I am sure our coaching staff is watching the Super Bowl. Defense

[autig90 67]

I turned off the game after the review booth failed to overturn the obvious catch for 24 yards. At that moment it became clear that the Panthers were playing against 2 foes; the Broncos and the officiating crew. I went back after the game and watched that catch 52 times, and all 52 times a catch for 24 yards was made. Just bad, bad officiating. That play was a harbinger of what I knew was going to happen.

I hate to be cynical, but that was an absolutely horrible call that set the tone for the outcome of the game.

Yeah, I knew when the review booth did not get an obvious call right, that it was going to be a long game.

[tgr4lfe 220]

Then in the 2nd half the penalties were 8 or 9 on Panthers to ZERO against the Broncos, hmmm. It seemed like a poorly officiated game, BUT the Broncos D won that game for them. The Panthers D played well enough for them to win, but the Panthers O for what ever reason could not keep it going. Broncos were NOT going to let Cam or Stewart run the ball. I thought the Panthers should have lined up in some heavy packages to get some running game going and rolling Cam out. When the Broncos were putting 6-8 guys in the box, WRs not getting open, Cam not throwing well, Panthers fumbling, it was all out of character for the Panthers. I don't know if the big stage like that got to them or what, but the Panthers O didn't seem prepared at all for the Broncos D. Broncos D kept running the same DE/DT stunt, where the DE would engage then attack to the middle and the Panthers OL kept getting killed by it.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

Pathetic, really.

31st worst team in the league.

[japantiger 4,051]

Ya, but Carolina's play calling has really sucked (thanks Shula)

Shula has been great for them all year long. Good luck calling an offense when your OL is getting destroyed. You say "don't call runs for no gain"...what is the alternative? Letting Miller and Ware rack up sacks every other play?

They should have let Cam sprint out to the left and right, instead of keeping him in the pocket. That would have brought the DBs up and given the receivers a chance to get open. I screamed that all night at the TV and the announcers later confirmed that is what they should have done.

Denver's D was stifling and Carolina's offensive line was getting whipped. The only way to combat a defense with speed is motion.

The only drive they scored on had Cam moving the pocket and running if he had to. And they never went back to that. Sometimes you just have to wonder about coaches...watching the 1st down handoff go for -1 to + 2 yards over and over was like watching an extended version of the Gus 3rd qtr swoon.

And seriously, Cam pretty much showed his ass after the game...not very cool.

[jared52 4,354]

Ya, but Carolina's play calling has really sucked (thanks Shula)

Shula has been great for them all year long. Good luck calling an offense when your OL is getting destroyed. You say "don't call runs for no gain"...what is the alternative? Letting Miller and Ware rack up sacks every other play?

They should have let Cam sprint out to the left and right, instead of keeping him in the pocket. That would have brought the DBs up and given the receivers a chance to get open. I screamed that all night at the TV and the announcers later confirmed that is what they should have done.

Denver's D was stifling and Carolina's offensive line was getting whipped. The only way to combat a defense with speed is motion.

The only drive they scored on had Cam moving the pocket and running if he had to. And they never went back to that. Sometimes you just have to wonder about coaches...watching the 1st down handoff go for -1 to + 2 yards over and over was like watching an extended version of the Gus 3rd qtr swoon.

And seriously, Cam pretty much showed his ass after the game...not very cool.

Yeah he did:

Yeah, he gave his haters all they could have hoped for in his press conference and on that last fumble, this photo won't be in the media, it doesn't fit the narrative. Kudos to sbnation for posting it. (More here: http://www.sbnation....anthers-broncos)

[autigeremt 6,616]

Turnovers cost Carolina the game. They owned the third quarter for the most part. The stats show who moved the ball the best, but the stats also show who made critical mistakes at critical times. Throw in some dropped passes and a couple of questionable no calls/calls (still can't figure out how they didn't rule that first quarter catch a catch) and you have a recipe for a loss. Denver's defense has been great all year....Carolina helped them look like the '85 Bears.

