writer) on August 1, 2013

465 reads

 

Ryan Lilja will be blocking for Peyton Manning once again.
Bob Levey/Getty Images

 

 

 

The Denver Broncos' starting center was J.D. Walton, but he is out until at least October—if not the entire season—after having surgery on his ankle. Backup center Dan Koppen tore his ACL, so he’s also out for the season.

With their top two options at center out, the AFC favorites were without a solid starter at a key position on the offensive line. While they could survive with Manny Ramirez as the starting center, the Broncos made it pretty clear last year they didn’t trust him, as Chris Kuper was rushed back from injury when Ramirez was filling in at right guard.

It was smart of the Broncos to bring in a veteran player like Ryan Lilja, who is a massive upgrade over Ramirez. In fact, Lilja may be an upgrade over Koppen and Walton—he brings that much to the table for the Broncos.

Lilja has prior experience playing with Peyton Manning, which shouldn’t be understated. Manning has a lot of input on the players that play and he has a vested interest in making sure he’s properly protected. If Manning doesn’t trust you, there’s a good chance you aren’t going to see a lot of playing time on offense.

Manning and Lilja also have a good relationship; there was even a small controversy in Kansas City last year when Lilja socialized with Manning after a game. Lilja retired after a tough season in Kansas City last year even though he is just 31, but it’s probably safe to say Manning enticed him directly or indirectly to sign with the Broncos.

 

Intelligence and Experience

Manning is a master of pre-snap reads, but that doesn’t mean the center isn’t responsible for assisting him. More than any other position on the offensive line, the center position requires intelligence and experience.

 

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

 

That doesn’t mean Ramirez isn’t intelligent, but football intelligence often comes with experience. Koppen has 136 games under his belt and Walton has 36—that’s quite a bit of on-the-job training that Ramirez hasn’t had.   

Ramirez has played in 35 games, but none of those have come at center. Lilja has started 111 games in the NFL and moved to center for 12 games last year, so he has a lot of total experience and some experience at center.

If Ramirez was a young player and still developing, it would make some sense to get him playing time—especially if the team was not a contender. However, that’s not the case here. Ramirez is a veteran and the Broncos believe they have a legitimate shot at the Lombardi Trophy while Manning is still performing at an elite level.

It makes sense for a lot of reasons to bring in a stable veteran like Lilja with Walton and Koppen out, but intelligence and experience are near the top. Lilja should be able learn the offense quickly and it probably won’t take long for Manning to fully trust him.

 

Pass-Blocking

If Lilja had a weakness in his game last year, it was in pass protection.  In fact, pass protection has been Lilja’s weakness since leaving the Colts three years ago.

 

 

 

 

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Lilja isn’t a bad pass-blocker, and he only allowed one sack at center last year, but he does struggle at times. Over the past three years, Lilja had the most difficulty against the Raiders and Tommy Kelly, Richard Seymour and Desmond Bryant.

With Kelly in New England, Bryant in Cleveland and Seymour a free agent, the Broncos shouldn’t have to worry about Lilja much until Week 12 when they travel to New England. Lilja should be better simply because he will not have to face the players responsible for five of his 11 negatively graded games in pass protection over the past three seasons, according to ProFootballFocus (subscription required).

Manning is also an extremely friendly quarterback for offensive linemen because he gets the ball out of his hand so quickly. It shouldn’t be surprising that Lilja was a better pass-blocker when Manning was under center than when Matt Cassel was his quarterback.

With Manning under center, bad pass-blockers look average, average pass-blockers look good, good pass-blockers look great and great pass-blockers look elite. Lilja is at worst just below average, so the Broncos don’t need to worry about him making big mistakes and allowing Manning to take big hits.

 

Run-Blocking

Lilja’s strength is run-blocking, but that doesn’t mean he’s a mauler. Lilja is a good fit for the zone-blocking scheme that relies on offensive linemen working as a unit and who are mobile enough to get to the second level. Lilja can move better than many of his colleagues because he weighs just 290 pounds.

