KRIEGER: Broncos' Clady deserves rookie of year consideration
By Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published December 3, 2008 at 8:58 p.m.
Photo by Barry Gutierrez © The Rocky
Broncos offensive tackle Ryan Clady has been saddled with just half a sack, one holding penalty and two false starts in 12 complete football games as a rookie protecting quarterback Jay Cutler's blind side.
He is arguably the best rookie in the NFL and he has no chance - none - to win the rookie of the year award.
Why would that be?
In part, because the NFL gives him no help. In part, granted, because the wretches might not be the brightest bulbs in the chandelier.
"It'd be hard, I think," Mike Shanahan said. "Has it ever been done? I don't even know."
Never. Not once in the 40 years The Associated Press has been naming offensive and defensive rookies of the year in the NFL has an offensive lineman won the award.
Running backs, including Mike Anderson and Clinton Portis of the Broncos, have won it more than 70 percent of the time. When a running back doesn't, a quarterback or wide receiver does.
"They can see a quarterback," Shanahan said. "They see the stats for a wide receiver or running back. But to people that really study the game, they know how important a left tackle is. If you don't have a left tackle, it's really hard to have a great offense. For him to play at the level he has, I think he might get voted that amongst coaches."
Truth is, Ryan Clady doesn't get that much love from the Broncos' own publicists. Eddie Royal, the sensational rookie wideout and kick returner, gets almost three pages of promotion in the Broncos' weekly release. Clady gets one note, two if you count the one that also includes right tackle Ryan Harris.
Sadly, there's not even anybody to blame for this inequity. The skill positions have all those statistics. Yards and catches and throws; percentages and averages and streaks and records.
The only stats an offensive lineman gets are bad. Sacks surrendered. Penalties incurred. For the record, Clady has been saddled with half a sack, one holding penalty and two false starts in 12 complete football games as a rookie protecting quarterback Jay Cutler's blind side. This in a year when Cutler is on pace to break the franchise record for passing yards in a season.
"Ryan has gone against some pretty good pass rushers all year and he's been up to every challenge," Cutler said.
"I've never seen anybody do what he's done as a rookie," Shanahan said. "He doesn't have penalties; doesn't have missed assignments. We don't double- team his guy. Sometimes a guy will have a good year because we double-team to that side. We've done that over the last five or six years. To not have to double-team people, to just say, 'Hey, you've got that guy regardless of who it is,' that doesn't happen in this league because there's too many top players.
"And to have your left tackle block the best guys, the best rushing defensive ends or outside linebackers, and do it in preseason and regular season, is something that doesn't happen very often."
Offensive linemen are accustomed to being ignored until they make a mistake. Veteran guard Ben Hamilton plays beside Clady. I asked him whether an offensive lineman will ever be rookie of the year.
"Probably not," he said.
Among the leading contenders this year are running backs Chris Johnson of Tennessee and Steve Slaton of Houston, who rank second and third in the AFC in rushing, quarterback Matt Ryan of Atlanta and wide receivers DeSean Jackson of Philadelphia and Royal.
The AP's award winners are elected by a panel of media voters across the country. Clady does have a shot at a first-place vote. My colleague Jeff Legwold says if the season ended today, he'd vote for Clady on the basis that quarterback and left tackle are the hardest positions to play as a rookie.
And while Ryan has been excellent for the Falcons, Shanahan argues Clady might be the best left tackle in football, rookie or not. Since there are no stats, I asked for some specs. Shanahan obliged:
"Arm length," he said. "Size. Quickness. Speed. He moves his feet like he's 240 pounds, but he's 325. That doesn't happen very often. And he's competitive. Tough.
"The first day when he was out there in pass protection against Elvis Dumervil, you could see his arm length against a guy that pressured everybody the year before. And you could see, 'Whoa, maybe we have something special.' But you don't know until you get to regular-season games or at least the preseason, when the lights are on.
