Here's Why Having No Young Players On Fangio's Leadership Council Is A Problem For Denver

A lot can be said about head coach Vic Fangio but one thing that you cannot say is that he is a slave to convention. From practicing all summer in actual game jerseys to not naming any season-long team captains — instead choosing to name individual captains ahead of each game — Fangio marches to the beat of his own drum.

The first-year head coach, perhaps in lieu of team captains, was wise enough to put together a player-based leadership council, of sorts. On Wednesday, we learned that "seven or eight" veterans make up the council.

“About seven or eight of the veterans," Fangio said. "You can pick them out. It’s Derek [Wolfe], Emmanuel [Sanders], Von [Miller], Kareem [Jackson], Joe [Flacco]—I’m trying to think who else— Ron Leary. I think I’m missing somebody, Chris Harris [Jr.].”

Missing from the list of leaders Fangio mentioned, you might notice, is a single young player. Each veteran on the leadership council has at least seven years of NFL experience.

'Duh', you might be saying. After all, a leader must have experience, surely? Enough live-bullet experience to have credibility in the eyes of their peers and enough for teammates to view such a player through a leadership prism?

Perhaps. But it shouldn't necessarily be limited to that. In actuality, the Broncos are a very young team, made top-heavy with tenured veterans at key positions.

Heres Why The Question Matters

The Broncos have experienced a dearth of leadership in the wake of Peyton Manning and DeMarcus Ware retiring, and the proof is in the pudding. GM John Elway, for example, was so concerned about the team's lack of leadership post-Manning/Ware that Vance Joseph's 'leader of men' reputation trumped all the other attributes that should have been considered for the Broncos' head-coaching vacancy — you know, like experience and proven expertise on one side of the ball. among others.

Von Miller, not to pick on him or single him out, isn't really the out-in-front, rah-rah type of leader. Yes, he absolutely mentors young players, taking guys under his wing, but his leadership style is more about doing so by example. By his play on the field.

Chris Harris, Jr. and Emmanuel Sanders might be holdovers from the Super Bowl 50 championship team, and between them, they have six Pro Bowl selections, but they're not exactly the type of leaders a young guy is excited to follow into the breach.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh on this topic. But if the Broncos' 0-4 start has taught us anything, it's that this team is embattled in a spiritual crisis.

The vets tapped to be leaders on this team simply aren't getting the job done and it might have something to do with the depredations of the Vance Joseph era taking the light out of their eyes. Going 11-25 in the last 36 games, it's not hard to understand why.

Miller hasn't looked like the same player, as evidenced by him being shut out in the sacks department through the first three games of the season. And I can't say that Harris has played up to snuff either.

From a production standpoint, Sanders doesn't seem to have lost a step, but Derek Wolfe? He's a shell of his former self, though, in fairness, he has struggled to fend off the injury bug.

Bottom line, Fangio's leadership council isn't coming together to bear out victories. But what is coming out in the wash is a team that has forgotten how to win. I hate to say it, but that is an indictment on the veteran leadership of the team, half of whom are holdovers from Super Bowl 50.

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The Youth Are Carrying The Team

Meanwhile, as the Broncos' struggle week-to-week, we're seeing a passing of the torch on the field. While guys like Derek Wolfe and Chris Harris, Jr. struggle, we see the likes of DeMarcus Walker, De'Vante Bausby and Isaac Yiadom earning increasingly larger roles on defense.

On the offensive side of the ball, the passing of the torch is even more pronounced, as players like Phillip Linsday, Courtland Sutton, Dalton Risner and Noah Fant carry this team. The sooner the Broncos, at an institutional level, embrace the youth on this roster, the sooner this team can put these dark days behind them and climb out of this hole of a half-hearted rebuild.

Adding even more head-scratching questions to the leadership council question is the fact that, according to Coach Fangio, he hasn't met with them since at least last week.

“We haven’t met recently in the last week or so," Fangio said, "but it’s all been good and constructive.”

Look, I get it. Coaches, in particular, cling to veterans when the regular season rolls around. And it's not difficult to understand why. Coaches are judged based on wins and losses and almost to a man across the NFL, coaches believe the veterans give them the best chance to succeed on Sundays.

The Takeaway

As a team increasingly coming to terms with its own shortcomings and inadequacies, the 'he gives us the best chance to win now' philosophy rings hollow. If the Broncos are truly going to confront the reality of their situation and rebuild full-on, the torch needs to be passed onto this team's young players in earnest.

That comes in the form of playing time and that comes in the form of leadership, even if it's of the seen-not-heard kind. Weave the key young guns into the team's leadership tapestry.

Players are more prone to follow the guys who are actually producing on gameday, and who play with intensity and passion, than simply a token vet propped up by the coaching staff.

Phillp Lindsay, Courtland Sutton and Dalton Risner epitomize all of those attributes, especially from a production standpoint. Turn on the tape and it won't take you long to notice.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.