John Elway and the Denver Broncos got off to a slow start in free agency, but their plan is starting to come together. Whether or not Mark Sanchez, Colin Kaepernick or mystery quarterback X ends up being the Broncos’ starting quarterback Week 1, it’s clear that Elway’s No. 1 priority was shoring up Denver’s offensive line.
The signings of Donald Stephenson and Russell Okung go a long way towards improving what was one of the league’s worst units last season; the return of Ty Sambrailo and the continued growth of Max Garcia help too.
And while the way they got there may be questionable, the Broncos’ re-signing of C.J. Anderson shows that the team is committed to winning the old fashioned way, by running the ball and playing defense.
Of course, though, there are still question marks — major ones. Several key contributors on last year’s historic defense are now gone, and the offense already had a large hill to climb before they lost both their starting quarterbacks from last season. Luckily, there’s plenty of time to make improvements. The first wave of free agency may be over, but there are several more to come, plus the draft.
With that said, here are five biggest positions of needs for the Denver Broncos:
5. Defensive Depth
Let’s talk about defense for a second, and then we’re going to move on. Sound good? Even with the losses of Malik Jackson and Danny Trevathan, this group is insanely good. Sure, guys like Todd Davis and Vance Walker will have to step up into bigger roles, but that’s just how this league goes. And with the absurd amount of talent surrounding those guys, I feel confident that they’ll perform up to their fullest capabilities.
That said, pushing guys up the food chain also means that you’ve got to replenish your depth if you want to remain as durable. As we saw last year, depth is critical to a championship run. Without guys like Shiloh Keo and Josh Bush stepping in at safety when the Broncos top-three guys were in and out of the lineup, who knows if Denver would have made it as far as they did.
Likewise, when Brandon Marshall and Trevathan were dealing with injuries throughout the season, Davis was able to step up in a big way, hardly missing a beat.
But with those guys already moving into larger roles with the losses of Trevathan and David Bruton, who’s going to fill their shoes when they inevitably go down? That’s the question John Elway and the Broncos have to answer; not who’s starting, but who’s second or third on the depth chart.
Even still, the Broncos are well set up to succeed in 2016.
4. Running Back
In theory, C.J. Anderson should give the Broncos a top-tier running back in 2016. Unfortunately, the Denver Broncos don’t play theoretical football.
Now, I love C.J.; I think he’s immensely talented. But I have a hard time believing the Denver Broncos love C.J., even after they gave him a couple wheelbarrows full of money.
This is a guy who didn’t receive more than 15 carries in a game until the AFC Championship. To put that into perspective, 17 running backs averaged 15 or more carries a game last season, despite having the fourth-highest yards per carry (4.7 yards per carry) in the NFL for any back with more than 150 attempts.
Personally, it never added up. Anderson was clearly a more effective back than Hillman (4.2 yards per carry), but the Broncos refused to give him the ball. On the season, Hillman averaged roughly two more carries per game than Anderson, but when it mattered most, it was always C.J. making the game-defining plays.
All that said, it would make sense for the Broncos to be looking for a No. 2 to Anderson’s No. 1. Maybe it’s Juwan Thompson or Kapri Bibbs (both of which I like), but there’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to contribute out of the gate; neither have had hardly any experience in the NFL.
Not to mention, Anderson is clearly an injury prone back. Mostly bumps and bruises, and things of that nature, but they add up. It’ll be important for the Broncos to have someone who can carry the workload if he misses any significant time.
3. Tight End
Maybe Jeff Heurerman is the future for the Broncos at tight end, but I’m definitely not betting my life on it. Not only is he coming off a torn ACL, but even when he was healthy, he never received much run as a pass catcher at Ohio State.
During his best season, his junior year, Heurerman caught 26 balls for 466 yards and four touchdowns, but he followed that up with a 17-catch, 207-yard campaign the next year. Even at his best, those numbers don’t scream out “Tight End of the Future!”
Now, maybe Heurerman was simply underutilized in college, and maybe he has the natural ability to be a big-time pass catching threat in the NFL, but we haven’t seen it. He hasn’t even played a preseason snap.
Aside from him, Virgil Green is a nice player, but if we were ever to see a breakout season from him, we would have seen it. At this point, he’s no more than an additional offensive lineman who can break out into a route every once in awhile.
Whomever ends up starting at quarterback for the Denver Broncos, I’m sure they would greatly appreciate a big receiving threat over the middle to bail them out when things go haywire. We’ll see if they find one.
2. Offensive Line
The signings of Russell Okung and Donald Stephenson are nice, but let’s not forget that the Broncos also let two former All Pros in Louis Vasquez and Evan Mathis walk this offseason, too. Even if they aren’t the guys they once were, replacing them with a second-year guard (Max Garcia) and a converted tackle coming off a season-ending injury (Ty Sambrailo) is a definite downgrade.
And let’s be honest, the Broncos have a long way to go before we can call them a “good” offensive line. They were miserable last season, and at times they were worse than that. The fact that a guy like Michael Schofield was actually starting in the Super Bowl only goes to show how bad of a situation it was. Two signings won’t change that overnight, and please, let’s not act as if Stephenson is an all-world talent; I’d be most Broncos fans couldn’t have picked him out of a lineup the day before he signed with Denver.
Aside from possibly Okung — and even then, we don’t truly know what type of shape he’s in — you could make a case that the Broncos need an upgrade at every position across the offensive line. While a lot of people like Garcia and Matt Paradis, they’re not game changers. They’re solid, but they’re not initiating a top-10 run game on their own.
But even if the Broncos really like what they’ve got, and it makes sense that they would, depth is critical. Again, just look at Schofield. When the Broncos lost their top two left tackles early in the season, they were out of luck, having to start a thoroughly overmatched tackle on the right side of their line. Had they had quality depth, maybe that changes.
With the quarterback position in even more disarray than last season, it’s going to be all the more important to make sure the front line is up to par.
1. Quarterback
Surprise, surprise.
While the Denver Broncos may have proven that you can win a Super Bowl in the modern era of football despite your quarterback, it’s definitely not the best of ideas. Maybe the Broncos defense will be just as good as they were last year, and maybe the Broncos could put Jamarcus Russell behind center and win games, but that’s not something you want to be counting on.
The truth is that the Broncos broke the rule. Whether they’re the exception or a trend, we don’t know. That’s why it’s better to prepare for everything.
This offense needs to get significantly better if the Broncos are going to repeat, and that’s made difficult when your Hall of Fame quarterback and heir-apparent bolt in the span of a week. Yes, Mark Sanchez is in town, and yes, there’s a good chance that he’ll be starting come Week 1, but he’s not a part of Denver’s long-term plans.
Whether it’s Colin Kaepernick or some rookie in the draft, John Elway will look to find his quarterback of the future.