Being an Oakland Raiders fan I have no shortage of Denver Broncos fans preaching to me about how great their team is. I usually concede, as Denver has been putting competitive teams on the field for too many years to remember. This year's team is a little different, though. Last year left fans with lots of questions and I'll try to answer them in the most unbiased fashion I can muster.

So, what's wrong with the Broncos? Well, let's start with what's right with the Broncos since that's a much shorter list. Mike Shanahan, one of the great football minds of the last 50 years, is still the coach. Jay Cutler, who is a stud and will be a contributor for years to come, is still the QB. The tight end corps had a good 2008 campaign. That's where the list stops, however. Every other aspect of the team has a question mark beside it!

The running game that has defined the team for so long is the first big question mark. Travis Henry is gone and is replaced with last year's fluke player, Selvin Young. While he looked great at times last year, Young proved he can not be depended on to be a 25+ touch, every down style running back. That leaves the Broncos with a run-by-committee approach and Michael Pittman is the only respected and proven member of that committee. Add to this the fact that the offensive line is dominated by rookies and younger players and it becomes a concern. Denver's number one pick, tackle Ryan Clady, will be expected to protect Cutler's BLIND SIDE from day one.  The Broncos do not have a tackle on the roster who has been in the league for more than 3 seasons. Holland will return at right guard, but the left guard spot seems to be occupied by Chris Kuper who is coming off a less than stellar season. Nalen and Hamilton are coming back from serious injuries.

The receiving corps doesn't look much better. Brandon Marshall is expected to be the go to guy for Cutler, but he has spent his off season rehabbing from a ridiculous, self inflicted injury. Marshall does not have an impressive character resume since coming into the league. During the off season he was told to "grow up" by many members of the Denver media as well as Cutler. His dedication and maturity will be questioned from the start of training camp and with no real leader to step in behind him it causes concern. Brandon Stokley is a seasoned veteran who has lost a step but can possibly provide some leadership. Behind him is the disappointment from Carolina, Keary Colbert, the aging and largely ineffective Darrell Jackson and another squad of no names and rookies. The tight end group looks better at least, with Daniel Graham and Tony Scheffler both coming off productive seasons. Graham needs to establish himself as the dominant player he was in New England, though, if Denver fans are to get excited over this group.

That brings us to the defense, which gave up the 5th most points in franchise history and made little to no improvements during the off season. The Broncos ranked an uncharacteristic 30th in the league against the run last year and their defensive line does not look much better on paper with Engelberger, Thomas, McKinley and Dumervil expected to be the starters. The linebackers COULD be solid with Webster and Williams back as the starters, but the weak side is going to be questionable and Boss Bailey seems to be the best option here. Shanahan could opt to put Williams back at his natural weak side but this would leave the middle linebacker position in an even worse state. Nobody will question the talent of Champ Bailey, Dre Bly and John Lynch in the secondary, but everyone will point to their age. Bailey and Bly, who looked somewhat lost at times last year, are both entering their 10th seasons while John Lynch is back for his 16th campaign at free safety. Abdullah is expected to return as the starting strong safety, but he was part of this group's weakness against the run last year. Free agent pickup Marlon McCree may compete for the spot.

 On top of all these concerns the Broncos fired general manager Ted Sundquist a month before the draft. They also enter the season with the fourth defensive coordinator to call plays for them in the last eight years. The icing on the morbid cake is the fact that the team enters the season without their all time leading scorer, Jason Elam. Elam, who always seemed to have ice water in his veins, skated off to Atlanta for a bigger paycheck. His clutch kicking was responsible for a couple of last second victories last season and his replacement, Matt Prater, has made just one field goal in his career.

Many question marks surround this year's Broncos squad. While most will accuse me of being a biased Raiders fan, I will quickly point out that I follow all NFL teams and assess them each objectively. This is especially true when it comes to AFC West teams as I like to properly gauge what my boys from the bay will be going up against 6 times this season! Regardless of whether or not you agree with my talent assessment, even the most diehard Broncos fan has to be going into this season with, at best,  cautious optimism.

UPDATE (8/05/08) - Now John Lynch has decided to part ways with the team and Brandon Marshall is awaiting his Goodell trial! When it rains, it pours...

UPDATE (8/07/08) - Brandon Marshall has been suspended for the first 3 games of the season by NFL commisioner Roger Goodell and starting center Tom Nalen has gone down (temporarily) with a knee injury. The mile high city is experiencing some serious lows...