Broncos Camp: 10 Key Questions That Need Answers

The Broncos are about to embark on what is sure to be the most unique training camp in team history. With so many new, moving parts, many questions are currently unanswered.

The Denver Broncos are poised to kick off training camp next week and suffice to say, it's going to be the most unique summer in team history. With a pandemic raging on across the country, the NFL has agreed with the NFLPA to cancel the entirety of the preseason. 

On top of that, media will be restricted from covering training camp as comprehensively and openly as it has traditionally. As a result, it's going to be much harder for fans to get a bead on how this team is shaping up ahead of the 2020 regular-season opener on September 14. 

The Broncos are a team on the rise. Finishing 5-3 in the second half of Vic Fangio's maiden season as head coach, the Broncos created some real momentum heading into the offseason. 

The onus is on the coaches and players to sustain that momentum and carry it forward into the 2020 regular season. With a second-year quarterback poised to lead the Broncos from under center in what will be his first full season as a starter, and many new faces in the coaching ranks and locker room, there are multiple questions this team has yet to answer. 

On the doorstep of training camp, here are the 10 key questions the Broncos need to try to answer this summer, long before the Tennessee Titans arrive for Week 1's throwdown at Mile High. 

1. Will the Offense Have Time to Gel? 

With the entire Offseason Training Program nixed — outside of a series of virtual team meetings — the Broncos, like the rest of the league — are really behind the 8-ball. While it's true that all 32 teams are rolling with the punches of no OTAs, the teams that feature a new offensive or defensive scheme, and those who also have a young quarterback, will be inordinately affected by the league's shutdown this past spring and summer. 

The Broncos check both of those boxes. With Pat Shurmur arriving as the new offensive coordinator and Drew Lock entering Year 2, it'll be no easy task getting on the same page and assimilating the fullness of the new system. 

Combined with all the new faces on offense, including rookie skill-position players like WRs Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler, TE Albert Okwuegbunam, and center Lloyd Cushenberry, this young Broncos offense is going to need each and every rep it can get together in order to gel. It's not an ideal situation but the NFL roots of Shurmur and QBs Coach Mike Shula are deep. Their collective mettle as teachers will be crucial. 

If necessity is the mother of invention, the Broncos will have to find creative ways to gel and create offensive chemistry and cohesion. This unit is faced with only two options; sink or swim. 

2. Can Shurmur, Shula Hit it Off with Lock? 

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While this next week will be the first time Shurmur and Shula will get hands-on Lock, the trio have been in steady communication since the draft. Coach Shurmur has talked about his impressions of Lock through their myriad phone calls, texts, and virtual meetings, all of which have been positive. 

Because Lock eats, sleeps, and breaths football, the worst vagaries of a canceled offseason have been staved off. Shurmur has been impressed with Lock's commitment and his quick study as a football pupil. 

Now, the brief of Shurmur and Shula is to simplify the install process and work to get on the same page with Lock so that when the season arrives, the Broncos can hit the ground running offensively. But with no preseason reps, it'll be easier said than done. 

Almost everything this season hinges on Shurmur and Shula getting into a football flow with Lock. Knowing what I do about the background of these two offensive coaching experts, I like Lock's odds of navigating the pitfalls of learning and implementing a new system well. But we won't know until we see it on the grass.  

3. How Does the CB Pecking Order Take Shape?

The Broncos added two new faces to the cornerback room this past offseason while seeing the leader in the room last year depart in free agency. Chris Harris, Jr. is now an L.A. Charger and ex-Jaguar A.J. Bouye is being asked to take his place. 

Meanwhile, the Broncos used a premium-round draft pick on Michael Ojemudia, who is expected to compete for the No. 2 boundary CB job. That's all fine and dandy but in 2017, Brendan Langley was expected to compete for a serious role on defense, as was Isaac Yiadom in 2018. 

Langley was a bust and Yiadom has yet to live up to his draft pedigree. What the three have in common is that they were all corners drafted in Round 3 by the Broncos. 

Throw in the uncertainty of two veterans coming off a serious injury in Bryce Callahan and De'Vante Bausby and it's difficult to project exactly how the CB pecking order will take shape. The Broncos also have hopes for young 2019 holdovers in Davontae Harris and Duke Dawson. 

Bouye and Callahan (if healthy) are the only two corners we can safely pencil in as starters. Who will command that third spot on defense and how will the CB depth chart take shape? The ultimate destiny of Fangio's defense in Year 2 hinges on the answers. 

4. Who Emerges as the Third WR? 

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DaeSean Hamilton will strive to forestall 2020 second-rounder KJ Hamler from leapfrogging him on the depth chart and taking over as the Broncos slot receiver. While some fans have been quick to write off Hamilton, I haven't been. 

Hamler is a dynamic, talented wideout but Hamilton is prolific route runner and established palpable chemistry with Lock down the stretch. It wouldn't be surprising to see Hamilton open up the season as the WR3 only for Hamler to eventually eclipse him. 

