Justin Edmonds - Getty Images
4 months ago: DENVER, CO - JANUARY 08: Eddie Royal #19 of the Denver Broncos celebrates with his teammate Russ Hochstein #71 after catching a touchdown pass in the second quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 8, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
Russ Hochstein is a player who has had his ups and downs during his three years with the Broncos, being active for forty-five games with sixteen starts.
Overview:
Russ Hochstein came to the Broncos after two seasons with Tampa Bay and seven seasons with New England. He was brought in by new Head Coach Josh McDaniels as part of the move to transition the Broncos from a primarily zone-blocking offensive line to one more suited for a power running game. Now with John Fox returning the Broncos to more of a zone-blocking team, will Hochstein continue to be a good fit for Denver?
Hochstein came to Denver through a trade with New England in August of 2009. He played in fifteen games and garnered a career high in starts with ten. Those ten starts came at three different positions along the offensive line: eight starts at left guard, one at right guard and one at tight end. He was used at times as a fullback when the Broncos were in a goal-line situation. He suffered a knee injury and was placed on injured reserve at the end of December, 2009. Hochstein returned from his knee injury in time to participate in training camp in 2010. He played in all sixteen games in 2010 and had six starts. He repeated his pattern of playing multiple positions with starts at left guard, right guard and tight end. In 2011, Hochstein appeared in fifteen games, mostly on special teams. When G Chris Kuper went down with a season ending injury against Kansas City in Week 17, Hochstein was called upon to take Kuper's place. Hochstein went on to start both of Denver's playoff games in Kuper's place.
Hochstein was used primarily as a backup during his first three years with Denver, gaining starts primarily with another player was incapacitated. He tended to be an able, though unremarkable, back up who was mainly noticed when he made a mistake. There appeared to be a large number of fans who were not particularly impressed by him during the 2009 season, but as he fell more and more into the role of special teamer and back up, much of the criticism disappeared.
Hochstein played for $865,000 in 2011 and is projected to earn $925,000 if resigned in 2012. This does not seem like an excessive price for a veteran back up.
Pros: Smart, technically sound. A "wall-off" player who gets good position. Plays with great leverage and can block on the move. Has good size.
Cons: Lacks great bulk and quickness. Doesn't generate much push. Can be beaten by elite defensive tackles. Needs help in pass protection. Not a regular performer.
If the question were, "Do we keep Hochstein as a starter?" my first impression would be to say "No." I would not be adverse, however, to keeping him in his current role as a special teams player and a back up. His ability to start in multiple positions (left guard, right guard, tight end, fullback) makes him a versatile, veteran depth player.
1 recs | 15 comments
I'd prefer to upgrade the depth at OL
My first plan would be draft (or sign) a great prospect to start at LG (or RT) and keep Zane Beadles as our 6th OLineman. Then we could cut Russ and Manny, and look at another C backup to be great at this unit.
Fabio Broncos - February 13, 2012
Time to move on from the mistakes of the past.
With proper scouting (not something we had in 2009-2010), Hoch can be replaced by a low draft pick or UDFA at 1/4th the cost and 4 times the upside.
Hoch gets routinely blown up in the run game. Just like Beadles in the pass game. Even worse actually.
McGeorge - February 13, 2012
+1 Hoch should be replaced.
Marvel Man - February 13, 2012
While there are worse depth oline guys out there...
… if Hoch sees significant playing time we are in deep trouble.
He has zero upside, and while his versatility makes him valuable, I’d much prefer getting someone who won’t always be bad/below average whenever he hits the field.
Manny at least has some upside, as might other young or drafted players we could bring in instead…
In my view, its time to move on…. if he’s cheap (vet minimum) I suppose he could be camp fodder… not sure what the market will be for him (likely limited, but another team might value his versatility more than I do).
cjfarls - February 13, 2012
Let me fix this for you.
If he is cheap (vet minimum) and does not receive a signing bonus.
