What happened to Denver Broncos football? In the last couple of years, we’ve seen a troubling trend where the Broncs have traded away top players for less than ideal returns. After all, the Broncos are now without quarterback Jay Cutler as he goes to Chicago in exchange for Kyle Orton and others. They also say goodbye to their best wide receiver in Brandon Marshall to Miami for a couple of draft picks and their best tight-end in Tony Scheffler to Detroit for a draft pick.
I understand the optimist that says that these picks can turn out to be great for Denver’s future as they form a core of talent centered around Tim Tebow, but that’s years from now. The Broncos of 2010 look like another mediocre bunch, much like they were a year ago. Just about every major statistical category has the Broncos in the middle of the pack. Good enough to beat the bottom-feeders, but not good enough to beat the elite of the league.
Kyle Orton leads the offense, but runs into a big problem this season with the departure of Brandon Marshall. Say what you will about Marshall’s attitude, but there are few in the NFL that are capable of catching 21 balls in one game like Marshall did in 2009. Eddie Royal is now the number one receiver on this team. He must find his form from his rookie year to give this team a chance to compete.
The saving grace for this offence could be the running game, but not just because of one guy. The offensive line, the tight end and the running backs on this team are pretty solid. Knowshon Moreno could be line for a breakout year. Daniel Graham is a talented and veteran tight end and their offensive line has some good pieces, including left tackle Ryan Clady.
Defensively, the Broncos were top 5 in the league a year ago against the pass. Of course it helps to have Champ Bailey as one of your cornerbacks. He’ll be counted on to lead this secondary yet again. The obvious question has to be: Can they get that same kind of output again from their secondary? And how much does Brian Dawkins have left in the tank at this point in his career?
This defence took a major hit with the loss of Elvis Dumervil for the 2010 season. As a linebacker, he was able to pick up 17 sacks a year ago and terrorize defences with his size, speed and athleticism. His 17 sacks represented over 40 percent of their sack total from a year ago. You just can’t replace that with a backup.
Two players to watch out for in camp are Jabar Gaffney and Brady Quinn. Gaffney had a good year last season with over 700 yards receiving. If he can do that again or up the total, he’ll allow this team to have a better chance to create a passing dimension to their offence. Quinn has struggled so far in camp. With poster-boy Tim Tebow behind him on the depth chart, his days in Denver are looking grim. Could this be the end of the road for Quinn already?
2010 Prediction: 7-9