Denver
Broncos
2018 Record: (6-10) 3rd AFC West
2018 Season Recap:
Offense
Points: 20.6 (24th)
Yards: 350.1 (19th)
Pass Yards: 230.9 (19th)
Rush Yards: 119.2 (12th)
Defense
Points: 21.8 (13th)
Yards: 365.1 (22nd)
Pass Yards: 245.6 (20th)
Rush Yards: 119.6 (21st)
Ever since John Elway convinced Peyton Manning to
bring his talents to the mile high city, then seeing him depart while riding
off into the sunset of retirement, Denver hasn’t been able to correct the
quarterback positional issues left behind.
The 2018 Denver Broncos again witnessed the struggle
of a limited offensive group under performing, leaving their defense to see
another wasted campaign. The big news during the 2018 offseason was the
addition of Case Keenum to take over as the starting pivot for the Broncos.
While we had cautioned our reader’s outlook to be far more realistic, Keenum in
our eyes was a system quarterback which led to his success in Minnesota. While
the situation was completely understandable, Denver required any upgrade to the
position in hopes to remain competitive in a very difficult division.
Starting the season on a high note, the Broncos
managed to open the year with two victories making claim that this club could
move the ball under Case Keenum. Unfortunately for Elway and his coaching
staff, Denver fell victim to reality winning one contest in their next 7
dropping their overall record to 3-6 entering their week 10 bye.
Knowing their play had been inexcusable, coach Vance
Joseph rallied his troops and organized one last ditch effort to save the
season while trying save his job. Coming off their bye week, Denver was on fire
beating the high powered LA Chargers, only to follow that up with a victory
over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals to bring them back to .500,
and keeping their playoff hopes alive.
While the joy was short lived, the Broncos failed to
capitalize on an easier slate of contests, dropping the remaining four on their
schedule to finish the year with another grim output. To the dismay of John
Elway, firing the coaching staff and promising a new direction was his stance
from the close out interview.
2019
Offseason WorkBook:
The
Coaching Staff
While Vance Joseph tried his best to bring the Broncos
back to super bowl levels, his lack of overall proficiency led this team to
greatly underachieve. Joseph’s specialty was in fact on the defensive side of
the ball, and even in that realm, the team greatly underachieved.
Moving forward, and once again searching for a new
coach to take over this club, John Elway bucked the trend of hiring a bright
young offensive mind, and secured one of the best defensive coordinators on the
market – Vic Fangio, formally of the Chicago Bears.
While Fangio has received a great deal of respect
across the league, this will be the second straight coach hired with a
defensive minded approach. Fangio wasted no time in building his coaching
staff, which came with a mutual separation of Coach Gary Kubiak. Filling the
most important roles to support his vision, Fangio hired Rich Scangarello
(offensive coordinator) and Ed Donatell (defensive coordinator) to help guide
this ship.
Retooling this roster to fit the new systems that will
be implemented should be an interesting situation to keep tabs on this
offseason.
The
Offense
At least when it comes to John Elway, he isn’t shy to
admit when he’s made a mistake. Showing that he made the wrong hire to lead this
team (Vance Joseph), and feeling exactly the same with his starting quarterback
(Case Keenum), Elway made moves again, this time trading for Baltimore Ravens
long time quarterback Joe Flacco.
While some don’t view Flacco as a natural upgrade to
Keenum, our observation is completely with the opposite opinion. Flacco has
shown consistent play over his career while still possessing that big arm deep
threat. Joe recently lost his job in Baltimore thanks to the evolution of
rookie spark-plug Lamar Jackson. Flacco suffered an injury to his hip last
season which opened the door for Jackson to take over the starting role, which
in turn could be very beneficial to Denver. Don’t get us wrong, we aren’t
suggesting that Flacco is the next coming of Peyton Manning, but he should be
able to produce far better than Keenum did a season ago.
When reviewing the Broncos running backs, it’s clear a
gift was given to the team with undrafted rookie free agent Phillip Lindsay.
Moving on from CJ Anderson last offseason, Denver selected Royce Freeman in
hopes that he would take over the starting role and not look back. However,
good fortune found the Broncos with Lindsay’s unbelievable heart which drove
him to lead this team in carries. Having two viable backs on the roster is
never a bad situation to be in, and moving forward, this two headed monster
should again be something other teams fear in 2019.