McJedi was the lover of versatility – jack of all trades master of none players. I hope Xanders and Co take the opposite view and locate players that do certain things better than their competition.
McGeorge - February 13, 2012
According to the new CBA,
The minimum salary for a player with 10+ years in the league is 975K.
So, there isn’t a way to consider him cheap. For the minimum it’s already too expensive. CUT.
Fabio Broncos - February 13, 2012
if we have the cap room i say keep him
if we don’t then cut. I look at it this way, we have to be what….. within 1% of the new CBA. We were way under this past season, we need to get closer in order to be A) Competitive and B) inline with the CBA.
Russ would only give us leadership, experience and much needed depth. He can step in and start if need be and we won’t really lose that much as far as talent goes.
Broncs55 - February 13, 2012
Oh sure.. we have plenty cap space
But I really think we can get similar talent (with some good upside, and Russ hasn’t) for the same price. So why to spend money if we can save some here to splash landing a top-tier CB for example?
If I’m not wrong here, I think in 2012 all the teams “just” need to spend 89% of the cap… this is still not the year to the 99% agreed.
Fabio Broncos - February 13, 2012
yes
the Hoodie System doesn’t work, inexplicably enough, when there aren’t any cameras in the booth. the Pats are frauds and we screwed ourselves by employing that scumbag McDummy
the new Bradfather - February 13, 2012
I don't mind him as depth
He did a decent job towards the end of the year after Kup was hurt. I agree that we can always upgrade, but having him around purely for depth, wouldn’t be the end of the world either. Especially as we groom a rookie behind him.
Just my .02 worth though.
RebelChris - February 13, 2012
He's a 35 year old backup who has done us good from time to time, but with the new CBA
he would demand to much money for what we get. Someone said well we need to get to the cap anyway, well then re-do Clady’s contract now and we will be closer to the cap.
Digger24 - February 13, 2012
Bye Hoch, it's been nice knowing ya...
bfree2bronc - February 13, 2012
That's an easy question
Hoch is smart and versatile on one hand, but weak, slow and expensive on the other. A good backup for a mediocre team, which we no longer aspire to be.
asinsoin - February 13, 2012
We have huge issues on the OL, we need to cut him...
Unless the Broncos plan on running it 50 times a game that covered up a huge weakness, we have real issues to deal with. First, we have 3/5 of our OL that FAIL in pass protection. Given how much we ran and how many defensive teams dared Tebow to stay in the pocket and pass, it is amazing how many times 3/5 of our guys were beat. Beadles, Walton and Franklin would have been benched on just about any other NFL team due to their poor pass blocking. This is one of the reasons Orton never fared well, he is not good under pressure and he got a lot of it when he was the QB.
We NEED a player. I have no idea if that is a RT so Franklin can be moved to guard or a G so Beadles can be replace or a C so Walton does not play. We damn well better hope Franklin’s poor pass blocking was due to his being a rookie and he will fix most of those problems in his second year. I don’t know how we can have much hope for Walton and Beadles since it was their second year.
If Tebow is going to develop into a pocket passer he needs a line that can pass block. If Tebow is not the answer, we still need a line that can pass block for a more traditional QB we need to get.
I don’t seee Hoch fitting in anywhere.
Keyworthpunch - February 14, 2012
Not Entirely True...
Tebow is a below average pocket passer that can run. If he develops his ability to make plays in the pocket….It will make him an average or above average pocket passer that can run.
When lineman and backers have to account for the QB leaving, they cannot be as aggressive coming up field. If Tim can find a way to burn teams with his head, arm, and legs… he will make the OLine play beyond their talent because defenses will be thinking instead of reacting. If you watch the tape from later inteh season. Tim had a bunch of time but couldnt find anyone. So eventually he got sacked.
Aside from Franklin.. and Kup’s injury I think our line looks decent in pass protection. They should get another season to show what they can do. The communicaiton between JD and Zane seemed to get better as the season wore on and who is to say that it won’t continue to improve through camp.
Triz06 - February 14, 2012
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