Running back Knowshon Moreno #27 of the Denver Broncos is attended to on the bench late in the fourth quarter against the Oakland Raiders at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on September 12, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. The Raiders defeated the Broncos 23-20. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno was arrested last week on drunken driving charges in Denver, according to the Denver Post.  After losing his starting job to Willis McGahee during the 2011 regular season, Moreno suffered a torn ACL and was placed on injured reserve, ending his season.

With two years left on his contract, Moreno was already in a tough spot in Denver.  His lack of production may have caused the Broncos to move on from the twenty-four year old running back in the off-season.  An arrest certainly compounds the situation.

Moreno was pulled over on Feb. 1 while driving a Bentley at around 70 mph on Interstate 25 near Quincy Ave. and Union Ave. The posted speed limit in the area is normally 65 mph, but is currently posted at 45 mph because it is a construction zone.

Police gave Moreno a breath test and a field sobriety test, and took Moreno to a detox facility. He was charged with DUI, failing to have insurance and careless driving.

“We take the incident involving Knowshon Moreno very seriously, and are thoroughly reviewing this matter,” the Broncos said in a statement Monday. “Our organization will continue to gather information and closely monitor this issue while the legal process takes it course.”

If the Broncos do retain Moreno, it is likely that they will also bring in at least one other running back to compete for playing time next season.  With McGahee the starting and Moreno a possible third-down option, the Broncos will be looking for running back depth through the draft and free agency.

A 2009 first round draft pick, Moreno has started in 24 games over the past three years and rushed for 1,905 yards and 12 touchdowns.  Before his injury last season, Moreno had found a nice role in Denver’s offense as a receiving option out of the backfield, catching eleven passes for 101 yards and a score.  Moreno has 76 catches for 686 yards and six touchdowns in his career.

It would be nice if our Broncos could say out of the news for these types of occurrences.  Be smart, Broncos players, be smart.

Broncos’ Knowshon Moreno arrested for DUI [Denver Post]

Name: Robert Ayers Height, Weight: 6’3″, 274 Position: Defensive End Age, Experience: 26, 4 College: Tennessee

Robert Ayers has had some big shoes to fill. A first round draft pick in 2009 — the second selection of the short-lived Josh McDaniels era — the defensive lineman added to expectations by choosing to wear jersey #56 in his first two seasons, just like another former Volunteer-alum with the Broncos, Al Wilson. Maybe that was why Ayers switched to jersey #91 in 2011 (or maybe it was simply because his number from college became available after Ronald Fields wasn’t re-signed), but his career to date has nevertheless been up and down. There’s reason to feel good about Ayers’ future, though — he’s finding his footing, literally and figuratively, as a run stuffer on the edge and a much-needed pass rusher in the middle of the Broncos’ defensive line.

2011 Analysis: Ayers played in all 16 games for the Broncos, starting in 13 at left defensive end while also seeing time at defensive tackle in nickel and dime packages. He graded out as the 43rd best 4-3 defensive end by Pro Football Focus this season, and Football Outsiders had the Broncos Left End position graded at 22nd in the NFL (a stat that accounts for all players at the position for the Broncos, not just Ayers). But Ayers came on strong as the year went on — an observation that makes sense since he was getting infused into a new scheme at the professional level for the first time. He had a sack in the season finale and two more in the Broncos’ playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers — as many sacks as he had in his first 41 career games combined.

Contract Status: Signed through 2013

2012 Outlook: Ayers is on the payroll for an affordable $965,000 in 2012, so there’s no reason to believe the Broncos won’t keep him around for what will be a make-or-break fourth season. He’ll compete to keep his starting job at LDE into training camp, but he finished strongly enough in 2011 to believe he could fight off a high draft pick or marquee free agent pickup.

As always, we invite you, the readers, to participate. Is the Broncos’ patience with Ayers beginning to pay off, or will Ayers never live up to his first round expectations?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

We hope you enjoy these posts as BroncoTalk develops a one-of-a-kind fan-powered Denver Broncos roster on the web.

