AFC West Preview 2017: Denver Broncos

            

             The 2017 Denver Broncs are an intriguing team. Vance Joseph will be the Broncos 3^rd head coach since Elway has taken over as vice president. John Foxx and Gary Kubiak were both able to get the Broncos to the super bowl, with Kubiak winning one. Joseph will have some big shoes to fill because Broncos fans want to see this team get back to the super bowl. This defense is good enough to win it all but the offense just hasn’t caught up.

Key Additions:

New Coach: Gary Kubiak stepped down as the Broncos head coach due health reasons. Kubiak was a good offensive mind and got enough out of this offensive unit to win a super bowl. New Head Coach Vance Joseph will have to do the same. Joseph is a former defensive coordinator, runs a tough defensive scheme, and has some horses on this Broncos team. I think it was a great idea to bring in a defensive coach because the Broncos lost defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. Bringing in a coach that specializes in defense will keep that side on the ball intact. Joseph’s challenge will be trying to figure out the offensive side of the ball.

New offensive Coordinator: Speaking of figuring out the offensive side of the ball, in comes Mike McCoy. McCoy was the offensive coordinator for the Broncos from 2009-2012. Before you go spouting off about how he did nothing during that time, let’s remember that he had Tim Tebow to deal. He was able to put together a successful offense for that bum, which helped to lead the Broncos to the playoffs in 2011. That alone is a testament to how good an offensive coach McCoy is. McCoy likes to run the ball and knows how to coach to the strength of his players. This Broncos offense is loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. McCoy’s biggest challenge will be piecing together a solid quarterback from the JAGs Trevor Siemian, and Paxton Lynch.

Offensive line help: The Broncos Ranked 27^th in rushing yards per game last season and their quarterbacks were sacked a combined 40 times. I won’t place all the blame for the sacks solely on the offensive line, but not being able to run the ball was a huge concern for this team. They aggressively went after a solution for this problem in the 2017 off-season.

            The Broncos knew they needed to improve their offensive line. They had their sights set on offensive guard Ronald Leary and were able to land him in free agency. Leary played on an offensive line in Dallas that featured three all pro offensive linemen. Leary is a huge pick up for this team because he specializes in run blocking. He should really help to open up holes for this rushing attack.

            The Broncos also added Menelik Watson vie free agency and Garrett Bolles via the draft. Watson will probably play right tackle and Bolles will get the start at left tackle. Both of these players are question marks at the tackle positions. The Broncos have to fix this offensive line and neither Watson nor Bolles can be any worse than what the Broncos had last season. Hopefully these three additions along the offensive line improve their rushing game. With either of these two quarterbacks calling the signals, they are going to need a running game.

Defensive line help: Last season the Broncos ran the 3-4 base scheme under Wade Phillips. This defense is amazing and there aren’t many holes within it. Teams did have success running against the Broncos and they finished ranked 18^th against the run. They really haven’t had a dominate nose tackle since losing “Pot Roast.” The Broncos lost Sylvester Williams and were able to replace him with Demata Peko and Zach Kerr. Peko has been a solid player in this league for a long time and should fill the hole left by Williams. Kerr is another big body for the Broncos use to in the middle of this defense. Elway appeared to want to add some size to be better against the run. The additions of Kerr and Peko definitely give them some more size up front.

Review:

            The success of the Broncos season will fall on the arm or Trevor Siemian. Make no mistake if Paxton Lynch was good enough to supplant Siemian he would have. That means that Siemian is the better of the two. I’m tired of hearing that Lynch hasn’t really gotten an opportunity to win the job because he hasn’t played. Lynch hasn’t made the most of his time the field. When he is in the game, he doesn’t showcase that big play ability that we saw in college. He looks lost at times and the offense is actually worse when Lynch is in at quarterback (go figure). Let’s put the Siemian and Lynch debate to rest, move on with Simone and see if he can be the quarterback of the future. With any luck some desperate team will offer up a 3^rd or 4^th round pick to take Lynch off their hands.

            The Broncos roster is loaded with talent at every position. They have two outstanding wide receivers in Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.  They will have a running back committee carrying the rock from them this season. The Broncos have some decent talent in the backfield. This defense is one of the best in the league and that won’t change. Von Miller, Derek Wolfe, Brandon Marshall, and Shane Ray are the key pieces to a vicious front seven. They have two shutdown corners, Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr in their secondary. The Broncos can easily win this division and push the Patriots for the title of best team in the AFC. They could also go 8-8 and miss the playoffs. It will all depend on how much they get from the quarterback position.