It comes down to which wideout can make the Broncos a better offense on day one. If Hamler can prove that it's him, he'll get the snaps. Shurmur's base offense is 11-personnel, which includes three wideouts on the field. Whoever wins that WR3 job is going to receive a lot of snaps and a fair share of touches on offense. 

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5. Who Takes Control of Center Position?

Before the draft, 2019 holdover Patrick Morris was pegged as the Broncos starting center. That was before the Broncos drafted Cushenberry in the third round — a center who many draftniks had graded as a day-one pick. 

While it would be easy to assume that by virtue of his draft pedigree alone, Cushenberry will win out, fans would be remiss to count on it. While I don't doubt Cushenberry's football character and IQ, how quickly a rookie can take to the NFL is often hard to predict. 

It will be a battle. And it's worth mentioning that Morris is an established acolyte of Mike Munchak, although Cushenberry was certainly a draft choice rubberstamped by the venerated O-Line Coach.  

6. How do the New Vet Faces Fit in on Defense?

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The Broncos acquired Bouye via trade and also DL Jurrell Casey from Tennessee. Both are being grandfathered a starting job in Fangio's defense, and justifiably so. Bouye has one Pro Bowl nod in his trophy case, while Casey is coming off five consecutive trips to the NFL's all-star game. 

But since they're both new, it's another situation that is difficult to predict. Both are excellent fits for Fangio's scheme — hence the Broncos' interest in acquiring them — but when it comes to an established NFL player transplanting successfully to a new team, all bets are off. 

7. How Will the Team Divvy Out RB Reps? 

The most hotly anticipated battle of training camp will take place at running back between Phillip Lindsay and Melvin Gordon. Lindsay is the incumbent, coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, while Gordon is the newly-paid prized free-agent acquisition champing at the bit to justify his new contract. 

The Broncos will also expect Gordon to justify his two-year, $16 million contract, which could see the competition for RB1 supremacy be greased in his favor. Hopefully, the team makes it a fair fight but even if the benefit of the doubt goes to Gordon, Lindsay is not a player it would be wise to bet against. 

While I'm confident that the competition between the two Pro Bowlers will only make them and the team better, I can't deny how much I'm looking forward to seeing this battle shake out. 

8. Who Emerges as Punt/Kick Returner?

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Last year, the Broncos had a solid if unspectacular punt returner in Diontae Spencer, who earned Pro Bowl alternate consideration for his contributions. This year, the team has added a few new suitors for the job, including the aforementioned Hamler and 2020 seventh-round WR Tyrie Cleveland. 

We'll also see the likes of 2019 undrafted rookies Trinity Benson and Kelvin McKnight vying for the returner job, and perhaps even one or two other contenders who've yet to emerge. Not only do the Broncos need an answer at punt returner, this team is absolutely dying for an impact player to return kick-offs. 

How this battle resolves will affect the Broncos roster math at the wide receiver position. The team carried six WRs on the 2019 roster to account for the returner (Spencer). It remains to be seen if necessity will require that many be kept in 2020. 

9. How Will TE Logjam Resolve? 

Jeff Heuerman, Jake Butt, Troy Fumagalli, Noah Fant, and Albert Okwuegbunam. What these five tight ends have in common is that they've all been drafted by the Broncos since the 2015 season. 

Heuerman is the elder statesman but as that veteran, the Broncos pulled the rug out from under him when the team signed Nick Vannett this past spring. Throw in also the likes of Andrew Beck and Austin Fort and it really is a logjam at tight end. 

Because of how much talent and draft pedigree exists on this depth chart, I'd be surprised if the Broncos didn't carry four tight ends on the roster this year. Then again, the new practice squad rules, which are expected to be expanded even more in response to coronavirus contingencies, might allow the Broncos to go light on carrying TEs on the active roster week-to-week. 

Three of these guys are virtually guaranteed a roster spot, health-willing; Fant, Okwuegbunam, and Vannett. That means, in essence, only one potential roster spot is actually up for grabs. Welcome to the octagon. 

10. Can Players Maintain Social Responsibility of Safety Prioritization?

I'm not usually one to hop on a soapbox and preach about 'social responsibility' (I'm a live and let live type guy) but if the NFL season is going to happen in its entirety, players (and coaches) will have to conscious of their social interactions starting right now. 

The Broncos can't afford for a player to unwittingly bring the virus into the locker room, which means that, despite the relatively young age demographic of the majority of the team's players, going out to clubs and spending time around large groups of people outside of the team facility this year, will have to be eliminated. 

Considering the stakes and the fact that these players will be paid handsomely to perform, I would hope that the big picture can be kept on the forefront of this team's hive mind. No doubt, the Broncos will harp and hammer home this message on a daily basis. For the family men in the locker room, the temptation of hitting the town on Friday nights is much diminished. 

If it means having a successful 2020 season, protecting the families of the players, coaches, and team employees, while bringing home the bacon as it were, I'm sure the team's young players can sacrifice less-than one-half of a year's worth of social interaction to focus completely on football. Fingers crossed. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.