Last year, the Denver Broncos went 13-3, and made it all the way to the American Football Conference Championship. They got demolished by the Pittsburgh Steelers, 34-17. The offense couldn't get anything going in the game. It seemed like they were missing a big-play wide receiver, since
Ashley Lelie had a better shot at dropping the ball than catching it. So what do the Broncos do? Some people thought Terrell Owens was the guy to go to. Wrong? As of right now, T.O. is on his way to having a third soap opera on his third team in a row. Well who else is there? Maybe they can pick up a receiver in the draft. And that's exactly what
Mike Shanahan and company did.
Actually, they didn't really
draft the five-year vet from Florida State University,
Javon Walker. The Broncos traded a second round pick to the Green Bay Packers for Brett Favre's number one receiver. The catch? Walker hurt his ACL in the first game of the year and didn't play again in the 2005-2006 season.
So, while Walker may have seemed like an iffy pick-up, you have to look at the NFL's top receiver and
Jake Delhomme's favorite target,
Steve Smith. The Carolina Panther broke his leg in week 1 of the '04-'05 season and watched from the sidelines for the remainder of the year. The next year, he came back and won the "wide receiver" triple crown". He led the NFL in receptions, yards and touchdowns. Maybe Javon would do the same thing.
Well, here we are, through 10 weeks of the season, and Javon Walker has basically carried Denver to a 7-2 record. In the seven Bronco wins, he has averaged about 93 yards per game and has scored five receiving touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. In their two losses, he had 91 total yards and one touchdown. It seems like if Walker plays well, the Broncos play well.
Walker could be the missing piece to a Denver Super Bowl win. He has proved himself as a deep threat, with three plays of 40 or more yards. He has added 11 plays of 20 or more yards, including an 83-yard TD against New England.
Is this the Broncos year? If it is, Javon Walker is sure to be a big part of their success.