 

 

 

The Colts and Chiefs used the zone-blocking scheme and its variations with Lilja as a starter and he did well. The Broncos started a transition back to the zone-blocking scheme when John Fox was hired, but they really went all-in on the transition when they re-hired Alex Gibbs as an offensive line consultant earlier this year.

Gibbs was the original pioneer of the zone-blocking scheme in the NFL and was responsible for its spread. The Broncos hired Greg Knapp as their quarterbacks coach this offseason, who is also a big believer in the zone-blocking scheme.

With Lilja sandwiched between Louis Vasquez and Zane Beadles, there shouldn’t be many interior players the Broncos can’t move off the line of scrimmage. One of the three should also be able to get to the second level to spring whoever wins the running back competition for big gains.

 

According to ProFootballFocus, Lilja’s only bad game blocking for the run last year came in Week 17 against the Broncos, and even though running back Jamaal Charles is an outside runner, he averaged 4.9 yards per carry running left and right of center (the A-gap) last year.

Lilja is an average to above-average starter in the NFL who will look even better playing between two good players and snapping the ball to a great one. For all the issues the Broncos have had this offseason, the offense shouldn’t miss a beat with Lilja at center.

 

 

[bayone]

“Only took a day of mulling over and talking with my wife and figuring out if this was something for us – 24 hours later, I was on a flight, so, here I am,” Lilja said. “This was just too good an opportunity for me to pass up, to come out here and play with these guys.”  

 

“You know, that was a big part of me coming back,” Lilja said of his history with Manning. “(Denver) is a special team. It’s a special offense. I picture being in the huddle and that’s a cool place to be. You feel pretty good in there, you feel pretty confident. And I haven’t felt that way in a few years.   It was enticing for me.”

 

 Lilja admitted after the walk through last night 

 

“It's kind of a mishmash of some of that stuff and some new stuff and some stuff I've been using in other places, and some of the terms mean completely opposite things,” Lilja said. “It's going to take some time, but I'm sure I'll pick it up.”

 

 http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Broncos-an-Opportunity-Lilja-%E2%80%98Couldn%E2%80%99t-Pass-Up%E2%80%99/bfb9b242-51a6-455c-8e4a-30ed6b103bfa

 

 

. Lilja will go through his first full workout with the team Friday morning, and it's clear the Broncos have designs on getting the veteran up to speed as quickly as possible. 

 

 it's a calculated risk for the Broncos to bring in another player who has not been in an offseason conditioning program, but they felt compelled to make the move since they already have one center on the physically unable to perform list (J.D. Walton) to go with one on injured reserve in Koppen. 

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest

 

Personally I feel he should have a day or 2 of some conditioning and strength exercises to decrease the chance of another

Knoppen like injury 

 

 he was in a meeting with contractors about remodling his home when he got the call, (( its in first article ) I'd rather go threw hell of training than hell of remodeling too

[bayone]

VIDEO ,

 

In uniform talking about coming to denver

 

he says he was thinking of signing with a team closer to home , not that he wasa going to but was thinking about it and got this call

 

says really exciting to play with and make OL calls for Peyton , great mental challenge to be able to dictate whats going on  & communicate it down the line that has excited him

 

http://www.denverbroncos.com/multimedia/videos/Lilja-on-Coming-to-Denver/65543f73-4e63-4c90-8795-8abe5a60cfac

[bayone]

• 
   error

[bayone]

 

Kim Constantinesco @PredomOrange 32 minutes back

Newly signed center Ryan Lilja is already at work snapping the ball to backup QB Brock Osweiler.

 

https://twitter.com/intent/user?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.milehighreport.com%2F2013-denver-broncos-training-camp%2F2013%2F8%2F2%2F4582168%2Fwelcome-to-denver-broncos-2013-training-camp-day-eight&screen_name=PredomOrange&tw_i=363335439140139008&tw_p=embeddedtimeline&tw_w=344499961263693824

 

Stay healthy my friend and when u driink , drink Gatorade ,

 

Peyton Manning the most amazing QB in the world

[bayone]

• New Broncos center/guard Ryan Lilja worked on snapping the ball to Osweiler before practice began,

 

then spent some time snapping to Manning after the individual drill was finished.