[AuburnSpider 2]

I was thinking "damn Shula obviously spent to much time scouting malzahns play calling this season". It SUCKED

[autigeremt 6,616]

I was thinking "damn Shula obviously spent to much time scouting malzahns play calling this season". It SUCKED

It was bizarre at times. No doubt. Carolina had better acquire some WR's and work on that tackle spot if they are going to win a championship.

[NoALtiger 3,860]

I was thinking "damn Shula obviously spent to much time scouting malzahns play calling this season". It SUCKED

It was bizarre at times. No doubt. Carolina had better acquire some WR's and work on that tackle spot if they are going to win a championship.

Yeah, no doubt they are lacking in areas but it's been and will continue to be a building process. They are sorely lacking in the WR area and can certainly upgrade the OL as a whole. All in all though, they won like crazy this year and had a crazy good season. More good than bad obviously.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,364]

The way they handled the last 2 minutes or so of the first half was ponderous. They were under a minute and at midfield and moving with no urgency.

[McLoofus 35,182]

They'll get Benjamin back from injury. That will be an immediate upgrade to the WR corps. Getting another in the draft wouldn't hurt, though.

Agreed that the tackle spot needs to improve, but that was the league's leading offense this season and Denver's DL got the OL coach from their previous game fired, so looks might be a little deceiving.

Agreed about poor clock management to end the first half.

Really don't understand why Cam didn't try to keep it in the read option more. Just a lot of inside handoffs and slow developing downfield passes, or so it felt. I can't imagine Denver really took everything else away.

Dropped passes, missed calls, missed kicks, literally getting out of the way so that the guy could return a punt 60 yards.... just one of those nights where everything went wrong. Reminded me of Auburn against MSU in 2014.

[doc4aday 1,887]

I turned off the game after the review booth failed to overturn the obvious catch for 24 yards. At that moment it became clear that the Panthers were playing against 2 foes; the Broncos and the officiating crew. I went back after the game and watched that catch 52 times, and all 52 times a catch for 24 yards was made. Just bad, bad officiating. That play was a harbinger of what I knew was going to happen.

I hate to be cynical, but that was an absolutely horrible call that set the tone for the outcome of the game.

Yeah, I knew when the review booth did not get an obvious call right, that it was going to be a long game.

There were other blown calls. I hope the the NFL will review this and hopefully never let this crew do another Super Bowl forever. The next play after the 24 yard catch was made, Cam was hit and fumbled the ball for 6/7 points for the ponies. Who knows; if the refs would have correctly called the play a legit catch, we could have went on to score. When I see a football game where the refs early on in the game start making obvious ball calls, I can call the game at that moment like I did last night.

This is no lie whatsoever and I stand behind this assessment 100% with calling the game early on. I have a 89% rate of correctly calling games early on when a pattern is established where refs take over the game. This includes all SEC games I have watched in the past 7 years. I started doing this when an MD colleague from Duke came over to watch a Duke and UNC game. We email each other a good deal during football season, and he gets the biggest kick out of this.

[Charhair 345]

Seemed like the officiating in the Iron Bowl this past year.

It was obvious that the refs and or NFL wanted Peyton to win and go out on a good night.

That first sack/strip by Von Miller should have been a 5 yard gain for the Panthers. The first part of Cam that Miller touched was his face mask, he didn't wrap around with his fingers but it was an obvious non-personal face mask. I can pretty much guarantee that if it had been one of the Mannings or Brady playing QB for the Panthers, a ref would have thrown that flag and negated that touchdown.

That defensive touchdown was complete bull****, turned the tide of the game, caused the panthers to have to score 2 scores to get back into it. Just so much wrong with that officiating. Hopefully it puts a chip on Cam and the rest of their shoulders cause I'd love to see them back

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

They'll get Benjamin back from injury. That will be an immediate upgrade to the WR corps. Getting another in the draft wouldn't hurt, though.

Agreed that the tackle spot needs to improve, but that was the league's leading offense this season and Denver's DL got the OL coach from their previous game fired, so looks might be a little deceiving.

Agreed about poor clock management to end the first half.

Really don't understand why Cam didn't try to keep it in the read option more. Just a lot of inside handoffs and slow developing downfield passes, or so it felt. I can't imagine Denver really took everything else away.