"He doesn't say anything. He doesn't talk. Everything is business. He's very polite and he's very smart and just goes about his work like, 'Hey, I'm just one of the guys.' "
Such modesty is great for a team, not so good for postseason awards.
"If he wins it, he's going to take us on a vacation, I'm sure," Hamilton said. "I hope he wins. He's got my vote."
If Hamilton had one, that would make two.
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December 3, 2008
9:24 p.m.
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jvill writes:
How can a sports press pride themselves on voting the best in anything, but not be educated enough to recognize a top player just because there aren't any enough stats, or because the player doesn't get much publicity?
What's the point of being an expert if your excuse is you are only aware of what the public already knows, or what the PR people put in their brochures?
December 3, 2008
9:30 p.m.
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incognitoboy writes:
splash, dash, and flash.
while 'sweet feet' clady possesses none of those traits, he is most definitely rookie of the year in all the above listed ways. i have to admit, reading some of the pre-draft stuff, i was leaning toward cutler's teammate from vandy, (chris williams?) and was mildly disappointed when they picked clady. then i saw an interview with him, and my opinion softened. then i saw him play......whoa!
dude has played lights-out since day one, and i hope he stays around for another 10 - 15 years.
all you have to do to appreciate this guy, (really the entire line...)is look at the sack totals from last year to this year, and the choice is clear. without the protection, royal doesn't HAVE his stats, nor does anyone else, and cutler seems less wonderful. simple fact: a QB can't shine without protection from his line.
December 3, 2008
9:51 p.m.
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Dynamicdave writes:
Clady has my vote. He is a stud at his position and as far as we can tell, a nice person. No hang ups. Just having fun by playing football. Class. Royal is my other pick, true. He is explosive and yes, like the article says, makes the highlights and such. But I'll root for the unsung hero. GO CLADY!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 3, 2008
9:53 p.m.
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MrWright writes:
Clady has been amazing! The Broncos really scored with him in the draft and he will be an anchor on the left side for over a decade. With out a doubt he deserves rookie of the year! I hope that he at least get acknowledged for his quality play!!! Go Broncos!!!
December 3, 2008
10:40 p.m.
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angryman1n writes:
O-line play isn't the work of an individual player. It may be the only real team effort on the offensive side of the ball. Therefore, you can't just recognize a single player. Sorry.
Y'all O-liners don't like the spotlight anyway.
December 3, 2008
11:28 p.m.
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Horvil_Tiki writes:
I see the Clady fall on guy as get up in college youtobe. I could not beleef this guy. He fall on guy as get up! I sayed then we needed this guy. The clady have hooge beater club fists, hooge beater club they come down on you you is all done. He pan cake you guy. He do this all day. He get he hand on you you is all done guy. You is no factor. The clady is all world guy. all world. stays healthy guy
December 3, 2008
11:36 p.m.
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Dynamicdave writes:
angryman1n , I think you're missing the point of "Rookie of the Year"? It is an "individual" award. Therefore, an "individual" gets picked. The position Clady plays is the hardest position, other then QB, to learn. Each position, whether it is WR, TE, RG, RT, whatever, is an "individual" position, dependant upon each other for total success. So, he has as much right to the award as any other position.
December 4, 2008
1:20 a.m.
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kidski52 writes:
What I see from most of those who post here are they are more in-tuned with the game than the so called 'sports writers' are.
Individual awards should be 'team' awards because none of the players are very good without the rest of their team mates doing well. With that said, the Broncos 'team' should get rookies of the year award as I don't think any other team in the league has had better production from their rookies as a whole.
December 4, 2008
1:22 a.m.
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denmex writes:
no dout he is the best rooky in the nfl period.
December 4, 2008
8:16 a.m.
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mebcaux writes:
Dead on, Dave!
With all due respect to the very good Matt Lepsis, the Broncos have not had pass protection this good since Gary Zimmerman left, and Ryan Clady is the principal reason. Ryan Harris is also playing VERY well, and deserves praise.