Getty Images/Justin Edmonds

The release of longtime Denver Broncos cap manager Mike Bluem didn’t go unnoticed, but it didn’t cause a huge stir either. Executives and personnel come and go, especially with regime changes, and the hiring of 25-year player rep Mike Sullivan could simply be a matter of John Elway finding a person with whom he felt more comfortable working.

Or it could be a matter of the Broncos making a dramatic move to “get tough” in player contract talks, as this tweet from former GM Ted Sundquist (posted minutes after the news of Bluem’s departure broke) suggests:

Anxious to see how the #NFL agent community takes to the new “get tough” negotiating strategy in Denver. Bull dogs, really? @NFLPA @nfl

— Ted Sundquist (@Ted_Sundquist) February 3, 2012

“Bull dogs.” Hmm…

While this is all speculation, it seems likely to us that the former Broncos GM would reach out to Bluem, his former colleague, upon hearing the news and glean some info behind the decision. Clearly that decision was business-driven: the Broncos weren’t happy with the way Bluem was negotiating contracts, and putting two and two together, it was because Bluem was becoming too soft for the Broncos’ liking.

Did it have to do with the mega-contracts the Broncos have dealt to Elvis Dumervil and Champ Bailey in the past two offseasons? Was it the years of dead cap money they’ve been suffering under since the Mike Shanahan days? Was Tim Tebow‘s oft-cited, oft-debated rookie contract a factor in any way?

We likely won’t ever know, but the Broncos’ decision to hire Sullivan in Bluem’s place is very interesting. The AP reports that Sullivan was regarded as “one of the top contract negotiators in the business” before he was hired by Elway. He’s credited for inventing the option bonus in modern NFL draft pick contracts, and he’s been managing a sports agency for over a decade. Who better to toughen the Broncos’ contract negotiation strategies than someone from the other end of the table?

At the very least, Sullivan will offer a fresh, unique perspective in contract negotiations for the Broncos moving forward. He knows all of the agent’s tricks, and he knows the loopholes.

But, reading between the lines, the Broncos are hoping for more than a fresh perspective from Sullivan. They’re hoping he’ll turn the Broncos into contract-negotiating bull dogs.

That’s a conclusion all the more interesting considering the slew of contract negotiations the Broncos will soon be facing, in-house alone.

The Dog Strikes Back: 2012 Volkswagen

E*TRADE Baby Commercial — Fatherhood

CareerBuilder Commercial — Business Trip

NFL Timeline Commercial

Sketchers Commercial — Go Mr. Quiggly!

Coke Commercial — “Catch”

TAXact Commercial — “Free to Pee”

Bridgestone Commercial — Performance Football

Chevy Silverado Commercial — “2012″

Doritos® Commercial — Man’s Best Friend

*Those were our favorites, what were yours?

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning jumps onto defensive end Justin Tuck after defeating the New England Patriots in the NFL Super Bowl XLVI football game in Indianapolis, Indiana, February 5, 2012. (REUTERS photo/Jim Young)

I’ll admit it. I’m a Justin Tuck fan.

The New York Giants defensive end was a Denver Bronco for a day after the Broncos traded for him in 2006. Ultimately the deal was nullifed after Broncos middle linebacker Al Wilson, the trade compensation for Tuck and a fourth round pick, failed his physical, but since then I’ve always followed Tuck’s career closely.

Since then, he’s thrived. Tuck has gone from a backup’s backup to a playoff-dominating, Super Bowl-excelling monster on that Giants’ defensive line.

In 2008, Tuck had two sacks, a forced fumble, and six tackles against Tom Brady and the Patriots that many felt should have earned him MVP honors.

Yesterday, in my opinion, Tuck one-upped Eli Manning again.

Don’t get me wrong, Manning was good. He was extremely efficient (30 of 40), but I wouldn’t call his evening spectacular (296 yards, one touchdown, 7.4 yards per attempt). He made a helluva clutch throw to Mario Manningham, who made an even tougher catch in the fourth quarter, but that doesn’t mean the MVP committee should just fall on the winning team’s quarterback by default. Quarterbacks get enough credit as it is.

“Somebody had to win MVP, but let’s give the MVP to the collective group,” Tuck said after the game.

No, the best performance belonged to Tuck, and the MVP trophy should have too.

