5 storylines to watch in Broncos vs. Seahawks preseason matchup

The Denver Broncos are in Seattle to battle the Seahawks on Thursday night. It’s Denver’s second preseason game of the summer and the first for Seattle.

In a regular-season game week, I’d be writing a ‘Five keys to victory’ article for the Broncos but that would be a little obsolescent ahead of Thursday night’s bout with Seattle, since this is an exhibition game.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t some key storylines to follow and players to watch. I’ve already laid out the six players I’ll be scrutinizing closest (video above), so today I’m going to present the five storylines to monitor in Denver’s preseason Game 2.

The preseason is mostly about evaluation for NFL teams. The following five storylines could end up mattering most to the Broncos in the final evaluation.

How does the first-team offense look with Flacco under center?

Transplanted veteran QB Joe Flacco suited up and warmed up but did not play last week vs. Atlanta. Head coach Vic Fangio confirmed on Tuesday, however, that Flacco will make his Broncos debut vs. Seattle.

What should we hope to see? Obviously, in a perfect world, you’d be hoping for nothing but yards and points. But breaking down the naunce, which I assume is why you’re reading this, let’s drill a little deeper.

Flacco might have proven since camp opened that he is unequivocally the best QB on this roster. But with two rookies and a guy who can barely call himself a veteran journeyman in the QB room, that’s not saying much.

Flacco has looked good at times, while at others, he’s struggled to find consistency. It’s honestly about what you’d expect to see for a QB who’s been starting in the NFL for a decade suddenly thrust into a new football environment.

I want to see if Flacco can show command out there. Command of the offense, command of his teammates and command of the game.

To use Fangio’s verbiage, I want to see Flacco “operate” as a competent game manager — in the best sense of the phrase. I don’t expect Flacco to get more than two or three series but I want to see the Broncos’ offense move the ball and show a spark with him under center.

Let’s see what you’ve got, Flacco, even with exhibition stakes.

“You just want to go get your feet wet a little bit,” Flacco said on Tuesday in regards to his goals for Thursday night. “You want to feel live action again, bodies flying around you, guys getting hit and taking care of the football. Most importantly you want to go out there and you want to move the ball. And you want to gain confidence as a group that you can go out there and do it when it counts.”

Can an off-ball linebacker emerge?

Todd Davis remains sidelined with a calf injury and Josey Jewell joined him in the tub, so to speak, this week with a minor oblique injury. Fangio has already confirmed that Jewell will not play, so it’s ‘next man up’.

The problem is, the next-most-experienced inside linebacker the Broncos have, Joe Jones, suffered a triceps tear and is also going to miss some time. The Broncos have four other young backups, all of them completely green and unproven.

Alexander Johnson, Josh Watrson, Joe Dineen and Keishawn Bierria round out the group of true ILBs, with Justin Hollins seeing some snaps there as the Broncos figure out the best spot to play their rookie fifth-rounder.

I want to see at least one of these young ‘backers take the bull by the horns and emerge as a force to be reckoned with. It would appear as if the Broncos’ preference would be for that to be Johnson, or maybe 2018 sixth-rounder Keishawn Bierria.

Watson and Dinnen are both undrafted rookies, so they’re still swimming. Who will step up? Can one of these four step up? Will it be Hollins, who earned MVP honors at the East/West Shrine Game earlier this year for his performance as an off-ball LB?

How do Booker and Riddick look?

We’ve talked a lot about the implications of the Theo Riddick signing. We know it’s a direct threat to Devontae Booker’s standing on this Broncos roster.

However, the team chose to hold Booker out of the preseason opener, which is a preservation move usually reserved for veterans the team expects to have around come September. Hearing Booker talk this week, it sounds like he expects to play.

How will he look, knowing that that fourth RB spot on the 53-man roster will come down to either him or Riddick? Conversely, will Riddick be able to hit the ground running and put Booker on his heels?

I’m curious to see if the Broncos splice Riddick into the first-team offense out of the gates, on third downs. If so, that might tell us everything we need to know about Booker’s standing with the team brass.

Can Lock bounce back?

Drew Lock looked like a raw, inexperienced QB in his Broncos debut last week, which is exactly what he is. Lock is a work in progress, but now it’s time for him to show just that — progress.

Can he showcase a little more poise and significantly more command out there? That’s all the Broncos are hoping to see in order to promote him up the depth chart.

Get the play in. Make sure guys are on the same page. Make the right reads at the line of scrimmage pre-snap and know where to go with the ball. From there, it’s all about hitting the back foot of that drop and firing the ball with that cannon attached to his right shoulder.

If Lock can show some progress, it’ll significantly assuage some of the misgivings Broncos fans have in the wake of his lackluster debut, and three years removed from the embarrassment of the Paxton Lynch whiff in the draft.

One thing we know, Lock is going to play 'a lot', so get your popcorn ready.

Can Broncos’ receivers curtail the drops?

It’s one thing when the backups to the backups flub up or drop a pass. But when key young players, like rookie TE Noah Fant and rookie WR Juwann Winfree, fail to haul in passes NFL players receivers should catch, it’s concerning.

It’s been a talking point for too long. You expect to see one or two drops in every game, and probably more in preseason action, considering the participants, but Fant and Winfree are better than that and should be held to a higher standard.

Here’s to hoping these young Broncos can curtail the drops and make plays for the team.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.