Broncos Training Camp: Takeaways, Awards & Players on Thin Ice

Englewood, Colo. — The Denver Broncos' three-week training camp is officially in the books. On Thursday, the Broncos hosted the Dallas Cowboys in a joint practice that saw a ferocious Denver defense and dynamic, playmaking offense.

Thursday’s practice was a rehearsal, if you will, before the Broncos and Cowboys square off on Saturday night in Denver for each team’s first preseason matchup. Broncos' head coach Nathaniel Hackett explained that the joint practice was “unbelievably important,” and that the “preseason mindset is limited" — furthering the old maxim: NFL preseason games don’t count, but they do matter.

While I thought the Broncos had their best practice of the entire training camp on Thursday, it’s important to reflect on my critical takeaways after covering all 14 practices as Mile High Huddle's boots on the ground. Let's hand out awards and highlight those players currently on thin ice.

Offensive Camp Standout: TE Eric Saubert

Of course, Russell Wilson was the 'star' of the summer in the Mile High City, but with all due respect to the nine-time Pro Bowler, we already knew that would be the case.

What fans and media members didn’t anticipate was that Saubert, a 28-year-old journeyman tight end, would play himself into starting reps in Hackett’s offense. Saubert was re-signed by GM George Paton late in the spring after the tight end was underutilized in an incompetent Pat Shurmur-designed offense in 2021.

Coming into camp, my impression of the former fifth-round pick out of Drake in 2017 was that he’d be exclusively a blocking tight end and special teams player. Instead, the 6-foot-5 Illinois native thrived from the first day of camp in all three phases of practice: position drills, team period, and special teams.

Saubert hardly dropped any passes over the last three weeks and showed exceptional versatility as a receiving threat and blocker in the Broncos' new outside zone scheme. Wilson's emphasis on targeting the tight ends became blatantly obvious even before WR Tim Patrick’s season-ending ACL injury.

Saubert is currently stashed at the back of the team’s first unofficial depth chart released earlier in the week. But don’t let that fool you, as the sixth-year player caught multiple passes from Wilson against the Cowboys in joint practice on Thursday. Then, consider the fact that rookie TE Greg Dulcich is still rehabbing a hamstring injury, and that Albert Okwuegbunam has been somewhat underwhelming.

Call me crazy, but I can foresee Saubert’s training camp success immediately translating into becoming one of Wilson’s favorite weapons in the regular season.

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Defensive Camp Standout: OLB Baron Browning

There’s no doubt that second-year CB Patrick Surtain II is the Broncos' best defender. Sure, safety Justin Simmons is atop that list as well, but both of those statements go without saying.

But what happens when a stud linebacker who called defensive plays as a rookie in 2021 is asked to convert positions in Year 2 under a new defensive coordinator?

That’s exactly what Browning, a former third-rounder, was asked to do from his team in the wake of prized free-agent pass rusher Randy Gregory recovering from a shoulder injury. Not to mention Bradley Chubb, who will return to NFL game action this season following ankle surgery.

Lesser players would panic or even resist the unusual request of changing positions in the NFL. Not Browning, who has wholeheartedly embraced his new role with Denver’s pass-rushing unit.

The 23-year-old’s versatility is what originally caught my eye at the same Senior Bowl that fellow Broncos' pass rusher and collegiate teammate Jonathon Cooper attended, as well as OG Quinn Meinerz. In college, Browning’s unselfish team-first mentality forced him into action as both a pass rusher, and inside and outside linebacker, which is already paying dividends after his second professional training camp.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Browning shows a unique awareness in containing the edge against runs, and a sophisticated approach to combating opposing O-linemen. Rather than bull rush offensive tackles who significantly outweigh him, Browning’s supreme athleticism allows him to quickly shed blocks, using his rapid and violent hands, while also showing an exceptional bend in the pass rush.

Against the Cowboys on Thursday, Browning was putting it to Dallas’ frustrated OL alongside his fellow pass rushers. At one point, his performance was so dominant you could tell he let up and complied with instructions not to hit opposing QB Dak Prescott.

While I was initially skeptical of moving Browning to pass rusher because of his outstanding play at LB, the second-year defender has answered the call of duty thus far for his defense.