Dropped passes, missed calls, missed kicks, literally getting out of the way so that the guy could return a punt 60 yards.... just one of those nights where everything went wrong. Reminded me of Auburn against MSU in 2014.

Gotta admit, however, that when run, both options were pretty well covered. Their D was plowing furrows through and around Carolina's OL.

[McLoofus 35,182]

They'll get Benjamin back from injury. That will be an immediate upgrade to the WR corps. Getting another in the draft wouldn't hurt, though.

Agreed that the tackle spot needs to improve, but that was the league's leading offense this season and Denver's DL got the OL coach from their previous game fired, so looks might be a little deceiving.

Agreed about poor clock management to end the first half.

Really don't understand why Cam didn't try to keep it in the read option more. Just a lot of inside handoffs and slow developing downfield passes, or so it felt. I can't imagine Denver really took everything else away.

Dropped passes, missed calls, missed kicks, literally getting out of the way so that the guy could return a punt 60 yards.... just one of those nights where everything went wrong. Reminded me of Auburn against MSU in 2014.

Gotta admit, however, that when run, both options were pretty well covered. Their D was plowing furrows through and around Carolina's OL.

You're probably right.

[Malcolm_FleX48 1,869]

The only disadvantage to most defenses, is that a defense is literally meant to hold off the opposing offense in a "Bend but don't break" fashion. Even more aggressive attacking defenses still opperate on this principle, though the Panther's defense would be characterized as the bend but don't break kind. They don't blitz very often and typically maintain a balanced-stacked look with their LBs and nickels which is characteristic of a bend but don't break. Their strength comes from their stinginess in the redzone which they demonstrated last night. What failed the panthers was the fact that their offense outside of Cam could not get enough going on offense to match the Broncos.

When a defense holds an opposing team to 3, that is described as a successful defense.

To hold an opponent to no points during a drive is an excellent defensive performance

To get a takeaway and increase your team's turnover differential is what wins a game as a defense.

Had the Panthers been able to move the chains on offense and get points, then indeed the defense of the Panthers would have won that game. Though that still doesn't infer that defenses win championships. Rather a defense with a competent offense will win a championship.

The Broncos on the other hand had the best of both worlds going. It's almost impossible to compare college defenses to the Broncos. One of the main things they had going for them, in addition to tight zone coverage as well as little to no fear of getting beat deep, having their safeties tighten that zone, was the fact that they ALMOST NEVER changed personnel. Some of this was due to the Panther's choice in personnel, however, the Broncos played in 3-4 personnel almost the entire game. Ware and Miller are 2 of the most versatile 3-4 OLBs ever, combining the pass rush ability and bulk of Jack linebackers with the coverage ability of a nickel-hybrid, or star. (As seen in Miller when he covered Sanders in one on one press man.) Having versatile backers like that, (And that's not even talking about Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevaithan on the inside.) gives you a Swiss Army Knife Defense. Another characteristic of that TRUE 3-4 that they run is that their backers are all LARGE yet mobile. The Holy grail of linebackers as you don't trade bulk for speed, giving you the ability to not only cover laterally against off tackle runs and wheel routes, but also have enough size to take on linemen and fullbacks and win at the point of attack. When you combine this with the ability to never have to swap out personnel, and still generate pressure on the QB at will, you've got a nasty and unpredictable defense. In all honesty, I believe with the exception of the safeties, this is the quintessential best itteration of the "Orange Crush" defense. For Auburn or any other college (The closest to this in the SEC would be bama or florida) to have a defense of this magnitude, they'd have to recruit several 5 star LBs yearly and have those LBs at least 6-3 to 6-4 and able to play in space as well as pass rush and handle run duties. That's not an easy bill to fill either.

[Tiger 8,825]

I was thinking "damn Shula obviously spent to much time scouting malzahns play calling this season". It SUCKED

The irony of this post is that the Carolina offense wouldn't have been so prolific this entire season if it had not been for Shula taking Gus' offense and utilizing a huge portion of it into the Carolina offense. Shula's adaptability here is what put Cam in a position to be the MVP. Prior to this season, especially last year, the Panthers were almost using Cam as a pocket passer. He was getting sacked wayyyy more than a guy with his elusiveness and speed should have been.

