SMITH: ... no one in Broncos history caught more passes, gained more yards from scrimmage and scored more touchdowns than him.

There are no “Employee of the Month” plaques displayed anywhere at Broncos headquarters. If there were, they would have been useless, because for more than a decade, the only name displayed would have been Rod Smith’s.

And if it sounds like I’ve written something similar before, I have, in August 2003:

Other companies have plaques with pictures, honoring their Employees of the Month. For the most dutiful of corporate servants, there are repeated spots on the plaques over the years, enough to allow observers to view just how that loyal worker’s hairline receded over the years. There’s no such plaque in the Broncos’ office — just the media guide, which hadn’t borne a player’s picture on the front since the year after Terrell Davis earned league MVP honors. That is, until this year, when Smith graced the cover.

Smith was a leader in every way. Vocally — not just in huddles and on the sideline, but in the locker room, where he would offer advice on pass-catching, financial planning, weight training, or an opinion on any subject you could imagine.

The leadership Smith brought to the receiving corps — and to the offense as a whole — was irreplaceable. Only now, with Peyton Manning aboard, have the Broncos recaptured that presence on the offensive side of the locker room. The accountability Manning demands from his offensive teammates hasn’t been heard around the Broncos since Smith was there, prodding his younger comrades to lift one more set, take one more extra repetition or watch one more play in the film room.

Smith also had a memory like an elephant’s — and if you didn’t realize this before, you might have when you saw his tweet from April 26, during the NFL Draft:

TheREALrodSmith: Did I get drafted yet? I’m still waiting.

There were certain points Smith would never let you forget — starting with passing through the entire 1994 draft without his phone ringing. The chip stayed on his shoulder his entire career, and based on that tweet, it remains there today.

He also always wanted to make sure that when you wrote stories about him, you didn’t forget the year on the practice squad — the 7-9 season of 1994 under Wade Phillips. The NFL dictates that a year spent there doesn’t count toward a player’s experience, thus, Smith’s career was deemed to have begun in 1995, meaning that in, for example, 2004, he was a “10-season veteran.” Smith disagreed, so whenever possible, I always tried for a workaround; I would mention that his career began in 1994, or that he was in his “11th season with the organization,” or whatever applied.

You could trust Smith because he had a sharp edge to him. When I see nothing but a smooth, polished demeanor, I find myself questionining their motives; once I see the razor come out — be it in frustration, anger, exasperation — I know that’s someone I can trust. You’d see it from Smith when he received a question that irked him — or occasionally when you’d ask him for a minute and he’d bellow, “HELL, NO!”

But invariably, a couple of seconds later, he’d look back at you, smile and ask, “What you want?” Then he’d pour his heart, soul and guts into your tape recorder.

Just don’t call Smith an “overachiever,” which was the word most often applied to him. He hated that. As he said in August 2003:

“What makes you an overachiever? I never understood that word — overachiever. That means you’re doing something you’re not supposed to be able to do, because obviously we were able to do it. It’s just a matter of having the right opportunities.

“You don’t know when you’re going to get them, so you’ve got to be prepared for them at all times. You never know when this game is going to end, so you’ve got to go like it’s your last day. And that’s the way I’ve approached it. Every day I come in here, I look to make sure that my name’s in my locker. That means I’ve got another day.”

He could overcome being undrafted. He could overcome the critiques that he was too small and too slow to achieve NFL success.

The only thing he couldn’t overcome was a balky hip that began bothering him in 2004 but didn’t force him to miss substantial action until 2007. As he said as that last, lost season closed:

“Honestly, I (played) for a while without knowing it was probably doing more damage than good to (the hip). My mentality is what kept me here this long, being able to withstand pain and play hurt, but when you get injured, it’s a different thing. That same tenacity that helped me stay in the league this long is probably going to take me out of the league.”

He knew as he walked away that he wouldn’t be around Broncos headquarters much after that. The team would have loved for him to have transitioned to the coaching staff; he was already a de facto receivers coach, anyway, but whenever the subject arose, he always balked at the notion of working coaches’ hours.

