4 positions Broncos must improve this offseason

The Denver Broncos need to look for upgrades at these four positional groups during the NFL offseason.

The Denver Broncos are a team with many holes on the roster following a 7-9 season. Those holes could grow bigger should certain players leave as free agents.

The team will need to make upgrades at several spots whether that be through free agency or the draft. How the team goes about making those changes remains to be seen, but here, you will be able to read more about the four most important positions of need for the team.

1. Wide receiver

Without any doubt, the Broncos need to look for a player who can provide more productivity at the wide receiver spot.

Courtland Sutton is a terrific No. 1 target, but Tim Patrick won’t cut it as a No. 2, nor will DaeSean Hamilton, though the latter offers some promise.

Sutton caught 72 passes in 2019 and all other wide receivers on the team combined caught 82. That includes 30 for Emmanuel Sanders, who the Broncos traded to the San Francisco 49ers in October.

Sanders finished with the second-most receptions on the team by a wide receiver, which isn’t a great sign.

Guys like Patrick and Hamilton can be nice role players and added depth, but the Broncos need to find a guy who can fill the role once occupied by Sanders.

Peyton Manning had a ton of success with the combination of Sanders and Demaryius Thomas. This is not to say that Drew Lock is Manning, but if the team gave him another serious threat on the outside to go with Sutton and Noah Fant, it would be supplying the young quarterback with enough tools for ultimate success.

2. Interior offensive line

The Broncos should move on from Ronald Leary this offseason. They can do that by declining his club option. In addition, starting center Connor McGovern is set to become an unrestricted free agent.

At least one of those players won’t be with the team next season and the Broncos need to look for replacements.

Dalton Risner had a terrific rookie season, but the Broncos don’t have much depth in the way of an interior lineman that can play guard or center. Ideally, the team should re-sign McGovern and look to free agency or the draft for a replacement for Leary.

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Broncos 2019 positional grades: Wide receiver

As a team, the Denver Broncos only had 154 receptions from their wide receivers in 2019. Here’s a grade for each of the team’s receivers.

The wide receiver group is up next in our positional grades series for the 2019 season.

The Denver Broncos were not a strong passing team last year, ranking 28th in the league in passing yardage. That was mainly because the team lacked weapons that could stretch the field, but one of the team’s wide receivers still managed to make the AFC Pro Bowl roster.

Let’s see how the wide receivers graded out his year.

Courtland Sutton

Sutton was a major bright spot in his second year with the team, leading the Broncos with 72 receptions for 1,112 yards and six touchdowns. That helped him become a Pro Bowler, even if he wasn’t part of the original roster.

Sutton asserted himself as one of the league’s top young wideouts and going into next season, there should be plenty of excitement surrounding him. He seems to have all the tools to be the No. 1 wide receiver that Demaryius Thomas was for many years.

Sutton put up the best numbers he could have in this offense this year and there wasn’t much to complain about.

Grade: A

DaeSean Hamilton

As I touched on, the reason the Broncos were among the worst passing teams is the fact that there is a pretty steep dropoff from Sutton to the team’s No. 2 wide receiver who is . . . Hamilton — I guess?

The Broncos traded Emmanuel Sanders to the San Francisco 49ers ahead of the league’s trading deadline this season, hoping that a guy like Hamilton would step up and assume part of his role. Instead, the term “draft bust” began to creep up.

Hamilton only made 28 receptions on the season, which translates to less than two catches per game. Luckily, he finished the season strong by catching 11 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown in the team’s final two games, which at least gets his grade to a passing mark.

Hopefully, he can carry that momentum into next season and start to become an offensive force for this team.

Grade: C-

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4 Broncos who could have breakout seasons in 2020

With a young core in place on the offensive side of the ball, the Broncos offense could soar to new heights next season.

The Denver Broncos have an abundance of young talent on the offensive side of the ball. The most talented of the bunch is wide receiver — Courtland Sutton. The SMU product put himself into the discussion of being a top 10 wide receiver with his play this past season, a season in which he posted 72 receptions for 1,112 yards and six touchdowns.