 

http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Training-Camp-2013-Day-Nine-Quick-Hits/20c2d028-adbc-455d-9abc-1135012c9a69

[southwest1]

 

 

 

 

I might be alone here but I almost would rather this game be in Denver. Less hoopla if it was out their since there long time fans really don't care as much. If we met them in the playoffs last year it would have been in Denver too. Of course the media will go wild regardless of the location. Sigh.

 

Now we have to eventually just get this over with and play the darn thing despite the hoopla. Eventually we will have to play Denver with Manning (and now Lilja lol) and we will. Get it done with.

 

I won't be going though, I already turned down a shot to go. I went to that other overly hyped game in 2007 when the perfect Colts played the perfect Pats and I really did not enjoy it. Not because we lost only but because it was so built up. Funny story before that game, I saw Phil Simms before the game when I was meeting someone in a hotel and I yelled to him, "Go Colts!" and he said back to me while nodding, "Absolutely."

 

I have no idea what will happen. The odds say Denver will win obviously but at the same time I think Luck/Wayne etc. might show up at home too in this game and make a statement of their own. I was not high on Denver most of last season and never expected them to go the distance and thought they were a bit of a paper tiger. This year I am keeping a much more open mind on them and think they might "settle down" too and beat some more quality teams when it matters. We'll see. It starts week 1 for them.

 

 

And we also have to play Freeney. And Arians. And Luck has to play vs. Jim Harbaugh.

 

This season is loaded with story lines.  The schedule is ranked what third easiest in the league? You kidding me? It looks kinda tough to me, especially the first half of the year. The second half eases up. If we make the playoffs again and I do think we will find a way....people better shut up about how lucky we are all the time and how soft our schedule is. Playing Peyton, Freeney, the NFC West and Cincy and Houston twice is NOT easy.  And for all we known the Chiefs and Dolphins will be good or something.

 

Nice post Jules. Then again, I love all your insights anyway usually because you have a knack for saying what SW1 is thinking or you acknowledge the pink elephant in the room that everyone else sees, but pretends isn't there. You at least see it & give me your impressions of the elephant front, back, sideways, upside down, & right side up. I admire that actually. 

 

Yup, let's get the #18 LOS reunion tour over with ASAP. After Brett Favre played in Lambeau Field as the Vikings QB, the fans, the league, & #4 all could now breathe a sigh of relief & the same should hold true for Peyton, Andrew, INDY fans, & Jim Irsay. Everyone needs to get this game out of their system & cool their media, circus tent engines a bit. It will be nice to see the dust settle on this one for good & lock it away for posterity like a time capsule or bank vault door slamming shut. Interesting Phil Simms anecdote there too. He seems like a down to earth guy & I really enjoy listening to him & Jim Nance do NFL games on CBS. 

 

Yeah, you're right Jules who ever said our schedule was easy this year is crazy. Begals have a good defense. SeaHawks have a tight secondary. Rams will be a force to be reckoned with. The Chiefs intrigue me though. Will Andy Reid run the ball? That's not his MO. Will QB Alex Smith actually allow KC a serious bid for the Playoffs? Good stuff Jules! Good stuff as always. 

[southwest1]

 

Kim Constantinesco @PredomOrange 32 minutes back

Newly signed center Ryan Lilja is already at work snapping the ball to backup QB Brock Osweiler.

 

https://twitter.com/intent/user?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.milehighreport.com%2F2013-denver-broncos-training-camp%2F2013%2F8%2F2%2F4582168%2Fwelcome-to-denver-broncos-2013-training-camp-day-eight&screen_name=PredomOrange&tw_i=363335439140139008&tw_p=embeddedtimeline&tw_w=344499961263693824

 

Stay healthy my friend and when u driink , drink Gatorade ,

 

Peyton Manning the most amazing QB in the world

 

Thanks Barry for this twitter link story on Terrell Davis giving Montee Ball pointers on blocking. SW1 loves this buddy! 