But no Bronco ever put more time and energy into maximizing his potential than Smith. The hours he kept as a player were enough.

I maintain that No. 80 should be retired from circulation with the Broncos. Even though the Pro Football Hall of Fame is likely beyond his reach, he remains the Broncos’ standard for diligence, character and leadership.

The Ring of Fame will have to do. But as as hallowed a place in Broncos lore as it is, it just doesn’t seem enough to provide an accurate measurement of what Smith meant to the organization.

ELWAY: ... along with John Fox, answered fans' queries Tuesday. (MAXDENVER.COM FILE PHOTO)

For an hour Tuesday, season-ticket holders had their turn at Broncos coach John Fox and executive vice president John Elway. Approximately 6,000 fans listened in, with the questions coming from supporters who were first-year ticket-holders to one who had a season ticket in the franchise’s first year, 1960.

A few notable revelations from the conference call follow:

1. DEREK WOLFE: HE’S THE ONE THAT THEY WANTED.

Elway told one fan that the rumors that the Broncos moved back expecting another prospect to fall were untrue, and that they had defensive tackle Derek Wolfe in mind all along:

ELWAY: “We had Derek targeted the whole time and that’s why we thought that we could move back and pick up some value, some picks in the draft. We were able to move back to 31 and get the fourth-rounder … Derek was our target the whole time. We were a little bit nervous because we heard that he had been No. 1 on Baltimore’s draft board too and didn’t know if he was going to get to us, but Derek was our pick the whole time. He was our target.”

But that being said, Fox followed Elway’s statement by reminding the inquisitor that no trade down is made without multiple targets in mind:

FOX: “Very seldom do teams move back in the draft without there being a clump of guys there that you’d be satisfied with. So that’s most people’s philosophy and definitely ours as well.”

But toward the end of the call, Fox sung Wolfe’s praises, pointing out that some of his intangibles tipped the scale in his favor over other DT prospects such as Connecticut’s Kendall Reyes (picked by San Diego) and Michigan State’s Jerel Worthy (who went to the Packers):

FOX: “We had them stacked similarly on our board. But at the end of the day, a lot of these guys know how to do it, they know what they’re doing, and sometimes it comes down to what separates players at this level is the ‘why’ and there was just a real strong feeling of what he (Wolfe) brought to the table, not just on the field, but in the meeting room, in attitude, in something we want to build on defense with the Broncos. His production was the highest production level as far as sacks in college football and he was a guy that we really, really liked and it was obvious that we liked him better than the other guys taken. Time will tell.”

2. THE FUTURE IS BROCK OSWEILER’S.

OSWEILER: ... if Manning stays healthy, will have time to develop.

“He’s our guy for the future,” Elway acknowledged, giving Osweiler the kind of definitive stamp that was never affixed to Tim Tebow. Why? Because Osweiler fits the template:

ELWAY: “I think that when we looked at Brock (we saw) the ability to pick up the exact type of quarterback that I feel has a tremendous amount of upside, that we feel like we got great value at that pick.

“It’s always tough to pick a quarterback that you know is not going to play for you for a while, but I think we have high hopes for him in the future to where once Peyton decided to hang them up that he’s the guy in waiting that can keep us (winning) and we don’t miss a beat when Peyton decides to retire, and we can continue to compete for world championships year-in and year-out.”

What Elway hopes for is the kind of smooth, seamless transition Green Bay had from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers. That was only made possible by the three years Rodgers had to grow running the scout team Wednesdays through Fridays before watching Favre play on Sundays. The Packers didn’t do well in Rodgers’ first season, but it was no fault of his own; with a 28-to-13 touchdown-to-interception ratio, he did his part, and they were back in the playoffs the next year.

But to do this, Elway had to sacrifice a pick that could have helped the Broncos this year, and he acknowledges that.

ELWAY: “Sometimes you have to sacrifice the short term for the long term to grab the guy that you believe can be that next guy for you, and that’s Brock Osweiler.”

3. IS THERE LIGHT AT THE END OF RAHIM MOORE’S TUNNEL?

MOORE: ... adding weight.

