This was an off-season of rare turmoil for the Denver Broncos. Just two seasons removed from a Super Bowl championship, the Broncos lost their quarterback, Peyton Manning, to retirement last year then their Super Bowl-winning coach, Gary Kubiak, for healthy reasons. Enter former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
Joseph inherits a winning team, Denver finished 9-7 last season, with a young first round quarterback fighting to start and one of the two or three best defensive units in the sport. The only thing not ideal about his situation is he’s in the same division as the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders. If the Los Angeles Chargers manage to do anything this season, the AFC West will arguably be the best division in the sport.
Winners or not, there were issues with this Broncos team. How did Joseph and general manager John Elway address them? Let’s take a look.
Free Agents Gained
Jamaal Charles, Running Back, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs
Zach Kerr, Defensive End, formerly of the Indianapolis Colts
Ronald Leary, Offensive Guard, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys
Domata Peko, Defensive Tackle, formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals
Menelik Watson, Offensive Tackle, formerly of the Oakland Raiders
Free Agents Lost
Russell Okung, Offensive Tackle, signed with the Los Angeles Chargers
Kayvon Webster, Cornerback, signed with the Los Angeles Rams
Sylvester Williams, Defensive Tackle, signed with the Tennessee Titans
DeMarcus Ware, Offensive Linebacker, retired
2017 NFL Draft
Round 1: Garrett Bolles, Offensive Tackle, Utah
Round 2: DeMarcus Walker, Defensive End, Florida State
Round 3: Carlos Henderson, Wide Receiver, Louisiana Tech
Round 3: Brendan Langley, Cornerback, Lamar
Round 5: Jake Butt, Tight End, Michigan
Round 5: Isaiah McKenzie, Wide Receiver, Georgia
Round 6: De’Angelo Henderson, Running Back, Coastal Carolina
Round 7: Chad Kelly, Quarterback, Ole Miss
Proposed Offensive Starters
QB: Paxton Lynch
RB: C.J. Anderson
WR: Demaryius Thomas
WR: Emmanuel Sanders
WR: Cody Latimer
TE: Virgil Green
LT: Ty Sambrailo
RT: Donald Stephenson
LG: Ronald Leary
RG: Max Garcia
C: Matt Paradis
Offensive Outlook
The Broncos biggest need this off-season was unquestionably offensive line. Good for them that the draft fell right to them, with Garrett Bolles from Utah landing in their lap in the first round. I’m not listing Boles as a starter just yet, but by October he could be plugged in at right tackle. If Sambrailo struggles at all at left early, Bolles could get brought in from the bullpen sooner. Denver added Ronald Leary from the Dallas Cowboys and Menelik Watson at tackle from the Oakland Raiders, putting them two deep at bookends.
While Joseph has said both Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch enter camp even, I have to believe the entire organization is rooting for Lynch to get the nod. That’s true even if Siemian has a little better grasp of the offense come opening day. Siemian is probably as good as he’s going to get, but Lynch is a potential franchise quarterback. He got some action last year, but it’s time to hand the kid the keys.
The Broncos’ skill position players are still loaded, with Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders one of the better starting tandems in the NFL. C.J. Anderson will no doubt get the lion’s share of the carries, especially early, but make no mistake. If Jamaal Charles flashes anything like he had before his last knee injury, he’ll play a ton.
Proposed Defensive Starters
DE: Derek Wolfe
DT: Domata Peko
DE: Jared Crick
OLB: Von Miller
OLB: Shane Ray
ILB: Brandon Marshall
ILB: Todd Davis
CB: Aqib Talib
CB: Chris Harris Jr.
FS: Darian Stewart
SS: T.J. Ward
Defensive Outlook
Make no mistake, and Vance Joseph isn’t, this is still the No. 4-ranked defense in the NFL with absolutely no changes. Joseph ran a 4-3 in Detroit, but he’s too smart to screw up a good thing here. There is only one new piece of the puzzle, defensive tackle Domata Peko who replaces Sylvester Williams. Everyone else is the same, with the team adding another defensive end, Florida State’s DeMarcus Walker, in the second round of the draft.
In the linebacking corps, Shane Ray takes the job full time opposite Von Miller on the outside. Ray started eight games last season and recorded 48 tackles, eight sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and one defensive touchdown. Miller remains the best at his position in the game, but the secret weapon here might be inside linebacker Todd Davis. He had 97 tackles, 0.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and three passes defended.
The defensive backfield is probably even better than the linebackers, with not one, but two shutdown corners in Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr. and probably the best slot corner in the the league, Bradley Robey. The weak link is Darian Stewart, but he’s coming off a career season of his own with 78 tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, six passes defended and three picks.
Grade: A-
The Broncos addressed their biggest need up front on offense, but the coaching change from Kubiak to Joseph (and an entirely new offensive and defensive staff) will be a question mark until we start the season.
O/U wins: 7.5
Preseason Schedule
Week 1: at Chicago Bears
Week 2: at San Francisco 49ers
Week 3: Green Bay Packers
Week 4: Arizona Cardinals
Regular Season Schedule
Week 1: Los Angeles Chargers
Key game: We’ll see two regular season coaching debuts in this game with Joseph taking the field with the Broncos and Anthony Lynn wearing the headset with the Los Angeles Chargers. If Denver is going to compete for a playoff spot, it has to get past the Chargers, a beatable team in their own division. Here, in Week One, they get them at home.
Week 2: Dallas Cowboys
Week 3: at Buffalo Bills
Week 4: Oakland Raiders
Key game: Even though the Chiefs won the division last season, the Raiders come in as the favorites by a pretty wide margin. Like the Chargers, the Broncos will get first crack at their division foes at Mile High Stadium.
Week 5: BYE
Week 6: New York Giants
Week 7: at Los Angeles Chargers
Week 8: at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 9: at Philadelphia Eagles
Week 10: New England Patriots
Week 11: Cincinnati Bengals
Week 12: at Oakland Raiders
Week 13: at Miami Dolphins
Week 14: New York Jets
Week 15: at Indianapolis Colts
Week 16: at Washington Redskins
Week 17: Kansas City Chiefs
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