Are Vic Fangio’s Denver Broncos a team to watch this upcoming season?
They began the 2019 with a new head coach and four consecutive losses. And by season’s end, the Denver Broncos did post a third consecutive losing season. A team that won Super Bowl 50 in 2015 and began the following year a perfect 4-0 has now dropped 37 of its last 60 regular-season games.
But a much closer look at Vic Fangio’s club shows that his squad closed with seven victories in their final 12 outings. And that included four wins in their last five contests — the lone loss over that stretch to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
While a 7-9 record is hardly anything to get excited about, it was the close of the season with rookie quarterback Drew Lock at the controls that was eye-opening. That and the fact that after a slow start in which the team failed to come up with a sack in their first three games and did not force a turnover during the club’s 0-4 start, the Denver defense emerged as a force by year’s end.
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This offseason, Nicki Jhabvala reports (via Aniello Piro of Mile High Sports) that Lock has been getting some work in with teammates.
General manager Elway bolstered the club’s pass-catching corps by using the team’s first two picks on wide receivers Jerry Jeudy (1-Alabama) and K.J. Hamler (2-Penn State). The offense added former Chargers’ Pro Bowler Melvin Gordon to the backfield and ex-Lions’ blocker, Graham Glasgow, up front.
Back to the defense. This offseason, the Broncos managed to acquire five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jurrell Casey for a seventh-round pick (via Grant Gordon of NFL.com). And they also dealt for cornerback A.J. Bouye, acquiring the talented defender from Jacksonville for a fourth-round selection this year.
The pieces appear to be in place. Adding Casey and Bouye to a unit spearheaded by Von Miller makes Fangio’s unit more formidable. And Lock has the opportunity to build on his solid finish from a year ago and is now surrounded with even more options as Gordon and Jeudy join running back Phillip Lindsay, wideout Courtland Sutton and tight end Noah Fant.
The Denver Broncos appear to be a team very much on the rise. Are they done adding veteran talent this offseason? And can they finally push the defending Chiefs in the AFC West?