Mike Adams’ conference-call answer of “yes” when he was asked whether he was specifically a free safety in March to put Moore’s return to the first team on hold. Quinton Carter, who replaced Moore in Week 7 last year, is a more natural strong safety and moved back there when Brian Dawkins was injured and missed four of the last five games of the 2011 season (including playoffs) and is expected to return there this year.

But when Fox was asked about Moore on Tuesday, he said this:

“He’s a guy that we have not lost faith in by any means. He’s worked very hard and is ready to roll. He’s actually had a good offseason. He gained some strength and weight.”

Yes, you can interpret this as Fox trying to rebuild the confidence of Moore, which appeared shattered by the end of the season, when he appeared tentative and overcompensated by taking late-hit penalties at Buffalo on Dec. 24 and at New England three weeks later.

Hitting the weights and adding strength can only help the 196-pounder, so that’s a positive sign. But the key to Moore’s development rests in his incorporation of what he learns in the film room. Moore is highly intelligent and possesses one of the locker room’s brightest minds, but often played as though he was trying to process too much in front of him, as if he was trying to bite off not only more than he could chew — but more than he needed to chew.

Adams’ presence affords Moore time to develop, but the Broncos need their 2011 second-round pick to at least become their top backup safety this year.

4. ANOTHER ENDORSEMENT OF A 2011 DRAFT PICK: NATE IRVING.

IRVING: ... in his first full offseason.

It would seem that Irving’s chances of contributing beyond special teams are minimal, given the three-year, $12-million contract awarded to fellow middle linebacker Joe Mays in March and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio’s enthusiastic endorsement of Mays at a press conference last Saturday:

DEL RIO (on May 12): “Joe’s an active, aggressive middle linebacker. He packs a punch. He’s got excellent closing speed. I think that he’s a thumper in terms of when he hits, he’s not a wrap-and-tackler; he delivers a blow, and there are a lot of things that I saw on tape that I feel very confident about being able to help elevate him to play even better and to help the front play even better around him. I think some of the holes that he was asked to fill were awfully big. We’re going to try and reduce some of those holes a little bit with our technique in the front and I think Joe will play even better when that happens.”

But as was the case with Moore, Fox used the question about Irving to offer an endorsement of his progress:

FOX: “He’s a growing player. He’s definitely got the athleticism and ability. He played behind middle linebacker Joe Mays last year and I think we’re looking for big things this year. He seems to have done a good job in the meeting rooms as well as in the weight room this offseason. I’d love to hear from him a lot this year.”

Elway followed Fox by noting the 2011 offseason’s lack of work for then-rookies because of the lockout, which appeared to hinder Irving more than any other given the cerebral demands of the middle linebacker position.

ELWAY: “The difference between last year and this year is night and day for these rookies in the fact that the rookies didn’t have a chance to get in and work out until we got into training camp because of the lockout. Last year’s guys are now having their first official offseason, which is where a lot of the improvement is made by these young guys.”

5. WHO’S GOING TO HANDLE RETURNS?

Speculation for rookies who might push for the kickoff and punt return jobs has focused around two cornerbacks: Omar Bolden, who handled kickoff returns at Arizona State, and Coryell Judie, who was a kickoff returner at Texas A&M but was a prolific punt returner in junior college.

Fox, however, offered another name.

FOX: “Probably the biggest loss was losing Eddie Royal, but we added a young man, Eric Page out of Toledo, that we think can step in, as well as some veteran guys that filled in that role last year. It should still be a strong area of our football team.”

PAGE: ... candidate for returns?

Page’s gaudy receiving statistics at Toledo are the first aspect of his game that catch your eye; he amassed 306 catches for 3,446 yards and 25 touchdowns in just three seasons. But Page also returned punts, and improved to average 10.9 yards per return with a touchdown last year. If Page can handle one of the return gigs, it might be enough to squeeze him onto the 53-man roster where he could also serve as a No. 5 receiver.

