3 questions Broncos must answer in 2019 if a full rebuild is on deck

The Broncos don't appear to be headed in a competitive direction. That being the case, how should the team's priorities shift?

The Denver Broncos were supposed to be much improved this year. This team was supposed to be an above .500 team. 

But through three weeks, the Broncos find themselves 0-3. What happened? How did they get here?

This is the first year the Broncos didn’t start off 2-0 since Peyton Manning’s first season with the team. So as you’d expect, this lackluster 0-3 start is leaving the fanbase a little dazed and confused, wondering what’s next. So, where do the Broncos go from here?

Let’s start with something that should be fairly obvious. The team has to keep competing. There is no way an NFL team with this amount of talented players can give up on the season through three weeks. If they do, it’s going to be a long and painful year for the players and the fans.

Outside of putting forth max effort to win each week, what can GM John Elway and the Broncos do as they keep an eye to the future of this team?

Recognize the NFL landscape

The first thing you have to do is evaluate the landscape you find yourself in, from a league-wide perspective all the way down to your Division rivals. The AFC is by no means loaded with incredible teams right now. But it is, however, very top-heavy.

You’ve got the New England Patriots, who again appear to be season-long Super Bowl favorites barring any significant injuries. You’ve got the Division-rival Kansas City Chiefs (which I’ll discuss more later). Outside of KC, who are the teams you have to beat if you're the Broncos? 

Maybe the Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers, and Baltimore Ravens.  What about the surprise 3-0 Buffalo Bills?

If you take a deeper look inside of AFC West, it’s hard to find a quick path back to playoffs. And by quick, I don’t mean this season — more like the next 2-3 years. Patrick Mahomes is going to be around awhile. And as long as he is, and Andy Reid is calling the offense, the Chiefs will be contenders.

The Chargers are loaded with talent, but just can’t seem to avoid injuries and bad luck. They find themselves with a rough 1-2 start, but this is a team that will improve significantly when they get key players like Derwin James and Hunter Henry back. It’s really too bad (for them) that Melvin Gordon is choosing to hold out during a season like this.

And then you’ve got the Oakland Raiders — team with a lot of young talent but still a couple of years (or QB) away from competing at a high level.

One key aspect to the Division, though — in 3-4 years, everything will likely change — and in a big way.

In a short time, Mahomes is going to break the QB contract record. And when he does, that Chiefs team is going to have a much more difficult time building a talented and deep roster around him. 

Philip Rivers is nearing retirement and the Chargers don’t appear to have a successor in place. The Raiders could (and should, given their number of high draft picks) be a better team in a season or two.

So why is the NFL landscape (and the Divisional situation) important to keep this all in mind?

Now is the most ideal time to commit to the rebuild

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I know it’s so hard to hear the word 'rebuild'. Trust me. I get it. But the harsh reality is that this 2019 Broncos team is nowhere near good enough to compete with the elite teams in this league. And to make matters worse, this roster is likely too many pieces away from even finding themselves back in or near the mix in 2020 either.

So really, the best way to approach the 'rebuild' would be to not think about how to best set this team up for success next season, but rather in the next 2-3 years. Doing so would make it much easier to chart the path for the Broncos' success.

First thing’s first, you’ve got to start by figuring out the most important position. Which leads me to the top priority for the remainder of this season.

Do you know what you have in Drew Lock?

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If Drew Lock plays zero games this year and this team misses the playoffs, it will be impossible for me to not consider this season a complete waste. Denver would find itself going into the 2020 offseason with no idea whether it needs to take a QB in the draft or whether it already has its guy on the roster. 

The Broncos have to play Lock this season — the second the playoffs are out of question. And if things continue the way they are going, and the Broncos find themselves at say 2-6 through eight weeks, the team should strongly consider suiting Drew Lock up as soon as he’s eligible to come off IR in Week 9.

The player evaluation doesn’t stop with Lock. You also need to figure out what you want to do with a number of other players on the team.

Is it time to move on from Garett Bolles?

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Another question that has to be answered by season's end. Similar to Lock, the Broncos need to know going into the offseason what their needs are at left tackle. At this point, it feels like Elway will pass on Bolles' fifth-year option, but Denver still has Bolles for at least the 2020 season at a moderate rate of just under $2M.

If there has been one takeaway in regards to offensive linemen in recent offseasons, it’s that they almost have to be drafted. Good teams don’t let their linemen hit free agency. So if Bolles isn’t cutting it, Denver should be prepared to spend valuable first-round capital on a new left tackle.

Beyond Bolles, the Broncos have other pressing questions they need to answer this season.

