Jeremiah & Brooks Predict Broncos to be Among NFL's 'Most Improved' Teams
The Denver Broncos are coming off their fifth straight season of missing the playoffs, the last four of which were losing campaigns. After 10 years in the front office, John Elway relinquished his role as the general manager.
Although Elway remains with the club as president of football operations, the day-to-day management of the team, coaching, and roster decisions were passed to George Paton back in January. As soon as he arrived, Paton categorized the Broncos as a "sleeping giant," just waiting to be awakened into a terrifying behemoth.
Paton stepped in and orchestrated a very impressive free-agent haul and made several important decisions to retain or re-sign homegrown Broncos like Von Miller, Justin Simmons, Shelby Harris, and Kareem Jackson.
When the NFL draft rolled around, Paton surprised many by not taking a QB at pick No. 9, opting instead to select Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II. The 10-player draft class that the GM added to the Broncos' roster has been roundly praised and highly graded.
With the Broncos having just completed the entirety of their offseason training program, both local and national media have been able to get a bead on how this team is shaping up. Even with Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater — acquired by Paton via trade on April 28 — competing for the starting quarterback job, which casts a fair amount of uncertainty on the overall prospects of this team, two of the most renowned scouting analysts in the business are liking what they're seeing.
NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks recently named the Broncos, among a few other teams like San Francisco, New England, and Dallas, as a top candidate to be among the NFL's most improved teams. Here's what Jeremiah and Brooks said on the Move The Sticks podcast:
"I don't think anybody talks about this team," Jeremiah said. "A little bit off the radar. Last year the Denver Broncos were 5-11. That's not a 5-11 roster. I know the quarterback thing, and they've got to get Drew Lock playing. They've got some insurance now with Teddy Bridgewater. But when I look at that team, I look at the defensive personnel with Vic Fangio coordinating, and I look at Courtland Sutton coming back on offense, I look at drafting Javonte Williams to plug in at running back. The offensive line with [O-line coach] Mike Munchak, I think, is a really solid group; it's much improved over the last couple of years, Garett Bolles just got paid. They're better there.
"They've got two tight ends that run 4.4[-second 40-yard speed]... They brought in [Kyle] Fuller at corner, who's a good corner. [Justin] Simmons is one of the best safeties in all of football. Kareem Jackson is a great tackling safety, he's a really good force. That's a good football team. Bradley Chubb, and you hope that Von Miller comes back to be what he was. That's a lot of dudes up there."
Jeremiah's podcasting partner concurred.
"Like, literally, it is about the right quarterback taking care of the football," Brooks said. "If they take care of the football, they're going to win games. Now, I think their division is tough. Kansas City, the Chargers, the Raiders—I mean, it's tough sledding, but that roster is certainly good enough to where they can make some noise. I also like the fact they rebuilt their entire secondary—more depth and talent.
They are a talented team, but it comes down to quarterback play. And we talk about it being the most important position, so whether it's Teddy Bridgewater or Drew Lock, they have to get better play from the QB1 spot."
Jeremiah rightly cataloged the impressive arsenal of weapons the Broncos have at the skill positions. The pure playmaking ability and speed this unit has in potentia is special.
"Man, they are a track team, though," Jeremiah said. "When you go Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler, get Courtland Sutton back, and then you those two tight ends that I referenced with Noah Fant and 'Albert O' [Albert Okwuegbunam]— both 4.4 guys. Man, that's a lot to defend."
Brooks couldn't pick a bone with that analysis but as tantalizing as the roster is currently in Denver, the former NFL scout still can't quite zero in on what the Broncos' offense will look like. But if it comes together as well as it looks on paper, Brooks sees big things on the horizon.
"A lot to defend," Brooks agreed. "They can really test you in a bunch of different ways with their personnel. It'll be interesting to see what it looks like. When they get it all together, I think they definitely are one of the most improved teams."
What it Means
The rub, as it always does, devolves back onto the Lock vs. Bridgewater competition. And that, even, boils down further to offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. We know the Broncos are going to be fierce defensively with Vic Fangio and defensive coordinator Ed Donatell pulling the strings.
But offensively, the onus falls as much on Shurmur as it does Lock/Bridgewater to extract all that potential into a productive unit on the field. Like all NFL teams, though, as the Broncos' QB goes, so follows everyone else.
Still, it's not unreasonable to assume that by virtue of his 18 starts and the football blessing of finally getting year-over-year scheme continuity, Lock will take further steps in his development. Those steps forward should come out in the wash, if, indeed, Lock wins the starting job.
Bridgewater will have something to say about that, though. Regardless of how the competition shakes out, the Broncos really did well to acquire Bridgewater because even if Lock wins the job and starts, the former Minnesota Vikings' first-round pick raises the floor of the quarterback room.
Protecting the ball will be paramount, as Brooks elucidates, because Fangio's defense is going to be stingy and difficult to move against. Lock/Bridgewater will get extra possession opportunities thanks to that defense and one of the keys of exploiting that will be not immediately giving the ball back to the opponent.
The best way to sum it up? This is not a team that is one middle-of-the-road quarterback away from winning it all again. No, as talented as the Broncos are and as deep as they are at so many positions, this team will continue to be stuck in neutral if it doesn't get top-15 play out of the QB position.
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