Of the Broncos’ five touchdowns on kickoff or punt returns since 2009, three belonged to Eddie Royal. The other two were scored by Cassius Vaughn (kickoff return in Week 17 of the 2010 season) and Eric Decker (punt return in Week 1 last year), but given Decker’s responsibilities at wide receiver, he isn’t expected to handle that work unless there’s an emergency. Vaughn might find himself squeezed out of a roster spot entirely after the Broncos signed two free-agent cornerbacks (Drayton Florence and Tracy Porter) and drafted another (Bolden).

Expect the competition to be wide open, regardless.

Omar Bolden has helped turn Denver's cornerback depth from a weakness into a strong point..

DENVER –A few quick scribbles from the Broncos’ three-day minicamp:

… Fourth-round pick Philip Blake spent the weekend working at center, but it’s too early to know whether he will settle in there to push J.D. Walton or at either of the guard slots to prod Zane Beadles or provide insurance for Chris Kuper, who is coming off a fractured leg.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Blake said. “I’m just taking it day-by-day. Wherever the coaches want me to be, that’s where I’ll play.”

It’s possible that Blake becomes the primary backup at all three positions this year — and that the Broncos hold off on deciding where they eventually want him to start until after this year.

… If Omar Bolden can emerge and stay healthy — and he made it through all of this weekend’s practices without a brace on his surgically repaired left knee — the cornerback competition beyond Champ Bailey promises to be the most intriguing of camp.

Bolden dropped to the fourth round only because the knee depressed his draft stock, but if he holds up, he’s a late-first/early-second-round caliber prospect to be thrown in with Tracy Porter, Chris Harris and recently signed Drayton Florence, each of whom started at times last year.

“I’m just going to do my best to stick in their pocket, stick in their ear and learn as best as I can,” Bolden said.

At this moment, the Broncos can feel confident about their depth — which was a trouble spot early last year after Syd’Quan Thompson tore an Achilles tendon, Cassius Vaughn struggled and Patriots castaway Jonathan Wilhite was ineffective while Champ Bailey was injured.

“I don’t think you can ever have too many corners with a lot of the multiple receiver sets that you get — and we will get with the types of quarterbacks that we have on our schedule this year,” Fox said. “That was problematic for us a year ago and hopefully with some good competition we can fix that.”

If the Broncos play from ahead more often than not, that will further increase the burden on the cornerbacks, but the list of opposing quarterbacks alone — which includes Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub, Joe Flacco, Carson Palmer and Andy Dalton.

Mike McCoy will spend plenty of time working with Peyton Manning on the field and in the meeting rooms, but this weekend, his eyes are focused on Brock Osweiler. (PHOTO: ANDREW MASON / MAXDENVER.COM)

As if there was any lingering doubt in the matter with Peyton Manning aboard, it was confirmed Saturday that the Broncos’ offense will look different than it did last year.

“Zone read is no longer here,” offensive coordinator Mike McCoy said with a sly, but fleeting smile.

They’ll almost certainly pass more; it would be hard not to. The Broncos only had 29.4 pass plays per game last year, their lowest average since 1978. (The only six times in club history when they passed less frequently were all between 1971-78, and the franchise-record-low of 25.9 pass plays per game came in the 1977 AFC championship season.) In Tim Tebow’s 13 starts, they had 26.8 passing plays per game, only three teams since 2000 (the 2004 and 2005 Steelers and the 2009 Jets) passed the football less frequently in a season.

They’ll also pass more often to the tight ends. Daniel Fells and Dante Rosario left for the Patriots and Chargers, respectively, and were replaced by Jacob Tamme and Joel Dreessen. It would be hard to argue if Fells and Rosario cited underuse as a reason for leaving; Denver’s tight ends collectively averaged just 1.4 receptions and 19.4 yards per game after Tebow became the starter, as they effectively became extra offensive linemen more often than not.

That won’t be the case in 2012. Fells, Rosario, Virgil Green and Julius Thomas combined for 40 receptions all season; Tamme, Dressen and Thomas might surpass that total in the four games before Green comes off the suspended list.

“Once Tim started playing, we kind of changed certain things. With the guys coming in, tight ends will be more involved. More opportunities for them (as the) main part of progressions, maybe more one or two in the progressions,” McCoy said. “Get back to some more quick game and things like that. They’re going be that first read in the quarterback’s progression.”