I had been calling for Shula to be fired the past few years -- but he deserves some major props for what he put together this season.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

The only disadvantage to most defenses, is that a defense is literally meant to hold off the opposing offense in a "Bend but don't break" fashion. Even more aggressive attacking defenses still opperate on this principle, though the Panther's defense would be characterized as the bend but don't break kind. They don't blitz very often and typically maintain a balanced-stacked look with their LBs and nickels which is characteristic of a bend but don't break. Their strength comes from their stinginess in the redzone which they demonstrated last night. What failed the panthers was the fact that their offense outside of Cam could not get enough going on offense to match the Broncos.

When a defense holds an opposing team to 3, that is described as a successful defense.

To hold an opponent to no points during a drive is an excellent defensive performance

To get a takeaway and increase your team's turnover differential is what wins a game as a defense.

Had the Panthers been able to move the chains on offense and get points, then indeed the defense of the Panthers would have won that game. Though that still doesn't infer that defenses win championships. Rather a defense with a competent offense will win a championship.

The Broncos on the other hand had the best of both worlds going. It's almost impossible to compare college defenses to the Broncos. One of the main things they had going for them, in addition to tight zone coverage as well as little to no fear of getting beat deep, having their safeties tighten that zone, was the fact that they ALMOST NEVER changed personnel. Some of this was due to the Panther's choice in personnel, however, the Broncos played in 3-4 personnel almost the entire game. Ware and Miller are 2 of the most versatile 3-4 OLBs ever, combining the pass rush ability and bulk of Jack linebackers with the coverage ability of a nickel-hybrid, or star. (As seen in Miller when he covered Sanders in one on one press man.) Having versatile backers like that, (And that's not even talking about Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevaithan on the inside.) gives you a Swiss Army Knife Defense. Another characteristic of that TRUE 3-4 that they run is that their backers are all LARGE yet mobile. The Holy grail of linebackers as you don't trade bulk for speed, giving you the ability to not only cover laterally against off tackle runs and wheel routes, but also have enough size to take on linemen and fullbacks and win at the point of attack. When you combine this with the ability to never have to swap out personnel, and still generate pressure on the QB at will, you've got a nasty and unpredictable defense. In all honesty, I believe with the exception of the safeties, this is the quintessential best itteration of the "Orange Crush" defense. For Auburn or any other college (The closest to this in the SEC would be bama or florida) to have a defense of this magnitude, they'd have to recruit several 5 star LBs yearly and have those LBs at least 6-3 to 6-4 and able to play in space as well as pass rush and handle run duties. That's not an easy bill to fill either.

At risk of exposing my football stupidity (again), and at further risk of dragging in the (possibly irrelevant) comparison to NFL:

If, at the college level, some teams that have massive relative recruiting success against their peers can't achieve this type of dominance, while

at the pro level, where they have to draft (draw, poker style, taking turns),

How in the blue-eyed world did Denver assemble such a cadre???

I assume it's gotta include both evaluation and development, but, wow.

[oracle79 3,569]

Anyone know how many times Carolina ran the ball on first down?

They ran one true option play and gained about 12 yards on it, and never went back to it.

And really, what was #21 doing on the punt return? It looked like he thought it was flag football and he had pulled the guys flag so he stopped an watched him run for 60 yards.

You knew it was gonna be a long night after the first challenge wasn't overturned.

How many INT's did Carolina drop (one which would have been a pick six)?

Carolina was badly outcoached from the get go on Denver's first drive where Manning dinked and dunked them down the field.

[augolf1716 21,140]

Gus was at the SB so I'm sure he saw plenty of defense

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

Gus was at the SB so I'm sure he saw plenty of defense

One would think

[weagl1 1,784]

Carolina defense was plenty good enough to win the game. The two turnovers inside the 10 killed them. I don't fault Cam much on either of those he was blindsided both times just as he was going to turn the ball loose. The OL couldn't even begin to block the Denver DL. Michael Oher particularly got his behind owned all day.