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Where does Denver stand with other notable upcoming free agents?

Chris Harris, Jr., Emmanuel Sanders, Derek Wolfe, and even Ron Leary and Von Miller (club options) are your upcoming veteran free agents. They are joined by several younger guys like Justin Simmons, Shelby Harris, Adam Gotsis, Connor McGovern, Will Parks, and Elijah Wilkinson (RFA). Who should the Broncos keep?

The important group here to keep a close eye on is the younger core. Do the Broncos try and extend any of these guys during the season? Many think, myself included, that Simmons is a great mid-season extension candidate. 

He would be a good 'core' piece to keep in place for this defense. McGovern could be in a similar situation if he continues to play well at center. Shelby hasn’t looked great after shifting to nose tackle, and would he even want to come back, even if the Broncos offered him a starting role at defensive end? 

Gotsis and Parks have shown to be effective players, but will they come at a price that makes sense? Wilkinson is restricted and has shown to be a valuable depth piece, so you’d hope he stays.

It’s harder to envision some (if any) of those vets returning to the team outside of the Broncos picking up Von’s club option. If the Broncos were going to extend Chris Harris, Jr., they would have already done it instead of just giving him a single-season pay raise. 

Wolfe has had a hard time staying on the field and looks like a shell of his former self. Leary has barely given you any productive games since signing his contract so why pick up his option? Sanders is the one guy I could see the team keeping (if he would want to stay). He would be a nice weapon for the next QB.

That’s a lot of players you likely have walking out the door in five months. But here’s the silver lining:

This team has a really solid core of young and talented players

• Bradley Chubb

• Dalton Risner

• Courtland Sutton.

• Phillip Lindsay

• Noah Fant

These young guys look to be the future of this team. And hopefully. Drew Lock is able to join them at some point this season and proves to be capable of playing QB in the NFL.

You take those guys above, and supplement the other young and talented players like Justin Simmons, Connor McGovern, Bryce Callahan (eventually) and Ja’Wuan James (eventually), and you’ve got some great building blocks for a franchise.

You’ll notice all of these aforementioned players were drafted in the last two years (or signed in Lindsay’s case), which is why going forward the Broncos have to…

Focus on the draft

One thing I have noticed with Broncos Country lately is that many have almost given up on the team’s ability to draft good players. Yes, it’s easy to point to the recent poor selections like Garett Bolles, Paxton Lynch, Isaiah McKenzie, Carlos Henderson, Jake Butt, and on. You can even go back further and find some gems like Michael Schofield, and get ready to laugh….Montee Ball. 

But it’s equally as easy to look at selections like Von Miller, Malik Jackson, Derek Wolfe, Danny Trevathan, Matt Paradis, etc. as significant winning picks, to say nothing of the two most recent draft classes.

Make no mistake, though, this team is currently paying the price for poor drafting from 2015-17. However, the selections from the last two drafts have already started proving themselves to be key contributors in a very short amount of time. 

Two more years of consistent, solid drafting like this and you’re all the sudden looking at four draft classes worth of players on cheap rookie deals. This would help wipe out the dreadful 2016 and 2017 drafts that are currently crippling this team’s depth.

If the Broncos truly commit to the rebuild, they should also try and do what they can to add to their draft capital as well. This would require a difficult decision, like trading a fan-favorite veteran like Chris Harris, Jr., or worse — Von Miller (let’s not go here just yet). But the deal would have to make sense, as you don’t just give guys like this away.

While things may look bleak right now for this team, it’s not too difficult to envision a path back to success. In the meantime, though, one thing we all need to do as fans is…

Be patient

You want to know one of the biggest reasons this team struggles on offense? Over the last four years, the Broncos have had three different head coaches, four different offensive coordinators, and three different defensive coordinators. 

Just imagine as a player, in particular, the younger ones, starting from scratch every year. It significantly hampers their ability to grow within the scheme and develop as a player in the league.

This team is in desperate need of continuity with their coaches. The jury is still out as to whether or not they have finally found the staff that’s going to regain that level of continuity, but even with an 0-3 record, Vic Fangio and company are definitely more inspiring than what the Broncos have had to work with the previous two seasons.

It will take time to reverse the losing culture this team has developed in recent seasons.

Bottom line

Yes, rebuilding sucks. But right now is about as good of a time as the Broncos will probably find to do it. The next two seasons are going to be key to improving this roster back to championship levels. 

But if everything works out, the Broncos will find themselves coming out of the rebuild at the same time as many of the current 'elite' teams start falling back down to Earth.

Follow Trevor on Twitter @TrevorJudge and @MileHighHuddle.