You want clutch play? You got it. In the fourth quarter, after Bill Belichick conceded the Ahmad Bradshaw touchdown, it was the Tuck-led defense that had to seal the win for the Giants. Perform Tuck did. He tallied his second sack on third and long with 48 seconds left in the game, forcing the Patriots to use their last timeout.

You want big plays from start to finish? Tuck was the only player on the Giants’ fearsome defensive line to tally a sack, and he tallied two. He was also the force behind Brady’s intentional grounding penalty for a safety in the first quarter, a huge play that won’t show up in Tuck’s stat sheet, but deserves mentioning all the same. It was the first defensive play of the game.

Tuck had as good a Super Bowl as you can ask any defensive player — twice. He drove the Giants to two Super Bowl rings. He, and not Eli, should be driving that Cadillac.

Tim Tebow was among three NFL-heavyweights to appear on The Golf Channel’s Feherty Live Saturday night, and the results did not disappoint. You can view a clip of the action after the jump, or catch the full re-air Monday night at 10 p.m. ET.

The Denver Broncos appear to have struck draft gold with 2011 #2 Overall Pick – outside linebacker Von Miller.  On Saturday Miller was named the NFL Rookie of the Year on defense.  Panthers quarterback Cam Newton joined Miller on the pedestal, bringing home Offensive Rookie of the Year after being drafted with the #1 Pick .

“It’s special because you only get one rookie season,” Miller said. “You don’t get two tries at it. It’s really a one-and-done thing. That was probably the most special thing about it – you only get one shot to accomplish this feat.”

Meanwhile, Tim Tebow was awarded GMC Never Say Never honors for his breathtaking comeback performances through a 6-1 Broncos streak that elevated them to the top of the AFC West.  The Never Say Never is given for, “the best moment or play of the year that represents determination and perseverance.”

Tebow rose above other candidates with two gutsy drives for a touchdown and then a 59-yard field goal in the final three minutes of a crucial win over the Chicago Bears in Week 14.  The Tebow-led Broncos ground out 33 hard-fought yards over 9 plays in overtime, and Matt Prater was true from 51 yards to seal the victory.

At the time Tebow commented, “If you believe, then unbelievable things can sometimes be possible.”

After he accepted the award this weekend in Indianapolis, Tim was sure to give more credit to his team.  “No matter how bad it looked or how bleak it was, we continued to fight and show a lot of courage.  So I’m very thankful for my teammates and my coaches.”

Tebow could have singled out Von Miller as a particularly important cog in the Broncos’ comeback machine.  After a 1-4 start, Miller sparked a defensive resurgence in six Broncos wins by averaging a sack, a defensive stuff, and almost 7 tackles per game.  And it was when Miller was slowed by a massive cast on his surgically repaired hand that Denver returned to earth, finishing the regular season on a three game losing streak.

For sure, the Broncos will need both Tebow and Miller to hold form and even improve if Denver hopes to play beyond the divisional round of the playoffs next season.

For his part, Miller swore to improve drastically in 2012.  “I have no doubt that I’ll be a totally different player next year. It will be night and day.”  Von will have a chance to improve under new Broncos Defensive Coordinator Jack del Rio.

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Tom Brady greets Tim Tebow postgame in 2011. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

There was a chance — call it even a good chance — that the Denver Broncos would have opened the 2012 NFL season in Foxborough, Massachusetts had the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl last night.

Think about it. Tom Brady vs. Tim Tebow set ratings records earlier this season. Everyone will be eager to see how Tebow progresses after an offseason of focused work as Broncos starting quarterback. Surely the big-wigs at NBC were watering at the mouth at the idea of kicking off 2012 with a rematch between two of the league’s most popular quarterbacks.

Of course, that won’t happen now. The New York Giants won The Big Game, and they’ll open the season on Thursday, September 6th at home, as has been the tradition for the Super Bowl champs for the better part of a decade.

And, unlike the Patriots, the Giants aren’t on the Broncos’ schedule next year.

So the NFL world will have to wait at least one NFL game before Tebowmania takes over again, and the Broncos and Patriots will probably settle for a different primetime matchup in 2012 instead.