vailpass
09-08-2006, 11:38 AM
I don't remember who but a couple of weeks ago someone here was asking how North Dakota OL Chris Kuper was doing as a rookie this year. In case you still care, here is the latest. Looks like the kid is doing o.k.
Kuper fits Broncos' mold of linemen
The athletic rookie may be the key cog in future lines, but now it's time to wait and learn
By Mike Klis
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com
There are rules offensive linemen must abide by if they want to block for the Broncos.
Rule No. 1: No blocking for a long time.
The wait must be at least a year. George Foster, the Broncos' starting right tackle, was a first-round draft pick in 2003, selected 20th overall. For his rookie year, Foster was inactive for the first 15 games of the 16-game season. And he didn't start in the finale, a meaningless game against Green Bay.
Left guard Ben Hamilton was a fourth-round pick. He was inactive for all 16 games as a rookie in 2001, then had to prove himself in NFL Europe before he got his chance with the Broncos in 2002.
Tom Nalen, the starting center, was the 218th selection of a 222-player draft in 1994. He was cut as a rookie and waived onto the practice squad before becoming a 12-year starter.
Right guard Cooper Carlisle was the Broncos' fourth-round selection in 2000. It took him four years to start and two more years before he became a full-timer.
Chris Kuper gets the idea. He was a second-team All-American at North Dakota as a right guard in his junior season and a first-team All-American as a left tackle last year as a senior. The Broncos liked the 6-foot-4, 302-pound Anchorage native enough to use a fifth-round selection on him in the 2006 draft.
"I think he's definitely in the mold of the linemen who have been around here," Carlisle said. "He can move."
Kuper is all that. He may become the next important cog in the machine known as the Broncos' offensive line. But for year one, Kuper most likely will wait. As the season starts, Kuper is Carlisle's backup at right guard.
"He's playing real well," Kuper said of Cooper. "He's been with the offense a long time, and I'm still learning. I'm trying to pattern myself after Cooper, watch what he does, see the reads he's taking so I can catch up and learn. Then maybe if somebody goes down, I can go in and play."
Each new year in Broncos camp, there is somebody pushing someone. At right tackle, the veteran Adam Meadows is competing against the younger Foster. At center, rookie Greg Eslinger, who won nearly every national college lineman award as a four-year starter at Minnesota, may be the heir apparent to Nalen.
Chris Myers, a guard/center, may be getting close to breaking through somewhere after the Broncos took him in the sixth round of the 2005 draft.
At right guard, Carlisle is the veteran trying to hold off the kid Kuper. Coming out of North Dakota, most teams viewed Kuper as a guard. Only a couple saw him as a tackle. Guards generally are the most versatile blockers, for they usually are first assigned to the beefy guys in the middle, then asked to move on to the next line of defense where the angry, athletic linebackers roam.
Kuper spent his early days of training camp going up against Gerard Warren, the Broncos' starting defensive tackle. If the play took him past the scrimmage line, Kuper's next job was to track down arguably the NFL's most gifted three-man linebacking corps in Al Wilson, Ian Gold and D.J. Williams.
Never mind game experience. Kuper is amply tested each day in practice.
"I went up against Gerard plenty of times," Kuper said. "He's one tough guy to move. And then the backers flow so fast you've got to get on your horse and know exactly what you're doing. Because they're going to get off the ball at the same time as you."
Soon enough, Kuper will advance to Rule No. 2 for Broncos' offensive linemen: No one other than a designated spokesman, usually Foster, talks to the media once the season starts.
So unless Kuper can upset the trend of the Broncos' blocking past, he probably won't be heard from again until next year.
Kuper fits Broncos' mold of linemen
The athletic rookie may be the key cog in future lines, but now it's time to wait and learn
By Mike Klis
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com
There are rules offensive linemen must abide by if they want to block for the Broncos.
Rule No. 1: No blocking for a long time.
The wait must be at least a year. George Foster, the Broncos' starting right tackle, was a first-round draft pick in 2003, selected 20th overall. For his rookie year, Foster was inactive for the first 15 games of the 16-game season. And he didn't start in the finale, a meaningless game against Green Bay.
Left guard Ben Hamilton was a fourth-round pick. He was inactive for all 16 games as a rookie in 2001, then had to prove himself in NFL Europe before he got his chance with the Broncos in 2002.
Tom Nalen, the starting center, was the 218th selection of a 222-player draft in 1994. He was cut as a rookie and waived onto the practice squad before becoming a 12-year starter.
Right guard Cooper Carlisle was the Broncos' fourth-round selection in 2000. It took him four years to start and two more years before he became a full-timer.
Chris Kuper gets the idea. He was a second-team All-American at North Dakota as a right guard in his junior season and a first-team All-American as a left tackle last year as a senior. The Broncos liked the 6-foot-4, 302-pound Anchorage native enough to use a fifth-round selection on him in the 2006 draft.
"I think he's definitely in the mold of the linemen who have been around here," Carlisle said. "He can move."
Kuper is all that. He may become the next important cog in the machine known as the Broncos' offensive line. But for year one, Kuper most likely will wait. As the season starts, Kuper is Carlisle's backup at right guard.
"He's playing real well," Kuper said of Cooper. "He's been with the offense a long time, and I'm still learning. I'm trying to pattern myself after Cooper, watch what he does, see the reads he's taking so I can catch up and learn. Then maybe if somebody goes down, I can go in and play."
Each new year in Broncos camp, there is somebody pushing someone. At right tackle, the veteran Adam Meadows is competing against the younger Foster. At center, rookie Greg Eslinger, who won nearly every national college lineman award as a four-year starter at Minnesota, may be the heir apparent to Nalen.
Chris Myers, a guard/center, may be getting close to breaking through somewhere after the Broncos took him in the sixth round of the 2005 draft.
At right guard, Carlisle is the veteran trying to hold off the kid Kuper. Coming out of North Dakota, most teams viewed Kuper as a guard. Only a couple saw him as a tackle. Guards generally are the most versatile blockers, for they usually are first assigned to the beefy guys in the middle, then asked to move on to the next line of defense where the angry, athletic linebackers roam.
Kuper spent his early days of training camp going up against Gerard Warren, the Broncos' starting defensive tackle. If the play took him past the scrimmage line, Kuper's next job was to track down arguably the NFL's most gifted three-man linebacking corps in Al Wilson, Ian Gold and D.J. Williams.
Never mind game experience. Kuper is amply tested each day in practice.
"I went up against Gerard plenty of times," Kuper said. "He's one tough guy to move. And then the backers flow so fast you've got to get on your horse and know exactly what you're doing. Because they're going to get off the ball at the same time as you."
Soon enough, Kuper will advance to Rule No. 2 for Broncos' offensive linemen: No one other than a designated spokesman, usually Foster, talks to the media once the season starts.
So unless Kuper can upset the trend of the Broncos' blocking past, he probably won't be heard from again until next year.