Denver Broncos: 5 takeaways from ugly loss to Tom Brady’s Bucs

4. The big issue with the QB problem…

Even with Drew Lock at the quarterback position, I expected struggles for the Denver Broncos’ offense.

The Broncos have such a young offensive unit and with Lock under center operating a new offense with a pandemic-shortened offseason, growing pains were expected.

That was when we were thinking we’d get to see Lock with Ja’Wuan James at right tackle and Courtland Sutton on the field with him. Unfortunately, James opted out of the 2020 campaign and Courtland Sutton is now on the road to recovery from an ACL and MCL injury.

The biggest problem with Lock not playing is that the dropoff is so significant, you’re now not getting your young receivers many good looks in the passing game.

Because Jeff Driskel was so slow on the trigger, the Broncos’ young offensive weapons Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler were targeted 14 times with eight receptions and 85 yards between the two of them.

The rhythm was simply not there for Driskel and while I don’t think it’s going to stunt the young players’ growth, it undoubtedly puts a bit of a ceiling on their growth.

Driskel’s ineptitude in this game cost the offense so much more than anyone can see watching the game live.