But one of the positive aspects of the offensive scheme the Broncos have embraced since 2009 — whose nomenclature and terminology traces back to the New England Patriots of the 1970′s — is the flexibility it offers. It can be adapted to ground-based offenses with mobile quarterbacks, as it was last year and in its initial incarnation with Steve Grogan at the helm, or it can be molded into something like the Patriots run today.

The playbook won’t be new. Some of the points of emphasis will be. But not all, including the use of two-back sets, as McCoy specifically noted.

“There’s plenty of things we’ve done in the past here, that we want to give Peyton the opportunity to see. He’s very flexible, he wants some new ideas and to run some new things,” McCoy said. “We’ve spent some time the last couple of weeks, explaining the things that as an offensive staff that we really like and the things we can help him with.”

What Manning likes will be crucial, as expected.

“If we come Sunday and there are a couple of plays in the game plan that Peyton doesn’t like — or any quarterback here doesn’t like — we’re taking them out,” McCoy said.

There might be some trial and error over the next few months and into the season — but that’s no different than any other year.

“We’ve got a system in place that we’re going to run. We will make some changes, like every team does in the offseason,” McCoy said.

“Just keep building on what we’ve done here in the past, take Peyton’s input from the things they’ve done over the number of years he’s played. Just build the best system we can here.”

Where Noel Mazzone left off, QBs coach Adam Gase will pick up in refining Brock Osweiler's mechanics.

If John Elway and John Fox had not seen progress in Brock Osweiler’s delivery when they worked him out at Arizona State on April 6, the long-term future of the Broncos’ quarterback position might belong to another draft pick — or be unsettled entirely.

But what they saw comforted them.

“You could tell that he’d worked on his delivery. It used to be a little bit lower,” Fox recalled Friday, after Osweiler and his fellow rookies had completed their first NFL practice to open the first day of the weekend rookie minicamp.

“Guys tweak stuff, whether it’s golfers with golf swings or you know players with motions and whatnot. It’s not radical. He needs to use his height advantage a little bit better with that higher delivery. He was an accurate passer. I think he became more accurate.”

When those words were relayed to Osweiler, he smiled, beginning a buoyant press conference in which he appeared not merely happy to be in Denver on a damp, cool May day, but downright ecstatic.

“If Coach Fox is happy, that’s a good sign,” Osweiler said, “but obviously I’ve got to go out there and keep improving. That’s something that we worked very hard on — when I say ‘we,’ I mean Coach (Noel) Mazzone and myself — the last couple of months to improve my delivery, improve my footwork. For Coach to notice it today, that’s a good sign.”

Mazzone, the UCLA offensive coordinator, first landed on the Broncos’ radar for his work with Tim Tebow in February. But he was also Arizona State’s offensive coordinator from 2010-11, where he helped guide Osweiler to the attention of NFL scouts.

With Mazzone helping tutor him, Osweiler figures he’s thrown 10,000 passes since the end of last season in an attempt to polish his delivery, which was strong but inefficient, with some passes often coming out sidearmed.

“The main thing would be getting my elbow raised up,” Osweiler said. A lot of times in college, my elbow would drop below my shoulder, and when you do that, you lose velocity, you lose accuracy, you’re less consistent with your throws.

“So basically made a huge point to bring that elbow up to a more traditional throwing motion and get it above my shoulder. Coach (Mazzone) did a tremendous job, but now the biggest thing is to transition those training sessions out there to the playing field.”

It might take another few thousand throws for Osweiler to get his motion where he wants it — and now it will be quarterbacks coach Adam Gase who supervises the work. During Friday’s practice, Osweiler showed progress, with his elbow so high and his delivery so tight that he only needed a mere flick to hit receivers during an early practice drill. However, he felt there was a moment or more when he lapsed into old habits.

“I heard Coach Gase a couple of times chirping behind me about, ‘Don’t do that,’ ‘Don’t do this,’ ‘Make sure you’re doing that,’ so I’m sure there was.”