With Sutton and the duo of Philip Lindsay and Royce Freeman at running back, the Broncos have the makings of a dynamic offense. In order for them to take the next step, they need these four players to enjoy breakout seasons of sorts in 2020-2021.

Since quarterback is the most important position on the gridiron, we will start with Drew Lock. The Broncos went 4-1 with Lock as the starting quarterback and averaged 21.3 points per game in those contests.

In those five starts, Lock threw for 1,020 yards and seven touchdowns. With a full offseason to prepare and his rookie season under his belt, it’s fair to assume that Lock could be in store for a major breakout campaign during his second season in the league.

Fellow rookie Noah Fant had an exceptional debut season. Fant finished his rookie campaign with 40 receptions for 562 yards and three touchdowns.

Fant’s performance was good enough to earn a spot on Dane Brugler’s all-rookie team.

“Where Fant really impressed as a rookie was after the catch, which was responsible for 58.7% of his receiving yardage. Averaging 8.3 yards after the catch.”

Fant has the makings of a top-five tight end. With his athletic ability and explosiveness, the Iowa product is a mismatch nightmare for opposing defenses.

When the Broncos traded away Emmanuel Sanders they did so with the hopes of DaeSean Hamilton sliding into that role. It also didn’t hurt getting a third and fourth-round pick in return for a player that was set to become a free agent in March.

Hamilton didn’t immediately take the bull by the horns, but he finished the season on a strong note, recording 11 receptions for 130 yards and one touchdown during the final two games of the season. That strong finish to the year leads one to believe that Hamilton could be in store for big things next season.

Dalton Risner is the third rookie to make this list. The second-round pick started all 16 games for the Broncos and proved to be a steal. If lineman got more notoriety Risner, would likely get some votes for Rookie of the Year.

With Risner, the Broncos have a young building block along the offensive line. Over the past two drafts general manager, John Elway has added, Sutton, Lock, Fant, Risner, Hamilton, Freeman and signed Lindsay as an undrafted free agent. They will grow together and if they build off their strong finish to this past season they could be dark horse candidates to make the playoffs next season.

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4 takeaways from Broncos’ 27-17 win over Lions

The Denver Broncos improved to 6-9 following a 27-17 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 16. Here are four takeaways from the game.

The Denver Broncos fell behind 10-0 early against the Detroit Lions on Sunday and momentarily, it looked like fans were in for a rough day. You could already see the headlines questioning whether or not Drew Lock was the “answer” or not.

Instead, the Broncos came back and outscored the Lions 27-7 from that point and got their sixth win of the season. If the season ended today, the Broncos would not even be selecting in the top 10 in next April’s draft. That can be looked at as a bad thing, but suddenly the 2019 season doesn’t even seem like it has been that bad.

1. Lock is a difference-maker

When you look at the box score, nothing about Drew Lock’s stats will jump off the screen. He attempted 33 passes and completed 25 of those. He threw for 192 yards and one touchdown.

But he is playing with the same guys that Joe Flacco and Brandon Allen played with and he is able to make the kind of throws that neither of them could. He also helps lead the offense to points.

Don’t believe me? Well here’s the stat of the day: the Broncos have scored over 25 points in two of the four games that Lock has started. Since winning Super Bowl 50, the Broncos have played 60 regular-season games. They only surpassed 25 points in 11 of those.

2. There is plenty to be excited about on defense

When you think of Denver’s defense, you think about Von Miller and maybe Justin Simmons. But this defense has some talented players.

Shelby Harris has had a career year. Alexander Johnson has been fantastic. Jeremiah Attaochu has been a terrific find. Todd Davis is among the league’s leaders in tackles. Dre’Mont Jones is growing into a terrific young player.

This isn’t the defense that won Super Bowl 50, but it could be. Vic Fangio could make this into the league’s top defense next season with the progression the unit as a whole has made.

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4 things to watch for when Broncos face Bills in Week 12

The Denver Broncos will be looking to get back in the win column in Week 12 against the Buffalo Bills. Here are four things to watch for.

