2021 Denver Broncos: Trying to Get Back to Where They Were

The Broncos have a solid roster of young talent that could be ready to blossom. John Elway stepped down from the general manager position and George Paton was hired to take his place. Coach Vic Fangio has added pressure because of the new general manager and more importantly, he is only 12-20 in his two seasons there. This is a franchise that is used to winning and they have missed the playoffs the last five years. And the No. 1 reason why isn’t the coaching; it’s the fact that the quarterback play has been poor. Give them Mahomes and they would have made the playoffs all of those 5 years.

They are starting the season with Drew Lock at quarterback but signed free-agent Teddy Bridgewater as the back-up telling me that they aren’t sold on Lock. His stats weren’t good (2933 yards with 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions) and he is on the hot seat. The running back room has Melvin Gordon III with 986 yards rushing in 2020. They also drafted Javante Williams in the second round. The receiving corps has a lot of promise with Jerry Judy and K.J. Hamler and tight end Noah Fant. The offensive line is still a work in progress.

The defensive line is led by Shelby Harris who is a bona-fide pass rusher. He will be joined by fellow end, Dre’Monte Jones. They also will get nose tackle Mike Purcell back from an injury. The linebackers have Bradley Chubb off of his first Pro-Bowl season of his career and Von Miller hopes he can return to his dominating self after missing most of 2020. The secondary was reinforced with the additions of Kyle Fuller and Ronald Darby along with the first-round selection of Patrick Surtain II. They have Justin Simmons coming back and he was given a lucrative contract. This will be the best secondary in quite awhile at Denver.

Must Wins: NY Jets, Las Vegas, Washington, Philadelphia, LA Chargers, Detroit, Cincinnati, at Jacksonville

Toss-Up Games: at NY Giants, at Dallas, at Las Vegas, at LA Chargers

Probable Losses: Baltimore, at Pittsburgh, at Cleveland, at Kansas City, Kansas City

Summary in Two Sentences: The Broncos are getting close to getting back as a contender for the playoffs. If they can get Drew Lock to play better than he has in the past, they could get there.

Predicted Finish: 3rd Place in the AFC West