Broncos camp: 3 things to be excited about, 3 things to be worried about

1. The defense has been strong since day one

After 10 days of practice, you’d be hard-pressed to find many negative opinions or any real negative analysis of the way the Broncos’ defense has been performing thus far.

The defensive line and pass rush have been making life very difficult for all three of the Broncos’ quarterbacks, and pressure is coming from all angles. Von Miller, Bradley Chubb, newcomer Jurrell Casey, Shelby Harris, and breakout candidate Dre’Mont Jones have all drawn rave reviews early in camp.

The good news is, it’s not only the pass rush that is standing out in camp so far.

The Broncos’ secondary — specifically their top four guys at the position — has been absolutely outstanding.

AJ Bouye and Bryce Callahan are now the top two cornerbacks for Denver this season, and the Broncos have what many in Denver and outside of Denver consider the best safety duo in the league in Kareem Jackson and Justin Simmons.

All of those guys have fit well together, and in particular, it’s great to see both Bouye and Callahan playing at full speed and showing they will be a formidable duo at the cornerback position in 2020.

Furthermore, it seems linebacker Alexander Johnson has taken the next step in his overall game, though Vic Fangio continues to challenge him to be better each day. Johnson has been knifing through the line of scrimmage, making plays in coverage, and taking a new level command of the defense this year.

At all three levels, the Broncos’ top defense has played well, and there’s strong depth on the defensive front.

The talk at camp lately has been about the ‘spike’ in year two of the Vic Fangio defense at most of his stops, and the 2020 Broncos don’t appear poised to spoil that apparent trend.