NFL Analyst Believes Broncos' WR Position is Still Team's Biggest Weakness

Is it possible the wide receiver position is still a glaring weakness? Nay, the biggest remaining roster weakness the Broncos have?

The Denver Broncos have made massive c̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶s̶  upgrades to their offense since the 2019 season ended. And for good reason. 

We're talking about an offense in Denver that finished in the bottom-5 in most key categories last year, including yards per game, points per game, third-down and red-zone efficiency. That was under then first-year Offensive Coordinator Rich Scangerallo who has since been jettisoned by the Broncos. 

While Xs and Os certainly had something to do with Denver's offensive drudgery, the dearth of talent on that side of the ball, combined with a revolving door of quarterbacks, contributed mightily, too. Drew Lock's emergence from Weeks 13-17 was encouraging to the team brass but only emphasized the Broncos' need to upgrade the talent on offense and build that nest. 

That's just what GM John Elway did this past offseason, making sweeping moves to bolster the interior offensive line, running back, and wide receiver positions. With the stage thus being set, we turn to Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr, who recently went Division-by-Division in the AFC to reveal each team's most glaring remaining weakness. For Denver? Orr picked the wide receiver position. Yes, really. 

WIDE RECEIVER: Until we know, we don’t know. The investment in Jerry Jeudy (the 15th overall pick) was massive and warranted, but remember that wideout is one of the hardest positions in which to transfer directly to the NFL. A Beckham-like season his rookie year changes the calculus significantly. Anything else still leaves this a unit that needs time to grow with a quarterback we don’t know much about. 

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I'm sorry, but I'm really struggling to see the logic behind this one. Yes, it can take time for wide receivers to flourish in the NFL. But the Broncos don't need their first-rounder Jerry Jeudy to catch 100 passes for 1,000-plus yards and double-digit touchdowns — not with a Pro Bowler opposite him in Courtland Sutton demanding attention and TE Noah Fant expected to build massively on his record-setting rookie campaign. 

The Broncos can afford for Jeudy to go through some growing pains, in other words, because Sutton and Fant will demand attention from opponents. But don't sell Jeudy short. Odds are, with his route-running proficiency and play-making knack, it's not going to take him long to make his mark. 

Even if Jeudy was the only WR upgrade the Broncos made, I'd still struggle to see the logic behind Orr's selection of the position as the team's biggest remaining weakness. But it wasn't. 

The Broncos invested their first two picks in the draft in the WR position, taking Penn State speed-demon KJ Hamler in the second round. Hamler brings 4.27 speed to the table and is an open-field nightmare for opposing defensive coordinators. 

It didn't stop there. The Broncos actually triple-dipped in the WR pool this past draft, also grabbing Florida's Tyrie Cleveland in the seventh round. There's a reason the Broncos are now being included among the NFL's most talented offenses by some in the national perspective, both from a speed and a potential standpoint. 

Now, if Orr's WR weakness argument came in December of 2019, I'd be nodding along in perfect agreement. Tim Patrick and DaeSean Hamilton really struggled to complement Sutton down the stretch, and despite improved QB play from the rookie Lock, they struggled to draw attention away from Sutton. 

But we're in June of the following year on the heels of the Broncos investing two premium-round draft picks in WRs plus a late-round flier on a player with big upside. I don't see it. 

What I Do See

The Broncos significantly bolstered the WR position in 2020. On paper, the team took a massive step forward talent-wise offensively. 

On one hand, I get that games aren't played on paper. That's absolutely true. But without the opportunity to see these stud players in action, I'm not going to dock them or sell them short because after all, we're talking about — in Jeudy and Hamler — two of the best skill-position players in the entire 2020 draft. It goes without saying that their talent needs to come out in the wash. 

These young Broncos definitely have to make it happen on the grid-iron but outside of a vague supposition that it takes time for WRs to acclimate to the pros, I don't see that as being a strong enough factor to choose WR as even a weakness, let alone as the weakness, especially when the Broncos did nothing to bolster the offensive tackle position and the team is planning on going into training camp with A.J. Bouye as the only semi-proven cornerback on the roster. 

I'm sorry to say it, but Orr is flat-out wrong. I say that with all due respect because I hold the work he does at the SI mothership in high regard. 

Wide receiver isn't the Broncos' biggest remaining weakness. Try offensive tackle, cornerback, and even off-ball linebacker and you'll be much closer to the mark. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.