It’s the bye week for the Denver Broncos and is time to re-evaluate the state of the franchise moving forward.
The Denver Broncos entered the season with a quiet confidence about the direction of the team.
There’s one big problem, however. It seems the franchise is headed down the same path as last year. There is one positive to glean from 2018. The draft class built by the front office staff is exceeding expectations.
For a team moving toward the possibility of a rebuild, now is the time to see the youth flourish.
Bradley Chubb leads the 2018 NFL Draft Class for the Broncos. Chubb was slow out of the gate but there is no player right now as disruptive as him currently in the NFL. He is on pace to break the rookie record for sacks in a season held by Javon Kearse (14.5).
Courtland Sutton started seeing significantly more snaps which resulted in the bittersweet departure of Demaryius Thomas.
Royce Freeman is already making the waves. Freeman was named the starter before the season and played much better before his high ankle sprain injury. The expectation is for him to be close to 100 percent play after the bye week.
DaeSean Hamilton is close to returning as well and will assume the slot receiver role.
Isaac Yiadom is another draft pick that needs to see the field more because of Bradley Roby’s performance.
Then there’s Josey Jewell. Of all the players with too short of a snap count, Jewell is probably atop this list. Jewell is so instinctual and smart as I’ve seen as a linebacker. All he needs is reps. Once he gets more and more he will play like Zach Thomas, Chris Borland or Luke Kuechly.
Sam Jones could see his time at guard or center if woes on the offensive line continue.
People look at playing the youth and think only of the 2018 rookie class, but there’s one player that still fits in this discussion. Su’a Cravens is the missing link to the Denver Broncos defense.
Cravens is capable of being a defensive MVP like Chris Harris Jr. Both of their versatility allows the team to create numerous matchups and affords Harris to be a shutdown corner. Cravens is capable of covering running backs, tight ends, and wide receivers. Not only that, but Cravens plays with reckless abandon and fresh legs. If it comes together, the Denver Broncos will have the best young trio of safeties in the NFL.
Brandon Marshall is a good linebacker, but there have been points in the season where he’s one step behind a running back or tight end. Maybe the decision to lose weight in the offseason is proving costly right now.
Darian Stewart also seems to be in the same boat. This is why playing Jewell and Cravens to fill the positions needs to be strongly considered. At the very least make Cravens a box safety.
Will Parks seems to be doing quite well in Stewart’s place.
On paper, Stewart, Marshall, and Roby are good football players. Roby is part of the young secondary, but he’s taken a bad step backward. There are a lot of determining factors, but we looked strictly at more minimally utilized players for sake of this article.
Phillip Lindsay is excluded from this list due to him consuming a workload no one expected at this point in his career. Lindsay is exceeding expectations. Look for that to continue. Right now the best course of action is for the Denver Broncos to look to the future with their draft picks as we enter the bye week and beyond.