Most Improved Player: Center Lloyd Cushenberry III

The stakes for Cushenberry to perform at a high level couldn’t be any more intense. The 2020 third-round pick out of LSU has started 32 games for the Broncos over the last two years and immediately understood the responsibility of improving his game. That’s why Wilson included Cushenberry in his offseason workouts with wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs.

Thousands of snaps from under center and the shotgun were meticulously critiqued and reworked by both men at Wilson’s training facility and residence in Southern California. But padded reps are a whole different beast when it comes to team period, let alone scrimmaging the Cowboys in a joint practice.

Cushenberry arrived at training camp in phenomenal shape and revealed a lean, solid, and flexible figure on the practice fields of UCHealth Training Center. The 6-foot-4, 315-pounder was consistent in both run and pass protection assignments as the Broncos' entire OL room is in the midst of converting from the former power/gap scheme to the current outside zone.

Cushenberry's lighter frame has afforded him the advantage of climbing to the second level of the defense and he’s blocked multiple linebackers, opening up huge running lanes for his teammates. I also observed the soft-spoken and always polite center's improved strength and newfound aggression as he dished out multiple pancakes to his teammates on the Broncos' D-line before getting his hands on Cowboys defenders on Thursday.

At times, there were some kinks with the snaps between Wilson and Cushenberry, but for now, the third-year anchor of the Broncos O-line is primed to have an outstanding season.

Training Camp MVP: QB Russell Wilson

Boy, does one year truly make a difference. Thanks to Paton, Broncos Country didn’t have to skip training camp because fans had something better to do or fight about two limited, lame-duck QBs competing for the starting job.

'Mr. Unlimited’ himself has come to save the day.

The Broncos' QB carousel tropes that the national media broadcasts loved to torture fans with are long gone. Now, No. 3 jerseys have littered the Rocky Mountain region. In fact, Wilson’s jersey remains the No. 1 seller in the NFL today.

While Wilson’s dynamic playmaking ability during glorified walkthroughs is debated among the social media masses, it's clear that the Broncos have transformed themselves into a postseason contender. Wilson’s arrival creates a whole new set of expectations from teammates, coaches, and everyone employed by the franchise.

Disgruntled Seahawks fans flock to social media to call Wilson 'corny' — as if the disrespectful adjective defines him. The superstar QB has exemplified servant leadership from stretching period to meaningless warmup drills and has done so with first-class manners and an enthusiastic attitude.

Simply put, there’s nothing that Wilson demands of his teammates and coaches that he’s not willing to do himself. Not once did I see him pawning his pads off to a rookie player to haul to the equipment room as many veterans do in a right-of-passage NFL tradition.

Three weeks of training camp have justified Paton's push to correct the nosedive that the Broncos have endured the last half-decade. Love him or loath him, the NFL landscape had better respect Denver’s franchise QB, who is here to take the division, conference, and league by storm.

Players who Could be in Jeopardy

WR Seth Williams: He's loaded with playmaking ability and physical potential but has failed to demonstrate reliability in a new-look offense.
OL Graham Glasgow: He's been primarily working with the third team as rookie center Luke Wattenberg is currently backup to Cushenberry.
TE Albert Okwuegbunam: He's poised to make the team and is currently TE1 but has failed to take over as a reliable receiving option. Potential trade bait?
DL McTelvin Agim: He threw punches at a teammate last week in fully padded practice, then inserted himself in a scuffle with Cowboys (practice).
OLB Jonathon Cooper: He's quickly losing ground behind Jonathan Kongbo and has had an average training camp. He needs to have impactful preseason.
LB Alex Singleton: He's severely limited athletically and has been lost in the mix during team period. He must make an impact on special teams in preseason.
CB Michael Ojemudia: He started training camp hot, then fizzled out the last two weeks. Rookie CB Damarri Mathis is quickly ascending in the depth chart.
Safety Caden Sterns: Sterns is athletic and hardworking, but he's continually out of position with missed assignments in team period.
WR/KR Kendall Hinton: Although he caught a touchdown from Wilson in the red-zone period of Cowboys practice, there may not be enough room in the wideout corps with the emergence of rookie phenom Montrell Washington.

Follow Luke on Twitter @LukePattersonLP.

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