Position Preview: Defensive Line - The Broncos defense in 2012 will be sporting a new look up front.  New Defensive Line Coach Jay Rodgers values size in the middle, and the offseason has certainly added that to Denver’s defensive tackle position.  The team selected Derek Wolfe with its first pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, signed former Bronco Justin Bannan, and got Ty Warren back healthy under a restructured contract.  Read more from Denver Broncos >>>>

2012 Game-by-Game: Week 1 - Over the next few weeks, DenverBroncos.com will take a look at the team’s 2012 schedule week-by-week, including a look at the last time the teams faced off, what to watch for this season and more.  Read more from Denver Broncos >>>>

Q&A with Jay Rodgers - On May 14, the Broncos’ coaching staff was suddenly in flux.  Defensive Line Coach Wayne Nunnely retired, leaving an open spot at the position. But Head Coach John Fox wasted little time in promoting former defensive assistant Jay Rodgers to that position.  Read more from Denver Broncos >>>>

Denver Broncos: 3 Players Under the Most Pressure Because of Peyton Manning - The Denver Broncos’ signing of Peyton Manning ratcheted up the pressure for the Broncos to ascend to greatness in 2012.  Manning hand-picked the Broncos because of the allure of some top players, a quality coaching staff and a Hall of Fame quarterback in the front office. By choosing to bring his game to Denver, it also puts some major pressure on players on the roster already, whom he expects to elevate their games as well to achieve the ultimate goal: the Lombardi Trophy.  Read more from Bleacher Report >>>>

Broncos May Renovate Stadium Thanks To Manning - The news that Peyton Manning was coming to Denver had just broken over a local radio station when the Broncos’ manager for suite sales felt his phone buzz with a text from one of his longtime customers. The customer, Scott Brown, had been reluctant to renew his pricey suite lease for another season. But minutes after he heard that Manning was coming to town, Brown sent the suite salesman a simple text. “Let’s do this.”  Read more from Forbes >>>>

Film Room: Happy Birthday, Shannon Sharpe! - Today is former Denver Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe‘s forty-fourth birthday.  Happy Birthday, Shannon!  During his career, the Birthday Boy was an eight-time Pro Bowler, a four-time Associated Press All Pro, a three-time Super Bowl Champion, a member of the NFL’s 1990s All Decade Team and a member of the Denver Broncos 50th Anniversary Team.  Read more from Bronco Talk >>>>

The Denver Broncos 7th Round Draft Success Rate – As we continue looking at the Denver Broncos and their draft history, the 7th round becomes the focus for this discussion. I covered the 5th round and the 6th round and plan to keep going until a reasonable conclusion can be made for a standard of success at each round of the draft. Obviously, the later the round, the more difficult it is to make any NFL teams final roster. Many 7th round picks are raw and have as much chance of landing on the Practice Squad as they do being cut in Training Camp. The good news as far as Broncos Country is concerned, is that their favorite team has done fairly well in the late rounds. In fact, one of the four Bronco players inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was drafted in the 7th round. It shouldn’t take much effort for you to realize I’m speaking of the “Mouth of the South”, Shannon Sharpe.  Read more from Mile High Report >>>>

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Former receiver Rod Smith is joining the Denver Broncos’ Ring of Fame - They aren’t brothers, but in many ways they learned life from the same man.  And when the newest member of the Broncos Ring of Fame, former wide receiver Rod Smith, celebrated Thursday with a series of text messages with Brian Heimerdinger, the topic was Mike Heimerdinger, Brian’s father and former Broncos assistant coach who died of cancer last year.  Read more from the Denver Post >>>>

Kuper on Road to Recovery - Midway through the first quarter of the Broncos’ Week 17 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs last season, Chris Kuper lined up for his fifth play of the day.  The right guard knew his job — he was on the back side of a running play designed for Willis McGahee.  But during the 6-yard run, Kuper ended up on the ground.  Read more from Denver Broncos >>>>