With all due respect to the truly great Tom Nalen (who may be quite fairly compared to Jim Otto and Mike Webster), Casey Wiegmann has also helped improve the O-Line significantly, with both his individual play and his leadership of the younger players. I think Tom, a true warrior, also set a brilliant example for younger players, but played too far beyond his prime. Wiegmann is playing almost as well as did Tom at his prime. I am not sure he is as effective a run blocker as Tom, though he is very good.
All of the O-line deserve special praise for their excellent performance this year. In a significant change in emphasis for the Broncos, pass protection is now more their forte than run-blocking, but this young groups seems to be improving in that respect, especially with the benefit of improved secondary blocking by tight ends and backs.
On both sides of the ball, the younger linemen appear to be improving their skills in the subtleties of the martial combat (a combination of karate, jiu-jitsu, and Greco-Roman wrestling) in which linemen must be highly skilled to succeed. This is why, by the way, referring only to non-linemen as "skill" players is a profound insult to linemen, and is something I wish you and other writers would stop. It reflects complete ignorance of what they must do to succeed.
This very young team seems to be on the verge of becoming something very special. As exemplified best by Clady, Royal, and Hillis, they have a LOT of heart, as demonstrated by their surprisingly good performance in most road games.
On the D, Winborn and Woodard appear to be learning quickly and contributing to improving the still inadequate run defense. I especially like Winborn's intensity, which is on a par with Al Wilson's.
The pass rush is still mediocre, at best, but I see signs of hope in the degree to which they were able to hurry Favre.
If Shanahan, his staff, and the older players succeed in engendering more consistent focus and intensity in this team in every game (especially in the wildly erratic Cutler), and find ways to improve their pass rushing, they will probably win 12+ games in 2009 or 2010, and for several years thereafter, and once again be perennial AFC Championship contenders.
The only serious obstacle would be Cutler's inability to manage his diabetes well, which, tragically, is not unlikely in such an active young man. What a terrible shame it would be were his career cut short because of it.
Mark Brennan
December 4, 2008
8:43 a.m.
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tom3565 writes:
Maybe the problem with these awards is the simple fact that the individuals that determine who wins these awards are the so called professional sports writers? That pretty well sums up the problem in my estimation, but then again I am not a sports writer so therefore I do not know it all!
December 4, 2008
9:09 a.m.
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Marshdale writes:
Glad the Broncos have him. I played O-line as a kid and so I pay particular attention to linemen. This guy is special. No question about it. His arm length combined with his footwork and intelligence make him one of the best I have ever seen. I don't think he has even allowed Cutler to be pressured from that side more than 7 or 8 times this year. The guy is awesome and if he can stay healthy will be a Hall of Famer some day.
December 4, 2008
9:40 a.m.
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mveillette writes:
Good guy, no BS, all football.
Never be ROY, but Pro Bowl bound is a possibility.
Go Broncs!!!
December 4, 2008
10:12 a.m.
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RockLobster writes:
Ryan Clady for Rookie of the Year.....Horvil_Tiki for Blogger of the Year!
December 4, 2008
10:48 a.m.
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BooBooBear writes:
As another Broncos fan (Boise State that is) I can confirm that Clady is indeed a nice, decent guy. Not one negative thing about him in the years he played here.
Sure hope he gets the recognition he deserves.
Go Clady!
December 4, 2008
11:28 a.m.
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Bradonkadoncs writes:
Get the word out to ESPN and SI - they have the biggest sway. I emailed Bucky Brooks (I am sure I was just one of many) when he didn't mention 78 in his first quarter ROY column. Lo and behold, he did have him in the next column. It's up to the Bronco faithful to fight the East Coast bias, and the "skill player" bias. But then again, Clady probably will play with more of a chip on his shoulder if he gets the cold shoulder. So maybe I should shut my trap.
December 4, 2008
11:39 a.m.
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maverick7 writes:
Though both Royal and Clady deserve the honor, they both will not have a chance. Remember its the voting sports writers...most of which live on the east coast...The Philly guy will probably win it.
December 4, 2008
1:54 p.m.
