Blindside, One Man Brickwall, is Broncos Biggest FA addition, says Peyton Manning

Broncos' best offseason acquisition didn't come in free agency (technically)

Ryan Clady suffered a foot injury early in the year and missed Denver's run to the Super Bowl.
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

DENVER -- For Ryan Clady, watching February's Super Bowl was hard -- and understandably so. The +Denver Broncos' left tackle, among the best at his position in the +NFL, had been out since Week 2 with a Lisfranc sprain in his left foot. He was powerless, a passive observer of his team's collapse.

I watched Clady watch a game once -- how meta is that? -- in Week 16 in +Houston. He'd traveled with the Broncos to Texas, and he was seated in the press box, squashed between writers, too big for his chair, his legs pressed beneath the desk in front of him. He cheered, too, breaking the cardinal rule of press boxes, but he's Ryan Clady, after all.

He cheered, and he flinched. At first, it seemed as if he flinched for Peyton Manning and cheered for his throws. But no, Clady flinched before the throw, cheered at the release. He watched his offensive line, watched his replacement and the block, block, block that preceded each throw, and if he followed the same routine in New Jersey in February, watching his Broncos vs. the +Seattle Seahawks, well, it had to have been excruciating.
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Broncos CR3W do not Recall seeing Peyton Manning's Viewpoint's as Incorrect

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In the months since their Super Bowl rout at the hands of Seattle, the Broncos have made move after move, waving goodbye to the likes of Champ Bailey, Eric Decker and Knowshon Moreno, among others, and inking deals with big-name free agents. T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib, DeMarcus Ware, boom, boom, boom. Denver owned the opening days of free agency, and yet in the weeks since, one name has come up more often than any of those ballyhooed acquisitions.

It's Clady's.

"We've got Ryan Clady back," Broncos coach John Fox said at the NFL's annual meetings in March. "That makes us better instantly."

"It's almost like Ryan Clady was a free-agent acquisition," Manning echoed last week before a speaking engagement.

It's almost like he was a free-agent acquisition ... and if the former first round pick from +Boise State University were, he'd have been the Broncos' best.

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Ryan Clady on recovering, looking forward to 2014 - +Denver Broncos (video) 

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Best "New" Addition, per Peyton Manning, Ryan Clady - Broncos CR3W Support this view

Manning: Best 'new' addition may be Clady

Contributions by Jeff Legwold
+ESPN

As he progressed through his offseason work, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning watched with great interest as his team opened free agency in high gear. 

Manning is known to quickly call and/or text the team's newest acquisitions, welcoming them aboard. This offseason, Manning quickly reached out to cornerback Aqib Talib, safety T.J. Ward, defensive end DeMarcus Ware and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders after they signed.

GRADING the BRONCOS 2014 FREE AGENCY

The Broncos are set to open their offseason program Monday, and despite all the new acquisitions, Manning said this past week one of the biggest "additions" to this season's lineup will be the return of Ryan Clady. The left tackle had foot surgery that ended his 2013 season after two games.

You always want to have your good players in the lineup. And he's one of our best," Broncos coach John Fox said of Ryan Clady.“We lost some players and we're getting some players back that were injured last year,'' Manning said. "It's almost like Ryan Clady was a free-agent acquisition. He didn't play last year [after injuring his foot in Week 2]."

Broncos executive vice president of football operations/general manager John Elway has consistently said in recent weeks the Broncos expect Clady to be at full speed by the time the season rolls around. Clady has progressively stepped up the work in his rehab, even after the Broncos had closed out the season with a loss in Super Bowl XLVIII.

But even as the +Denver Broncos blistered the league's single-season record book with Manning's 55 touchdowns and 5,477 passing yards to go with the team's 606 points overall, the Broncos were not always what they could have been if Clady were healthy. The Broncos used a three-wide receiver look as their base offensive set -- with Chris Clark playing in place of Clady -- but Manning didn't always have time to explore all of his options.

Rich Kane/Icon SMI

Manning was actually sacked fewer times with more pass attempts in 2013 than in 2012 -- he was sacked 18 times this past season with 659 pass attempts as compared to 21 times in 2012 with 583 pass attempts in +NFL. The Broncos believe Clady's return will enable them to expand some of what they did last season. That includes their ability to run the ball more efficiently out of their open formations and give Manning more time to see more options when he does throw the ball.

Manning's ankle troubles this past season were a result of hits taken from his blind side, from rushers Clady would have been blocking had he been in the lineup. Manning's sack totals don't always tell the story, and the Broncos want to address the hits he took in 2013.

With his preparation, anticipation and pre-snap recognition of what the defense has to offer, Manning has always been able to limit sacks -- almost no matter what the offensive line has looked like in front of him. He has been sacked 20 or fewer times in 10 of his seasons as a starter; fewer than 15 times in five of his seasons. Defenses have never sacked Manning more than the 29 times they got him in 2001, a season the +Indianapolis Colts finished 6-10.

But after four neck surgeries and turning 38 years old, every hit on Manning is potential trouble.

Broncos head coach John Fox has said, in the wake of the departure of left guard Zane Beadles in free agency, the team will try plenty of combinations up front during offseason workouts and even into training camp -- "a million," he said -- but that the "best five" will be the starters. And as they get down to business Monday, all of those plans are based on having a healthy Clady at left tackle, handling his business on his own so the Broncos can slide the help elsewhere if necessary.

Or as Fox put it: "You always want to have your good players in the lineup. And he's one of our best. We did a lot of good things when he was out last season, but we'll be able to do even more good things with him back in there."