But that’s to be expected for Osweiler’s first practice with his tweaked delivery.

“I felt very comfortable with it,” he said. “I felt more consistent with my accuracy. Where I was trying to put the ball, for the most part the ball ended up there. So I was very happy with it; now I’ve just got to keep building upon that.”

OSWEILER: ... will likely stick with No. 6, even though it's his first time in single digits.

You can go ahead and invest in a Brock Osweiler No. 6 jersey if you must. But it might not last.

Osweiler, who wore No. 17 at Arizona State, opted for No. 6 not because of any sentimental value, but because he “basically just kind of drew something out of the hat.”

“Not an (actual) hat, I just picked a number,” the second-round pick said Friday after his first NFL practice session. “Basically, I’ve never been a single-digit number before. I might as well try it; let’s go with 6.

“I’m going to talk with Andre (Caldwell) and see if I can slip that 17 from him somehow, but if I can’t, I’ll see how this No. 6 thing goes.”

No. 6 hasn’t been worn by a Bronco in the regular season since Jay Cutler.

“Actually, I didn’t realize that until after I’d picked it, but, whatever,” said Osweiler, who was in buoyant spirits when he answered questions at a Friday afternoon press conference. “It’s a number and hopefully I’ll do some good things with it.”

CONVERSELY, RONNIE HILLMAN’S NO. 34 was a dream come true.

The third-round running back wore No. 13 at San Diego State, but that’s a number reserved for quarterbacks, wide receivers and kicking specialists. But the number of two players he admired was available, and he pounced.

“Well, Ricky Williams was one of my favorite running backs growing up, and I wasn’t born (in time to be) watching Walter Payton, but he was one of the guys I watched on highlights, and I like the way he played, too,” Hillman said.

FLORENCE: ... signed a two-year deal.

The 31-year-old Florence would be something of a luxury item for the rebuilding Bills — but has value to a team that hopes to play from ahead and in five- and six-defensive-back packages for most of its downs.

Florence is a still-solid contributor. At minimum, he can be a fifth defensive back for most teams. Although he struggled last year — but not as badly as Pro Football Focus’s metrics would maintain — he would have looked better with free-agent pickup Mario Williams and first-rounder Stephon Gilmore in the picture.

Cutting Florence in May, as Buffalo did, is the sort of move made by a team that wants to shove players into the lineup for the sake of the long-term future at the expense of short-term performance. There was no reason for Buffalo to jettison Florence when they don’t know what they have with their rookies — particularly fourth-rounder Ron Brooks, whose role stands to be more extensive than ideal — but they did so anyway.

Twenty-three picks before the Bills picked Brooks, the Broncos added a fourth-round cornerback of their own in Omar Bolden. But he won’t be asked to play extensively right away, thanks to the pickups of Florence and Tracy Porter and the return of 2011 nickelback Chris Harris.

Even without Florence, Bolden projected as a dime back; with him aboard, it’s possible that the only way Bolden assumes a role beyond the Broncos’ six-defensive back packages is if two of their top four cornerbacks are lost to injuries.

If Bolden contributes immediately, it’s a pleasant surprise.  But with Bailey turning 34 this year, Porter on a one-year contract and Florence on a two-year deal, you don’t have to squint to see his future in the distance.   Now Bolden won’t have to be rushed into a workload that he — and, specifically, his surgically repaired knee — can’t handle.  All signs point to Bolden starting by 2014; if he can remain healthy until then, he should be ready for extensive, every-down work.

Florence is a nice insurance policy, but to the Bills, that wasn’t worth the cost. For a team with Super Bowl aspirations, he was worth the $1.5 million in guaranteed money. Now the Broncos can withstand a cornerback injury — yes, even to Champ Bailey — and can get by. No, Florence can’t replace Bailey; no one can. But he gives the Broncos four cornerbacks that played extensive roles last year — two of whom will likely see a downgrade from their previous status assuming all remain in good health.

His knowledge of Jack Del Rio’s defensive scheme from a year in 2008 also gives him value as an additional teacher for Bolden, Harris and any other young cornerbacks who manage to stick on the roster.