Knudson: Broncos in same questionable position as last offseason
One year ago, the Denver Broncos smiled gratefully as future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning announced his well-earned retirement. Two days later, they were shocked when backup quarterback Brock Osweiler signed a huge free agent contract with the Houston Texans.
Suddenly, the champs were extra thin at the most important position on the field.
Ultimately, Denver signed free agent journeyman Mark Sanchez and later drafted prized rookie Paxton Lynch to fill the quarterback void. It didn’t work. Eventually, Sanchez was released, Lynch was deemed not ready, and the reins were handed over to third-stringer Trevor Siemian.
We all know how that turned out.
So after missing the playoffs and watching Head Coach Gary Kubiak retire at the end of the 2016 season, the Broncos now find themselves in a situation that’s profoundly different than it was just 54 weeks ago. The question is, are the Broncos better off now, or then?
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They remain (for the moment) in the same spot they were in under center. Lynch didn’t get much playing time, so he’s probably not quite ready yet, and Siemian — severely limited in talent and nursing a surgically repaired non-throwing shoulder — is no one’s idea of a franchise quarterback. Still, you could make the case that just having Lynch on the roster at the moment puts the Broncos a step ahead of where they were after Osweiler bolted a year ago.
Elsewhere? The offensive line was not great in 2015 and slid backward in 2016. It’s hard to look at the unit’s struggles as being just about a lack of talent. Denver has talented lineman. Perhaps more attention should be paid to the fact that the O-line was asked to run the out-dated zone blocking scheme last season. Rules changes that eliminated cut blocking in the NFL made zone blocking much much harder to accomplish than it was during the glory days of Terrell Davis and company.
You could make a case that the 2016 O-line was actually more talented than the 2015 unit, man-for-man. So looking at the 2017 season six months out, are these guys in a better position now than last year at this time? Probably so.
Which brings us to the coaching situation: Better or worse?
Kubiak’s retirement meant an overhaul of the entire coaching staff. On the offensive side, that’s a good thing. The system was outdated and ineffective. Most fans would take new offensive coordinator Mike McCoy over Rick Dennison any day. It will be interesting to see how Lynch and the line respond to a new, more modern scheme. So you could once again make the case that Denver is in a better place offensively today than one year ago.
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And there’s the defense.
The loss of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is unquestionably the biggest step backwards for the Broncos from one year ago. Wade may be the best assistant coach in the NFL, period. Replacing him with a guy, Joe Woods, who’s never been a DC before is borderline scary. You’re wearing orange-tinted glasses if you see the Broncos defense being as great without Wade as they were with him. So no, they are not better off on the defensive side than they were one year ago. Far from it.
As far as the head coaching position, Vance Joseph comes highly regarded, but 100 percent unproven. People who point to Kubiak and say "the Broncos won the Super Bowl with a first-year head coach” have consumed too much orange Kool-Aid. Kubiak was an experienced, veteran assistant and head coach. There’s no comparison to be made with Joseph.
This could very well turn out to be another Josh McDaniels situation. Joseph is a rookie in every since of the word. Rookies make mistakes. Or maybe not. Having McCoy — most recently the coach of the San Diego Chargers — back on staff should help. Truth is, we have no idea in March what kind of coach Vance Joseph will be. None.
So overall: Are the Broncos better off today than they were last year at this time? It’s a question that’s virtually impossible to answer, but one that will keep the radio talk show hosts busy all summer.
Listen to Mark Knudson Monday’s at 11:30 a.m. with Brady Hull on “Agfinity Sport Day” on AM 1310 KFKA.