[AUIH1 1,515]

Carolina defense was plenty good enough to win the game. The two turnovers inside the 10 killed them. I don't fault Cam much on either of those he was blindsided both times just as he was going to turn the ball loose. The OL couldn't even begin to block the Denver DL. Michael Oher particularly got his behind owned all day.

Carolina's D played well enough to win the game. Cam was not the reason Carolina lost the game. The reason why Denver won is because the Denver D was simply dominating. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to a team that was better than you on that day. Denver's D made Tom Brady and Cam look like amateurs. That D was awesome.

wde

[Malcolm_FleX48 1,869]

The only disadvantage to most defenses, is that a defense is literally meant to hold off the opposing offense in a "Bend but don't break" fashion. Even more aggressive attacking defenses still opperate on this principle, though the Panther's defense would be characterized as the bend but don't break kind. They don't blitz very often and typically maintain a balanced-stacked look with their LBs and nickels which is characteristic of a bend but don't break. Their strength comes from their stinginess in the redzone which they demonstrated last night. What failed the panthers was the fact that their offense outside of Cam could not get enough going on offense to match the Broncos.

When a defense holds an opposing team to 3, that is described as a successful defense.

To hold an opponent to no points during a drive is an excellent defensive performance

To get a takeaway and increase your team's turnover differential is what wins a game as a defense.

Had the Panthers been able to move the chains on offense and get points, then indeed the defense of the Panthers would have won that game. Though that still doesn't infer that defenses win championships. Rather a defense with a competent offense will win a championship.

The Broncos on the other hand had the best of both worlds going. It's almost impossible to compare college defenses to the Broncos. One of the main things they had going for them, in addition to tight zone coverage as well as little to no fear of getting beat deep, having their safeties tighten that zone, was the fact that they ALMOST NEVER changed personnel. Some of this was due to the Panther's choice in personnel, however, the Broncos played in 3-4 personnel almost the entire game. Ware and Miller are 2 of the most versatile 3-4 OLBs ever, combining the pass rush ability and bulk of Jack linebackers with the coverage ability of a nickel-hybrid, or star. (As seen in Miller when he covered Sanders in one on one press man.) Having versatile backers like that, (And that's not even talking about Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevaithan on the inside.) gives you a Swiss Army Knife Defense. Another characteristic of that TRUE 3-4 that they run is that their backers are all LARGE yet mobile. The Holy grail of linebackers as you don't trade bulk for speed, giving you the ability to not only cover laterally against off tackle runs and wheel routes, but also have enough size to take on linemen and fullbacks and win at the point of attack. When you combine this with the ability to never have to swap out personnel, and still generate pressure on the QB at will, you've got a nasty and unpredictable defense. In all honesty, I believe with the exception of the safeties, this is the quintessential best itteration of the "Orange Crush" defense. For Auburn or any other college (The closest to this in the SEC would be bama or florida) to have a defense of this magnitude, they'd have to recruit several 5 star LBs yearly and have those LBs at least 6-3 to 6-4 and able to play in space as well as pass rush and handle run duties. That's not an easy bill to fill either.

At risk of exposing my football stupidity (again), and at further risk of dragging in the (possibly irrelevant) comparison to NFL:

If, at the college level, some teams that have massive relative recruiting success against their peers can't achieve this type of dominance, while

at the pro level, where they have to draft (draw, poker style, taking turns),

How in the blue-eyed world did Denver assemble such a cadre???

I assume it's gotta include both evaluation and development, but, wow.

Well it's different typically. It's mostly development like you have said. Typically in college, players hang their hats on one facet of the game and begin to finally develop and hone those skills. It's not until about their 4th to 5th year of "Big time" football. Before that, most times these players are simply taught to utilize one primary skill in their skillset, and it also depends on the system that they play in. Von Miller, coming out of college was your standard Jack linebacker. Good at pass rush and not much else. One of the knocks on him was his versatility in being able to handle the run as well as coverage duties that NFL defenses would require. This is typically common for a lot of players coming out.