The Denver Broncos will look to get back in the win column on Sunday but must do so but winning a tough rough game against the Buffalo Bills. The Broncos have not won in Buffalo since the 2007 season.

The Bills sit at 7-3 and are looking to solidify themselves as a true playoff team this season but the Broncos have been a tough, scrappy team despite a poor record. Will the Broncos be able to put together a full game and pull out a victory on Sunday?

Here are four things to watch for.

1. Josh Allen’s running ability

Allen, the quarterback for Buffalo, has a cannon for an arm, but don’t sleep on his ability to run as a passer.

Though he’s far from the threat that Lamar Jackson is, Allen has gained 331 yards on the ground this year. More importantly, he’s rushed for seven touchdowns.

As a rookie, he ran for 631 yards and eight touchdowns and in 22 career games, he is averaging just under six yards per carry. The Broncos must be ready for this.

2. Isaiah McKenzie

Remember this guy? The former Broncos draft pick is now a member of the Bills roster and he has actually found a way to be somewhat productive.

He has caught 33 passes in 16 career games with the Bills and he has a touchdown reception. He had just four catches in 11 career games with Denver.

He likely would love to stick it to his former team in this game.

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It’s time for DaeSean Hamilton to show his worth

Broncos receiver DaeSean Hamilton, a fourth-round pick just last year, has been far too quiet in 2019.

Sitting at 3-7 on the season, the Denver Broncos are in a spot where it is time to see what can be taken positively into the 2020 season. That will include evaluating several players and position groups in order to determine where improvements can be made.

It was only a small sample in last Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, but the Broncos do appear to have something to work with in the passing game with the big, athletic trio of Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick and Noah Fant.

What they need to find out for sure now is what they have in last year’s fourth-round pick, wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton.

Hamilton has been quiet this season — too quiet. Despite playing in all 10 games for the team, he has caught just 11 passes for 106 yards. Pro Football Reference shows that he has been in on just about 62 percent of the team’s offensive snaps.

So why is Hamilton finding it so difficult to become a consistent contributor on offense?

He finished the 2018 season strong, catching at least five passes in every game during the month of December while Emmanuel Sanders was injured. Those numbers encouraged many fans to believe he would take off in his second season with the team.

That has not happened.

This season, he has caught passes in just five of the team’s 10 games. He also hasn’t caught a pass since the October 17 meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Does the team not really trust him? He did have some drops which made it seem like Joe Flacco almost refused to look his way at a point. Is the offense too complex? Is he just not that good? Something else?

These are just some of the questions we have to ask ourselves as to why Hamilton has been a complete non-factor in the passing game. But there is no room for excuses in professional football and soon, Hamilton will need to make some plays to show that he should be in this team’s future plans.

That should start as early as this Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.

Patrick, who just returned from injured reserve, has already developed a new shoulder injury that has slowed him down this week.

Sutton leads the team with 49 receptions, but behind him, here are the numbers for the Broncos’ other receivers this

Wide receiver	Receptions	Percentage of snaps
Emmanuel Sanders (traded)	30	53.47
DaeSean Hamilton	11	61.78
Diontae Spencer	5	7.40
Tim Patrick	4	10.14
Fred Brown	2	13.14

That chart shows that Hamilton has done very little despite plenty of opportunities. Meanwhile, guys like Spencer (a return specialist), Brown and Patrick (in one game) have really done more with less of a chance.

That’s concerning.

Flacco is done for the season and possibly for good in Denver. Hamilton needs to create a connection with Brandon Allen or — if he’s going to play this season — Drew Lock. That will be essential in order for the team to consider Hamilton a piece that it can use to build with in the future or if a young wideout needs to be targeted in the draft next spring.

Having just 11 catches despite being on the field for over 400 offensive snaps is just not good enough and it says one of two things. Either the team doesn’t trust Hamilton or he just doesn’t know how to get open.

This is a player who caught 214 passes for over 2,800 yards in a tough Big 10 Conference while at Penn State in college. Why has his transition to the next level been so difficult?

It’s time for Hamilton and the Broncos to begin answering these questions and looking for ways to get more production on the field. His future with the team could depend on it.

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