Last Year:

Record: 9-7

Offense: 20.8 (22nd)

Defense: 18.6 (4th)

Offseason: 

Key Acquisitions: RB. Jamaal Charles, LG. Ronald Leary, DT. Domata Peko,

Key Losses: OT. Russell Okung, DT. Sylvester Williams, LB. Demarcus Ware

 Breakdown

Offense:

The Broncos were a below average offense last season but they have made some changes in an effort to improve. However, what they will be relying on most to get better is one of their young QBs in either Trevor Siemian or Paxton Lynch improving and taking the next step. Siemian is older and played better last season so he figures to have a leg up on the job headed into preseason but most likely the Broncos coaching staff will be looking at Lynch carefully as well and give him a shot at the job since they did trade up and pick him in the first round in last year’s draft. Regardless of which one starts if one of them does not play better than they did last year the Broncos offense is not going to be much better than it was in 2016. Last year the run game really struggled due to a combination of CJ Anderson missing most of the year due to injury and poor offensive line play. The Broncos are hoping for Anderson to stay healthy in 2017 and bounce back to being one of the better RBs in the league. They also have improved the depth at the position and are hopefully more prepared if he goes down with the free agent pick up of former all-pro Jamaal Charles. Charles is now in his 30s and has been hurt the past few seasons himself but if he can get healthy he can be a nice contributor as a complimentary back. The only thing that saved the Broncos offensive line from being ranked being ranked at the very bottom of the league last season was that they were solid in pass protection. However, with the exception of center Matt Paradis the rest of the entire line was a disaster all season run blocking which is why the team has completely revamped the line replacing every player on it not named Paradis, who was an elite center in 2016, with four new starters. The new guards will be Ronald Leary and Allan Barbre. Leary was signed as free agent after a productive season as a part of the vaunted Cowboys offensive line where he was one of the better run blockers in the league. Paradis was even better all-around a year ago for the Eagles and the Broncos traded for him just before training camp started. The new tackles will be Garett Bolles and Menelik Watson. The tackle position is where the biggest question marks lie for the Broncos. They drafted Bolles with the 20th pick and though he has potential more times than not rookies tend to struggle when thrown into the LT spot. Watson was free agent pickup who comes over from the Raiders. He was a backup for them but did start five games. There is nothing special about Watson yet he does have value being that even he would be a huge upgrade over Donald Stephenson who was one of the worst starting offensive lineman in the entire league last year and was not effective run or pass blocking. The receiving corps by and large will be the same unless some of their later draft picks have a big impact in their rookie seasons. The headliners are still wide outs Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders who have been one of the best receiver tandems for years now. You can just go ahead and pencil them both in for another 1,000 yards plus receiving. TE Virgil Green was the third option last season and figures to be again in 2017. Green blocks well but is not a starting caliber tight end as far as his receiving ability goes. The Broncos have really struggled to find consistent play at the slot position since Wes Welker left. Cody Latimer was the team’s second round pick back in 2014 and as he enters the last year of his rookie deal will be given every opportunity to have the job but he is running out of time to prove he can play in this league. The team’s third round selection in this year’s draft Carlos Henderson will most likely be pushing for the job himself and if Latimer cannot show more he may win the job. Overall I expect the Broncos to be a little better on offense because they should be able to run the ball this season. If Anderson and Charles can stay healthy the Broncos will have one of the better running tandems in the league and now thanks to the improvements along the line they have one of the best interiors in the league. But the only thing that can take the Broncos offense from marginal improvement to massive improvement is significantly better QB play and I do not believe they are going to get it. Expect the Broncos to be a middle of the pack offense at best in 2017.

Defense:

Defensively the Broncos had another terrific year as expected. The Broncos allowed 18.5 ppg in 2015 when they won the Super Bowl and then lost a lot of key guys to free agency which prompted many to believe their defense would not be as effective in 2016. They responded by allowing just 0.1 points per game more last season. Expect the Broncos to be elite again this season as their only loses from last year were NT Sylvester Williams and OLB Demarcus Ware who retired. The Broncos replaced Williams who was a solid with Domata Peko who comes over from the Bengals after a disappointing season. I am not the biggest fan of starting Peko at this point in his career but in 2017 the nose tackle position is not nearly as important as it once was so it will not be huge problem for Denver. Derek Wolfe will be one of the ends and he is a very talented player and has proven himself as one of the most disruptive 3-4 ends in the league. However, Jared Crick was a far cry from the guy he replaced in Malik Jackson last season and I would expect their rookie second round pick Demarcus Walker to really push him for playing time. Walker probably is not ready to start in base packages given how light he is but I expect him to earn more snaps than Crick in pass rush situations. Even with the retirement of Ware the Broncos are still loaded at the edge linebacker positions. They were four deep a year ago so they still have plenty of talent to make up for his absence. Of course it all starts with their best player Von Miller who is still the best pure edge rusher in the NFL. Shane Ray and Shaquil Barrett both will miss some time due to injury early this season but if they can both comeback healthy they will solidify the Broncos pass rush. In the middle the Broncos are led by one of the game’s best in Brandon Marshall who was really good again last season. He is an elite coverage linebacker that also is a fierce run defender. Todd Davis played well as the other starting linebacker in his first season starting with the team and though he has his issues in coverage he proved to be a force against the run. The secondary is where the Broncos are strongest as they are loaded at every position. They have the best corners in the league in Chris Harris Jr and Aquib Talib who were both incredible once again in 2016. Bradley Roby is the man in the slot and looks to bounce back after a down year last season. Roby has been very productive the majority of his career and with him in a contract year I expect strong play from him in 2017. The Broncos also have two good safeties in Darian Steward and T.J. Ward. Both played a little better in 2015 but they were not bad by any means in 2016. Steward is the better of the two in coverage as that is the area he really excels at and Ward is better vs the run which is his specialty but neither are liabilities vs the run or in coverage as both are all-around safeties. Overall expect more of the same from the Broncos defense. They are still littered with elite players all over the defense spearheaded by the game’s best pass rusher and two shut down corners.