Look at Jadeveon Clowney, who in college, was mainly asked to rush the passer out of a 3-4 point stance. When he got to the NFL, he transitioned to OLB in a hybrid 3-4 of the Texans. This basically means that now he is working on expanding his skill set. Whether he becomes as balanced as Miller and Ware in that skillset, (Miller, being the more balanced of the duo.) is a large question mark. But what we saw from Von Miller is basically the quintessential goal of a 3-4 OLB. The size of a defensive end, with the explosiveness and agility in space of a 4-3 Outside backer.

In the college level, I simply don't see one player, let alone 2 to 3 on the same team reaching that level of consistent versatility and proficiency in a wide skillset like that. While at the same, time, if I had to take a pick of one player who I believed would be able to do the same thing, it would probably be Jaylon Smith out of Notre Dame. That kid has all of the tools and is a freak of an athlete. As to how Denver was able to create such an assembly of defensive power in their front 7? Well, John Elway has proven that he is a master of player personnel, not only in picking up Ware out of free agency, but also when they made the call to draft Miller in the first place. He hasn't missed on much, and as evidenced by him picking up Owen Daniels, and Peyton Manning as well as other players, the man has an eye for assembling a team.

In college there are just TOO many question marks on how players will develop to expect to be able to do something similar. Football IQ levels are seriously lacking as well as a love, understanding, and passion for the game. Not to mention the player has to mature and hone themselves at a single role before making their way to multiple, lest they become the dreaded Jack of all trades, master of none.

I firsthand can attest having taken and undergoing through this path of development myself. Transitioning from End to OLB was the hardest, though. In all honesty, stopping the run was my best attribute at first, and I showed little to no skill at pass rush. When I trained at Jack, I had to slowly but surely get some pass rush ability, though at the same time, on a double-surgically repaired knee, that took the longest to develop, and still to this day might be one of my weaker attributes. After learning a bit of pass rush, I moved to TE where I learned about route concepts and offensive protection schemes, and moving back to LB, but this time ILB, I began to learn footwork for coverage and spacing as well as understanding shells and pattern reads. But this overall development path took about 3 years, and even then its still an incomplete development path. So looking at that, to actually take and MASTER each and every one of these traits takes extended time and development under the tutelage of some of the best coaches and minds in college as well as the NFL.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

The only disadvantage to most defenses, is that a defense is literally meant to hold off the opposing offense in a "Bend but don't break" fashion. Even more aggressive attacking defenses still opperate on this principle, though the Panther's defense would be characterized as the bend but don't break kind. They don't blitz very often and typically maintain a balanced-stacked look with their LBs and nickels which is characteristic of a bend but don't break. Their strength comes from their stinginess in the redzone which they demonstrated last night. What failed the panthers was the fact that their offense outside of Cam could not get enough going on offense to match the Broncos.

When a defense holds an opposing team to 3, that is described as a successful defense.

To hold an opponent to no points during a drive is an excellent defensive performance

To get a takeaway and increase your team's turnover differential is what wins a game as a defense.

Had the Panthers been able to move the chains on offense and get points, then indeed the defense of the Panthers would have won that game. Though that still doesn't infer that defenses win championships. Rather a defense with a competent offense will win a championship.

The Broncos on the other hand had the best of both worlds going. It's almost impossible to compare college defenses to the Broncos. One of the main things they had going for them, in addition to tight zone coverage as well as little to no fear of getting beat deep, having their safeties tighten that zone, was the fact that they ALMOST NEVER changed personnel. Some of this was due to the Panther's choice in personnel, however, the Broncos played in 3-4 personnel almost the entire game. Ware and Miller are 2 of the most versatile 3-4 OLBs ever, combining the pass rush ability and bulk of Jack linebackers with the coverage ability of a nickel-hybrid, or star. (As seen in Miller when he covered Sanders in one on one press man.) Having versatile backers like that, (And that's not even talking about Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevaithan on the inside.) gives you a Swiss Army Knife Defense. Another characteristic of that TRUE 3-4 that they run is that their backers are all LARGE yet mobile. The Holy grail of linebackers as you don't trade bulk for speed, giving you the ability to not only cover laterally against off tackle runs and wheel routes, but also have enough size to take on linemen and fullbacks and win at the point of attack. When you combine this with the ability to never have to swap out personnel, and still generate pressure on the QB at will, you've got a nasty and unpredictable defense. In all honesty, I believe with the exception of the safeties, this is the quintessential best itteration of the "Orange Crush" defense. For Auburn or any other college (The closest to this in the SEC would be bama or florida) to have a defense of this magnitude, they'd have to recruit several 5 star LBs yearly and have those LBs at least 6-3 to 6-4 and able to play in space as well as pass rush and handle run duties. That's not an easy bill to fill either.