 

http://predominantlyorange.com/2013/08/02/broncos-camp-terrell-davis-speaks-to-montee-ball-after-practice/

 

"Most RBs can run. Most RBs can catch, but blocking is the key. If you can block, you will be in the game. You will be that guy who becomes that complete back" Great advice TD! 

[bayone]

 

 

Yeah, you're right Jules who ever said our schedule was easy this year is crazy. Bengals have a good defense. SeaHawks have a tight secondary. Rams will be a force to be reckoned with. The Chiefs intrigue me though. Will Andy Reid run the ball? That's not his MO. Will QB Alex Smith actually allow KC a serious bid for the Playoffs? Good stuff Jules! Good stuff as always. 

 

1 reason is they truly do a tough physical practice that can cause concussions and prepares for real thing

 

http://forums.colts.com/index.php?/topic/19321-head-games-bengals-use-drill-from-years-past-that-is-great-for-game-preparation-but-can-cause-concussions-the-oklahoma-drill/

[bayone]

Thanks Barry for this twitter link story on Terrell Davis giving Montee Ball pointers on blocking. SW1 loves this buddy! 

 

http://predominantlyorange.com/2013/08/02/broncos-camp-terrell-davis-speaks-to-montee-ball-after-practice/

 

"Most RBs can run. Most RBs can catch, but blocking is the key. If you can block, you will be in the game. You will be that guy who becomes that complete back" Great advice TD! 

 

 

Funny when I gave the link it was same guy earlier in his tweets and had that Lija one on him snapping to Brock , the TD  & ball one is a new tweet , u would have to load earlier ones to see mine, i didnt realize it would keep changing when gave as a reference for the tweet I posted

 

The broncos back at practice say blocking is 60 % of being a back, the 40 % is running & the leave out catching in their calculations but thats a big one too for an all around back with Peyton

 

maybe meant too incliude it in the 40 % with running

[bayone]

PS that line Davis says about If you can block, you will in the game. You will be that guy who becomes that complete back.”

 

is precisely what the Denver post or team web keeps saying about being a RB

 

 

Thanks Barry for this twitter link story on Terrell Davis giving Montee Ball pointers on blocking. SW1 loves this buddy! 

 

http://predominantlyorange.com/2013/08/02/broncos-camp-terrell-davis-speaks-to-montee-ball-after-practice/

 

"Most RBs can run. Most RBs can catch, but blocking is the key. If you can block, you will be in the game. You will be that guy who becomes that complete back" Great advice TD! 

[southwest1]

Funny when I gave the link it was same guy earlier in his tweets and had that Lija one on him snapping to Brock , the TD  & ball one is a new tweet , u would have to load earlier ones to see mine, i didnt realize it would keep changing when gave as a reference for the tweet I posted

 

The broncos back at practice say blocking is 60 % of being a back, the 40 % is running & the leave out catching in their calculations but thats a big one too for an all around back with Peyton

 

maybe meant too incliude it in the 40 % with running

No worries Barry. I haven't exactly mastered twitter either pal, but you deserve full credit for that Terrell Davis blocking story not me. I just wanted to give you full credit for finding that gem. It was a great story & Montee Ball couldn't have picked a better mentor to emulate in the NFL than TD IMO.  Nice work Barry! You rock man!  ;)

[southwest1]

PS that line Davis says about If you can block, you will in the game. You will be that guy who becomes that complete back.”

 

is precisely what the Denver post or team web keeps saying about being a RB

Words to live by in the ground game Barry. It's all about giving Peyton time to throw when he needs to. An extra few seconds can make or break a scoring drive late in the year.

[bayone]

Words to live by in the ground game Barry. It's all about giving Peyton time to throw when he needs to. An extra few seconds can make or break a scoring drive late in the year.