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Jubei writes:
I have to extend the accolades to Harris as well.
Think about the contrast from last season to this one: Graham's numbers were pretty blah last year because we had to keep him in to block on darn near every play. Now, our tight ends are free to roam (see the Jets game) because Clady and Harris can hold the edges on their own. So not only does the offense benefit from better pass protection, they also have more of the playbook that they can use. Graham's and Sheffler's explosion of late is a prime example.
If anything, this line will get better, in general, because the only area that they can really improve on is run blocking. While that part of the game is not 'bad' by any means, it can get better. Having the same guys in the backfield will help in that regard as well.
If the fellas can stay healthy, and if Kory comes along as a pivot man, then this OL could be the best in the league, hands down.
December 4, 2008
2 p.m.
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Jubei writes:
Another thought on the tackle/tight end symbiosis:
If we run the two-tight end set, it now could be just about anything, pass or run. Yet another aspect of the offense that can keep defenses guessing.
December 4, 2008
2:33 p.m.
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arvada_mark writes:
I want to hear from the Shanny doubters now. I want to hear how he has lost it & can't draft anyone before the 4th round anymore. Where are you fools? I'll tell you where, they are running away with their tails between their legs. Better yet, let's just say it how it is...Shanny has drafted yet another BAD MO FO. His wallet probably even says "Bad MO FO" on it. Shanny is the Mastermind, & don't ever forget it.
December 4, 2008
2:41 p.m.
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Midnight127 writes:
Seriously,
Clady deserves some love.
If he can't get rookie of the year he should get something...
lol runner-up.
Something.
God knows he's earned it.
December 4, 2008
3 p.m.
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denrudy27 writes:
Really good article.
December 4, 2008
3:09 p.m.
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Rex writes:
Horvil_Tiki writes:
I see the Clady fall on guy as get up in college youtobe. I could not beleef this guy. He fall on guy as get up! I sayed then we needed this guy. The clady have hooge beater club fists, hooge beater club they come down on you you is all done. He pan cake you guy. He do this all day. He get he hand on you you is all done guy. You is no factor. The clady is all world guy. all world. stays healthy guy
Huh?
Help, can somebody please translate this for me?
December 4, 2008
3:22 p.m.
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bassman writes:
I liked Clady as soon as I saw some you tube footage on draft day. Great punch, long arms and quick feet. This was a truly great draft for the Broncos. If Cutler would only take a few more sacks instead of interceptions.
December 4, 2008
3:48 p.m.
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dirkle writes:
Clady may be the best draft pick I can remember.
And Krieger is right - 1/2 a sack for a rookie (so far)? Simply amazing.
F@ck the sportswriters if they don't recognize him and again fall for some diva running back.
Either way, Clady knows how good he is and how much appreciated he is here. Hope he's not too greedy when it's contract-renewal time.
December 4, 2008
4:30 p.m.
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Dynamicdave writes:
Rex, you must be new to the site and Horvil_Tiki's posts? Rookie.
December 4, 2008
4:51 p.m.
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RegularJoe writes:
I t'ink the Horvil_Tiki guy is have us on - - have fun wit' werds. I unnerstan some - - don' know what is Hogee Beater Club Fists. And if "the Clady fall on guy as gets up" I t'ink the Clady gets ho'ding penaty- - no? Mebbe Horvil write again and makes easier to see. You s'poze??
December 4, 2008
6:03 p.m.
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Dynamicdave writes:
RegularJoe, hooge is "huge". I love his posts. I always need a good chuckle.
December 5, 2008
1:09 p.m.
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can_am_broncofan writes:
clady 1st round, royal 2nd round, hillis 7th round!(what a find) this almost makes up for the previously few poor draft years all by itself. shanahan bashers what do you think about that? it's early but we may have another jonathan ogden here in ryan clady,rookie of the year most definately.if you know anything about football how could you not vote for him,look how much he means to the team.the broncos will go as far as cutler will take them and cutler will go as far as clady(and the rest of the o-line) takes him!