At risk of exposing my football stupidity (again), and at further risk of dragging in the (possibly irrelevant) comparison to NFL:

If, at the college level, some teams that have massive relative recruiting success against their peers can't achieve this type of dominance, while

at the pro level, where they have to draft (draw, poker style, taking turns),

How in the blue-eyed world did Denver assemble such a cadre???

I assume it's gotta include both evaluation and development, but, wow.

Well it's different typically. It's mostly development like you have said. Typically in college, players hang their hats on one facet of the game and begin to finally develop and hone those skills. It's not until about their 4th to 5th year of "Big time" football. Before that, most times these players are simply taught to utilize one primary skill in their skillset, and it also depends on the system that they play in. Von Miller, coming out of college was your standard Jack linebacker. Good at pass rush and not much else. One of the knocks on him was his versatility in being able to handle the run as well as coverage duties that NFL defenses would require. This is typically common for a lot of players coming out.

Look at Jadeveon Clowney, who in college, was mainly asked to rush the passer out of a 3-4 point stance. When he got to the NFL, he transitioned to OLB in a hybrid 3-4 of the Texans. This basically means that now he is working on expanding his skill set. Whether he becomes as balanced as Miller and Ware in that skillset, (Miller, being the more balanced of the duo.) is a large question mark. But what we saw from Von Miller is basically the quintessential goal of a 3-4 OLB. The size of a defensive end, with the explosiveness and agility in space of a 4-3 Outside backer.

In the college level, I simply don't see one player, let alone 2 to 3 on the same team reaching that level of consistent versatility and proficiency in a wide skillset like that. While at the same, time, if I had to take a pick of one player who I believed would be able to do the same thing, it would probably be Jaylon Smith out of Notre Dame. That kid has all of the tools and is a freak of an athlete. As to how Denver was able to create such an assembly of defensive power in their front 7? Well, John Elway has proven that he is a master of player personnel, not only in picking up Ware out of free agency, but also when they made the call to draft Miller in the first place. He hasn't missed on much, and as evidenced by him picking up Owen Daniels, and Peyton Manning as well as other players, the man has an eye for assembling a team.

In college there are just TOO many question marks on how players will develop to expect to be able to do something similar. Football IQ levels are seriously lacking as well as a love, understanding, and passion for the game. Not to mention the player has to mature and hone themselves at a single role before making their way to multiple, lest they become the dreaded Jack of all trades, master of none.

I firsthand can attest having taken and undergoing through this path of development myself. Transitioning from End to OLB was the hardest, though. In all honesty, stopping the run was my best attribute at first, and I showed little to no skill at pass rush. When I trained at Jack, I had to slowly but surely get some pass rush ability, though at the same time, on a double-surgically repaired knee, that took the longest to develop, and still to this day might be one of my weaker attributes. After learning a bit of pass rush, I moved to TE where I learned about route concepts and offensive protection schemes, and moving back to LB, but this time ILB, I began to learn footwork for coverage and spacing as well as understanding shells and pattern reads. But this overall development path took about 3 years, and even then its still an incomplete development path. So looking at that, to actually take and MASTER each and every one of these traits takes extended time and development under the tutelage of some of the best coaches and minds in college as well as the NFL.

Many Thanks.

And as a rare watcher of NFL, I'd forgotten about the free-agency part.

Looks like in the pros, there is precious little of the "adapt scheme to the available players" we see at many schools. It's all the other way around, and a lot of work.