A Look Around The Division - Here’s a breakdown of who the other AFC West teams drafted; this segment is from the Xfinity 2012 Draft Special.  Watch video from Denver Broncos >>>>

A Look Around The Schedule - Which other high profile draft picks will the Broncos face this season? Watch this video to find out.  Watch video from Denver Broncos >>>>

Is Rod Smith HOF worthy? - When he watched his quarterback go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004, Rod Smithwondered if his bust would be bronzed next to John Elway’s some day.  Now that he’s entered the Denver Broncos’ ring of fame, the rag-to-riches receiver still wonders if he will end up in the Canton, Ohio museum.  Read more from ESPN >>>>

7 Players Most Responsible for the Denver Broncos’ Success or Failure in 2012 - The Denver Broncos saw a major overhaul of their roster during the 2012 offseason.  This major overhaul was most felt in the signing of Peyton Manning. With the signing of possibly the biggest free agent in history, the Broncos jettisoned former starting quarterback Tim Tebow for a draft pick.  Read more from Bleacher Report >>>>

The Denver Broncos Are Close to Super Bowl Contention - As summer vastly approaches, and the craziness from the draft settles, the conversations of what teams are the favorites for division, conference, and Super Bowl titles are beginning to take fold.  Read more from Bleacher Report >>>>

Denver is Ready to Be a Manning City - Just the other day I was at the grocery store, and as usual there were many children wearing Denver Broncos shirts.  But I noticed something eerily different about these particular shirts — the name on the back: Manning.  So it wasn’t a dream – Peyton Manning really is coming to Denver. His name englossed in that brilliant orange is enough to make a grown man cry. Don’t judge me for crying at a grocery store.  Read more from Yahoo! Sports >>>>

Why Peyton Manning Will Not Win a Super Bowl in Denver - While I am not generally the rain on anyone’s parade, anybody outside of Denver who really believes that Peyton Manning will take the Broncos to their first Super Bowl since 1998 is dreaming. I will forgive Broncos fans for thinking this way…honestly, you should believe that your team will make the big game every year. Manning is not the first big name quarterback to switch teams late in his career, but historically success has been lacking.  Read more from NFL Soup >>>>

Roster Bonus: Peyton Manning isn’t the Broncos only notable offseason move - The excitement to see Peyton Manning throwing passes for the start of mini-camp later this month, unless you got a sneak peek at a Denver area park or high school practice field earlier this spring, is palpable. Manning is unquestionably the Broncos top offseason story; his large presence has easily overshadowed other significant roster upgrades.  Read more from Mile High Sports >>>>

Follow Denver Horse Force on Twitter at @DENHorseForce and Facebook at www.facebook.com/denverhorseforce.

After nearly four decades of coaching, Wayne Nunnely is calling it a career.

The Denver Broncos defensive line coach announced his immediate retirement Monday after three seasons with the Broncos.

Nunnely started his coaching career in the mid-70s in Las Vegas before joining the college ranks.  In 1995, Nunnely moved to the NFL, coaching defensive line for New Orleans and San Diego before joining the Broncos in 2009.

Broncos defensive assistant Jay Rodgers will take over for Nunnely.

Players react

Broncos defensive standouts Elvis Dumervil and Robert Ayers reacted to Nunnely’s retirement via DenverBroncos.com.

Dumervil:

“He’s a great man and a great mentor off the field as well.  He helped me become a mature person off the field. He’s a great technician coach. He was always fiery and he always had it in gameday, practice — he always came with it every day to work. Those were things I learned from him, no matter how you feel, you have to come to work every day, day in and day out. It’s all about consistency and he showed a good example and was a role model for our defensive linemen.”

Ayers:

“He definitely was, in my opinion, a very great coach in this league.  He’s very established, and if you look at his résumé and the guys that he’s coached there are a lot of Pro Bowlers and a lot of great players. He’s going to be missed and we definitely learned a lot from him. He brought a lot to work. Guys fed off his tenacity. His passion for the game was intense and we all fed off that.”

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