FS1 analyst Nick Wright makes his prediction for the AFC in the 2020 season, and his outlook for the Denver Broncos is grim, to say the least.
Fox Sports 1 analyst and television personality Nick Wright made his predictions for the AFC in 2020 on his show First Things First on Tuesday, and well… let’s just say his predictions are interesting, especially when it comes to the Denver Broncos.
On top of an array of baffling predictions, Wright predicts that the Denver Broncos will not only finish last in the AFC West but also that they will just win three games on the season. Host Eric Mangini was quick to disagree, calling Wright’s assessment of the Broncos “dead wrong.” Mangini reminded Wright that the Broncos won four of their last five games, and added a lot of talent in the offseason and draft.
Wright had the rest of the AFC West faring significantly better, with the Chargers finishing 6-10, the Raiders a 10-6 Wild Card team, and the Chiefs losing just two games on the year. Realistically, his overall assessment of the AFC West is not bad. Three out of four predictions could be pretty spot-on.
The Chiefs finishing 14-2 is doable. The Raiders could be a potential Wild Card team if their defense can play with efficiency. The Chargers will likely be better than 6-10, but it is not so hard to believe that they could face some growing pains with a new QB under center in 2020, whether it’s Tyrod Taylor or rookie Justin Herbert.
However, these are just predictions. He will win some, and he’ll lose some. While the Denver Broncos are already in the playoff conversation, that guarantees nothing, and they could miss the playoffs again in 2020. Even if the Broncos are not contenders this year, it is hard to believe that they would just win three games.
While the Broncos lost key players such as Chris Harris Jr. and Derek Wolfe to free agency, it is hard to believe that these gaps would account for a four-game difference from their 7-9 finish in 2019, especially considering that Denver also added Jurrell Casey and A.J Bouye in free agency.
Denver’s biggest weakness in 2020 was the offensive line, which they have bolstered with the likes of Graham Glasgow and rookie Lloyd Cushenberry. There is optimism Ja’Wuan James will be healthy by the start of the season. The arguable second-biggest hole coming in 2020 was the wide receivers group, with the Broncos not having much outside of Courtland Sutton.
Denver more than took care of that need in the 2020 Draft, adding Jerry Jeudy and K.J Hamler. They solidified the running back position, adding Melvin Gordon to pair with Phillip Lindsay. Drew Lock showed a tremendous amount of promise in his small sample size in 2019.
The Denver Broncos played the second-toughest schedule in 2019. They play tied for the fifth toughest in 2020.
They lost a handful of games in the final seconds in 2019, and realistically, they could have been a 9-7 team at the very least.
So, were the Broncos get bad enough in the offseason to lose four more games in 2020?
You can’t tell me it’s the loss of Joe Flacco or Ronald Leary.
Overall, at the end of the day, predictions truly mean nothing. They are nothing more than an educated (or, not so much) guess. You can get them all right, half right, some right, or none right. We won’t have any idea until the 2020 NFL season has finished.
Either way, I anticipate the Denver Broncos will enjoy proving Nick Wright wrong on this one.