 

here is a short video at articlr top , its show Montee going so excited talking about seeing his idol, who to tell first,  about blocking for the money man back there, TD talks about Monr tee and blocking, some shots of Montee catching

 

but from all I have read Hillman is far ahead of him but 2 days ago Montee started to look better than before esp 2 days b backl & today, bit of a regress yesterday compared to 2 days ago

 

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_23784905/broncos-see-another-dust-up-at-training-camp

 

 

Photo gallery of the meet & great

 

 

http://www.denverbroncos.com/multimedia/photo-gallery/Montee-Ball-Meets-TD/ce3e1a13-97e9-4e7b-a399-f59b2dd0349b#2ecc948a-be3e-42f0-8c24-f9c3b1d7935d

[oldunclemark]

There are questions on defense about the pass rush...

 

..but adding Lilja and Vasquez on the line ......Welker, Ball...and the tight end Julius Thomas.to the skill set.....this offense, on paper, is going to score 30 points a game on a bad night

[bayone]

There are questions on defense about the pass rush...

 

..but adding Lilja and Vasquez on the line ......Welker, Ball...and the tight end Julius Thomas.to the skill set.....this offense, on paper, is going to score 30 points a game on a bad night

 

as long as can run ball , its needed for deep into playoffs

[RomanianColtsFan]

... and now the news is that Lilja had micro fracure surgery.

[chad72]

... and now the news is that Lilja had micro fracure surgery.

 

That was in the offseason before he retired. Old news.

[oldunclemark]

as long as can run ball , its needed for deep into playoffs

If you attack and down back off it....NOLA...Indy in recent years

 

the only running you'll need is running out the clock...

[bayone]

... and now the news is that Lilja had micro fracure surgery.

 

 

That was in the offseason before he retired. Old news.

 

not sure when this micro fracture surgery was or is & on what as only surgery I herd of this off season is

 

Lilja had quietly announced his retirement on Dec. 31.

 

 TheChiefs had approached him about returning for another season, though those talks slowed during Lilja's rehab process from surgeries on his toe and knee. 

 

(( this was in the off season after he announced he would retire right after last game of bad season , last year ))

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000224283/article/ryan-lilja-denver-broncos-agree-to-1year-contract

 

=======================================================

 

state of OL 

 

Here's how the Broncos lined up at practice Monday: Chris Clark, Beadles, Manny Ramirez, Lilja, Vasquez.

Here's how they lined up Tuesday: Beadles, Lilja, Ramirez, Vasquez, Clark.

 

Yet, in recent days the blockers responsible for protecting Manning have gone Abbott and Costello with their alignment.

 

Who's at left tackle? What's with Ryan Lilja going from living room sofa to playing center, right guard and left guard in his first three days of practice?

 

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_23818558/john-fox-likes-having-guys-playing-different-positions

[bayone]

not sure when this micro fracture surgery was or is & on what as only surgery I herd of this off season is

 

Lilja had quietly announced his retirement on Dec. 31.

 

 TheChiefs had approached him about returning for another season, though those talks slowed during Lilja's rehab process from surgeries on his toe and knee. 

 

(( this was in the off season after he announced he would retire right after last game of bad season , last year ))

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000224283/article/ryan-lilja-denver-broncos-agree-to-1year-contract

 

=======================================================

 

state of OL 

 

Here's how the Broncos lined up at practice Monday: Chris Clark, Beadles, Manny Ramirez, Lilja, Vasquez.

Here's how they lined up Tuesday: Beadles, Lilja, Ramirez, Vasquez, Clark.

 

Yet, in recent days the blockers responsible for protecting Manning have gone Abbott and Costello with their alignment.

 

Who's at left tackle? What's with Ryan Lilja going from living room sofa to playing center, right guard and left guard in his first three days of practice?

 

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_23818558/john-fox-likes-having-guys-playing-different-positions

 

 having both knee and toe surgeries earlier in the offseason

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest/post/_/id/60457/what-to-watch-broncos-49ers&ex_cid=MyESPNToday_Team

 

so some say 1 some say both knees  had surgery besides a toe ! ? ! ?