Looking over this receiving core that has in the past
been the staple of success, moving forward with youth is the new mantra with Emmanuel
Sanders being the lone veteran survivor. While we know what Sanders is capable
of, we could see somewhat of a regression after he returns from an achilles
injury which cost him the later parts of the 2018 campaign. Courtland Sutton
showed signs of flash and big play potential which should be highlighted this
upcoming season. DaeSean Hamilton is another player we are extremely excited
about and look to see him used more frequently as he begins the grooming
process to take over from Sanders on a full time roll after this year. Adding
depth is always an option, but at this point, this should be the group Denver
houses on opening day.
The
Defense
While this defensive unit is shades of what they used
to be, they still possess a great deal of talent. Starting with the defensive
line/outside line backers led by all star Von Miller, and rising star Bradley
Chubb, together they lifted this defense to pile up a whopping 26.5 sacks
accounting for 60% of all takedowns of opposing quarterbacks. With these two
anchoring this pass rush, the Broncos should still be in good hands in the sack
department but could use added depth.
The defensive line will be without Domata Peko this
season as he’s already been told he wont return to the club. Derek Wolfe seems
to be the only viable player capable of stopping the run while taking pressure
off of Miller and Chubb. This a great area of need that should be addressed
this offseason.
When reviewing the interior line backing tandem, more
changeover will be front and center as Denver has also told Brandon Marshall
that he too will not return to the squad. With Todd Davis leading the team in
tackles this past season with 114, John Elway is more than happy to remove
Marshall’s funds off the books in hopes to get younger at the position. Denver
was severally gashed last year in defending the run, so adding a presence in
the middle that can step up and jam the middle would be a welcomed sight.
This secondary still looked to have some level of
domination early in the season with Chris Harris still proving he can be the
vocal point of this back end. Unfortunately for Harris and the Broncos defense,
he was lost to and injury which completely derailed the outlook of this unit.
With issues at the safety position and Bradley Roby possibly heading to the
open market, Denver’s back-end will look vastly different and could see another
difficult year in 2019.
Team
Free Agents / Team Salary Cap
One of the issues many criticize John Elway for is his
complete mismanagement of his salary cap. When your team misses the playoffs
and books look to be in grave trouble, answers must be had. While Elway almost
has free reign to act as he pleases, correcting this ship from sinking will be
his primary objective.
Denver currently sits with little over 17 million (+$17,636,719)
in free space and will need to get creative with how he finds ways to save.
Having 26 team free agents to consider bringing back to the fold, perhaps only
a handful of players will receive an offer to return. Bradley Roby should be at
the top of the list of players to resign but given the lack of funds Denver has
at their disposal, he may have priced his way off the team. Shaquil Barrett may
also find good fortune to get another deal, but his future too isn’t certain to
return. Outside of that, many others will be viewed as interchangeable pieces
that could be replaced at a cheaper price tag.
When reviewing team rosters to find ways to generate
extra funds, one major issue is the amount of money owed to the quarterback
position now that Flacco’s services have been acquired. Between him and Case
Keenum, the Broncos have invested a healthy 39.5 million to the position for
2019. With that said, we don’t see Denver holding Case on the roster for much
longer removing his 21 million off the books. With that release, Denver will
add to their long list of dead money players eating another 10 million in lost
funds.
While Brandon Marshall has been told he won’t return,
the Broncos haven’t made it official just yet still holding his 8.8 million in
salary. Once released, Denver will eat another 4 million in dead funds while
adding another 4.4 to positive cash flow. With all the struggles the Broncos
offensive line has had these past few seasons, its almost unfathomable to
suggest cutting an offensive lineman. However, for the purpose of this
exercise, cutting guard Ronald Leary would create an additional 9.2 million
toward the cap while only eating a mere 1.7 million in dead funds.
Denver has the ability to create more room to help
retool this roster and should execute a few of these moves to help them move
forward.
The
NFL Draft
At least in terms of the upcoming NFL draft, Denver
currently holds 8 selections to help restock the cupboards to help this team
move in the right direction. Unfortunately for Broncos fans, John Elway`s track
record in the past few drafts has been sub-par to say politely.
Denver holds an extra 5th round pick to
their name, while selecting in the 10th overall spot in the first
round. Drafting offensive line would be the most appropriate move to help keep
Joe Flacco upright for the entire season, but line backer could also warrant a
hard look over.
While we don’t see Denver trading up or down in the
first round, seeing Elway move back in the 2nd round and further
would be something we would definitely advise. Adding depth pieces while
shoring up the offensive and defensive lines would be a huge win for this team.
We will watch close to which direction Denver moves after the first round.
Comments
Post a Comment