Despite the slow start the 2019 Denver Broncos are actually heading in the right direction as a franchise for the first time in a long time.
I get it. 1-4 is not what any Denver Broncos fan hoped for five games into the season. But there are reasons for optimism with this club.
No, I’m not chugging orange and blue Kool-Aid and thinking everything is rainbows and sunshine here. There are problems all over this franchise from the ownership situation all the way to roster depth. But not everything is doom and gloom.
Let’s look at some of the reasons to get excited about the direction of the Denver Broncos.
Young Building Blocks
From 2012 to 2017, the front office failed miserably in the draft.
Taking shots at teams years after the draft seems like low hanging fruit. It’s easy once players have established themselves to look back and laugh at who was drafted ahead of them.
But passing on guys like Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson in 2012, selecting Sylvester Williams in the first round while later passing on Le’Veon Bell, Jamie Collins, Travis Kelce, and Keenan Allen in 2013, taking Bradley Roby over DeMarcus Lawrence and Cody Latimer over Jarvis Landry in 2014, trading up for Shane Ray in 2015 (only Jeff Heuerman remains on the roster from that draft), the infamous Paxton Lynch draft of 2016 or in 2017 taking Jake Butt over George Kittle and Brendan Langley over Eddie Jackson set the franchise back talent-wise that we are just now feeling the effects of.
However, recent drafts have been encouraging. Youngsters like Bradley Chubb, Courtland Sutton, Royce Freeman, Josey Jewell, Phillip Lindsay, Dalton Risner, Noah Fant, Drew Lock, and Malik Reed all look to be solid foundation pieces moving forward.
Couple that with some solid projected cap room coming up in the next few offseasons and there is reason to believe this team is not a total tear-down type of rebuild.
Coaching Staff
I get that being well respected does not always mean you’re going to be a successful head coach.
Wade Phillips is one of the most respected defensive minds in the game. But he’s also admittedly a bad head coach.
But pairing someone like Vic Fangio to go with Rich Scangarello and Mike Munchak gives you a reason to believe the best is yet to come.
Fangio is still getting his footing as a head coach. Remember, Josh McDaniels shot out to a 6-0 start back in 2009. How did that go?
After shellacking the Dallas Cowboys at home in his first year, Vance Joseph looked like a slam dunk for a head coach and the Broncos looked like a lock for the postseason. Yikes.
Growing pains are to be expected. Scangarello is finding his rhythm as a play-caller and the defense is finally showing how dangerous it can be in this system.
Given that fast starts do not always equal strong finishes, maybe it’s good that this staff is experiencing the difficult times early in the season. Will they recover to make the playoffs?
Probably not.
Unless they pull a turnaround like the 1992 San Diego Chargers, who lost their first four games then won 11 of the next 12 to win the division, it’s most likely not going to happen.
But don’t sleep on this Broncos team. They’re young at key positions and are only getting better with more playing time. Despite starting 1-4, this team is better than the last few years and the future is bright in the Mile High City.