Another summer has come and gone, and the Denver Broncos have now wrapped up their training camp and preseason games and turned their gaze forward toward the regular season.
In the preseason, the Broncos came out and put on a dominant showing, going undefeated in their three contests and looking very strong from the first string through the third. In the process, the team averaged 33 points per game and won the games by an average margin of 18 points.
While the victories were good to see and hopefully a sign of things to come, the games also revealed several truths about the team as we head into the regular season in less than two weeks.
So, what can we truly learn from the Denver Broncos preseason showings?
The QB Room Is Not As Bad As Some Thought It Would Be
Heading into training camp, the narrative amongst national media was that the Broncos had the worst quarterback room in the league, considering there was little belief in the trio of Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham, and Zach Wilson.
Very quickly the noise on that narrative has died down, primarily due to Bo Nix. Nix looked excellent in the two preseason games he played, which allowed him to wrap up the starting job quickly. Nix led a scoring drive on every single one of his drives but one and executed Payton’s system as the Broncos’ czar would like his quarterback to do.
Even beyond Nix, Stidham and Wilson looked good as well. Stidham got limited action but played on time, got rid of the football, and would’ve had an even stronger performance if not for some hiccups by other members of the offense such as false starts or Samaje Perine bobbling the football up into a pick-six.
Last but not least, Wilson played the best football of his career, with the caveat being that it came in the preseason. There were still moments in the preseason where his erratic level of play got him into trouble, but he mostly played within the system and read out progressions in a way he rarely displayed in New York. The final preseason game in particular was one of the, if not the best game of football that Wilson has ever played in the NFL.
The Pass Rush Will Be a Major Strength of the Roster
While there are questions about many position groups on the roster, the defensive front line will not be one of them.
The Broncos had major issues on defense, specifically with their interior defensive line play outside of Zach Allen last season. This summer, they addressed those holes in a major way, by adding John Franklin-Myers and Malcolm Roach to an interior defensive line that needed the help.
On the edge, the team selected Jonah Elliss with their third-round selection out of Utah, and the rookie has looked like a stud in the preseason. Ellis has been so dominant in the preseason that he’s actually the league’s No. 1 edge rusher in PFF’s Pass Rush Productivity through the exhibition games.
Elliss adds to what is a weird but extremely intriguing edge group. All four of Bonitto, Browning, Cooper, and Elliss weigh under 260, and all play similarly as bendy, speed rushers. Nonetheless, the combo excites.
The collection of the four should allow DC Vance Joseph to mix and match their talents to create mismatches up front. Combine those four with Allen and Franklin Myers as interior rushers, and the pass rush should be a fun mixing and matching of talent to create advantageous looks.
The Lack of Juice in the Skill Positions Is a Major Concern
While there were some things to like about the Broncos’ skill position players this preseason, there were plenty of major red flags as well. Most notably, the collection of talent lacks the type of speed and quickness you’d like to see, especially in an offense that projects to rely heavily on picking up yards after the catch, with throws short of the sticks.
Following the Tim Patrick release, the Denver Broncos’ top two receivers are set to be Courtland Sutton and Josh Reynolds, with a backfield rotation of Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin, and a tight end room led by Adam Trautman and Greg Dulcich.
While this collection of players on its own is fine, for what you project a Payton-Nix offense to look like, there is a level of explosiveness that is currently lacking, and the options to fill that void are questionable at best.
The most obvious answer is Marvin Mims Jr., the second-year second-round pick out of Oklahoma, who has proven himself to be a big play threat. That being said, it seems that Mims did not have a great camp and he’s better used to stretch the field vertically, as opposed to horizontally.
The second best option is Jaleel McLaughlin, who brings a speed element that the other backs on the roster simply don’t. McLaughlin will help in the explosiveness realm, but you can only build so much of your passing game off your RB, especially when he’s small in size and has concerns both running between the tackles and pass protecting.
The final option to add some explosiveness to the passing game is Greg Dulcich, who is already a strong pass catcher heading into his third season. Dulcich is an easy projection into those shallow routes and other underneath routes to create yards after the catch, but he simply cannot be relied upon to be on the field consistently.
The other skill position players such as Courtland Sutton, Josh Reynolds, and Javonte Williams are good, but don’t provide the juice that this passing attack may need to sustain itself if it cannot consistently push the ball down the field. There are options on the team to fill that void but each of them has their concerns that mean they cannot consistently be relied on to do that.
The Ceiling of the Defense Will Be Determined By Question Marks on the Third Level
While the front looks like a strong suit of the team, there are major question marks at inside linebacker and the secondary that will determine how good this defense can be.
The biggest player who may make or break the season for the Broncos outside of Bo Nix is Riley Moss. The second-year corner did not see much playing time in his first season but now is set to play opposite Pat Surtain II in a role that will certainly see plenty of targets.
The preseason did little to eliminate concerns surrounding the safety room either.
Safety Brandon Jones, who the team brought in this offseason, did not see the field with a hamstring injury throughout the preseason. P.J. Locke is the other presumer starter and the safety I feel most confident about, but even he has only one season starting under his belt. The depth behind the two is just as scary, if not more so, with J.L. Skinner and Devon Key both seeing very little real NFL action before this preseason (23 combined career regular season snaps).
The team can be confident it’s going to get good play out of Pat Surtain II and Ja’Quan McMillian, but the players surrounding them will make or break the defense this season.
