Now that the Denver Broncos have concluded OTA’s and the strangely scrutinized field day, training camp will be coming soon. As the 2021 NFL season approaches, with an ultra-talented roster, the Denver Broncos still have for improvement, but where? How can this team still become Super Bowl favorites?
One position that needs improvement, and this is going to shock the world, is quarterback. Other additions that first-year general manager George Paton could make would be addressing depth issues on the defensive side of the ball.
The first and most important order of business is getting on the horn with Green Bay Packers GM Brian Gutekunst.
Denver Broncos #1 way to improve: Find a way to get the MVP
1. Trade for Aaron Rodgers.
Beginning with the obvious trade that everyone wants to see happen in Broncos Country, Aaron Rodgers becomes a Denver Bronco. This is the kind of move that would question whether George Paton should bypass all requirements and become an immediate member of the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame.
Exaggerating a bit, I do think this move would make George Paton a beloved man in the Mile High. What Aaron Rodgers could bring to this team cant be exemplified, he is the former MVP for crying out loud.
In the upcoming season, the Denver Broncos roster is flooding with talent. It’s running downhill, leaking into the basement. There is just a barrier holding back the pouring water from rushing through the bottom of the structure.
Once this barrier is broken, the water will rise to the ceiling of its structure.
What is the structure, or barrier, that is holding this structure from filling? It’s the quarterback play.
While this doesn’t mean I’m completely out on Drew Lock, I just think he needs more time. He could be the beneficiary of a Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers type of transition here. In a few years, with time to learn, I think Lock could be a good quarterback. That said, it’s Aaron Rodgers.
Addressing and improving this position with a player of Rodgers’ magnitude will make this unit an immediate Super Bowl contender. Even adding meddling performance could make an immediate change, but adding the 2020’s NFL MVP to it would make it drastic.
In an unreal season in 2020, Rodgers threw for 48 touchdowns to a mere 5 interceptions. Could you imagine the infatuation that Aaron Rodgers would behold in Denver?
Would you like to hear a bold take?
If Aaron Rodgers is a Denver Bronco in 2021, he shatters the all-time record of touchdown passes in a single season. Some may bring up there are seventeen games in 2021, a valid point.
That said, if Aaron Rodgers’ ratio of touchdown passes in 2020 was broken down on a per-game basis, he had a mean of three touchdown tosses a game.
Let’s multiply those three touchdowns a game by seventeen instead of 16, that alone is 51 touchdown passes. My next point, that unit he had in Green Bay, has nothing on the arsenal in the 303.
Davante Adams is a machine and Aaron Jones has been strong, outside of that, who do the Packers have that concerns you as a defensive coordinator?
If Rodgers could throw 51 touchdown passes in that offense, imagine what he could do with Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, Tim Patrick, KJ Hamler, Noah Fant, Albert Okwuegbunam, Melvin Gordon, and Javonte Williams.
Realistically to reach 60+ touchdown passes, the Denver Broncos arsenal would have to be nine games better a year than the Green Bay Packers. Broken down into a per-game basis, that is roughly half of a touchdown per game.
If I were a betting man, I would push all my chips on Aaron Rodgers being able to score three more points a game with this weaponry instead of what he had in Green Bay. This move would drive my confidence for the 2021 NFL Season through the roof.
2. Trading for Zach Ertz
For some reason, I get the gut feeling some may balk at this idea. Before that happens, let’s dive deeper into this situation.
Coming off of his worst season as a professional, Ertz has a chip on his shoulder. It’s not often that you hear a tight end scheduled to make 12+ million dollars say he feels undervalued, but that may be the case here.
It’s been speculated that the Philadelphia Eagles are indeed trying to move on from Ertz, but they may be asking too much. Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman was seeking a third-rounder for Ertz.
If George Paton was willing to send a 5th-round pick for Ertz and have the Philadelphia Eagles take on an extra $4 million, ala the Teddy Bridgewater deal, I would be for it.
Adding Ertz to this offense may seem a bit extra, but this tight end unit is not the deepest. This group is also very young, Ertz could provide a solid weapon for whomever the quarterback is in 2021.
He is going to be a 30-year-old tight end, and there is a concern there. Last year he did not perform up to par, but that offense seems lost right now. What was the identity for that team last year? They seemed to be confused themselves, so I won’t fault Ertz for a lack of statistical production in 2020.
Just the year before, 2019, Ertz had 88 receptions and 900 yards, and 6 touchdowns. I’d be willing to take that risk. Just imagine if this offense got a healthy and revamped Zach Ertz.
It could just be a rental, but it would also give this team time to really let Albert Okwuegbunam get healthy. This isn’t cast off on Albert Okwuegbunam, quite the opposite.
I’d like for him to be Noah Fant’s robin for years to come. 2021, for Okwuegbunam, could be a building year in preparation for a dominant season in 2022. If Ertz could come in and be 75% of what he was in 2019, Okwuegbunam’s future could be a beneficiary.
Imagine if the Denver Broncos could add a revamped Zach Ertz and Aaron Rodgers. Putting those two guys in place with this already talented offense, I’m confidently picking us to be Super Bowl Champions in 2021.
Could you imagine having that feeling of success again, that quick? It has been a brutal four years here in Broncos Country. These two deals could alone change 2021, drastically.
3. Sign Melvin Ingram
This is more of a depth position addressing, as having the hope of Von Miller teaming up with Bradley Chubb again gets me very excited for 2021.
Since early 2019, the two haven’t been the Batman and Robin we had all hoped for. This isn’t their fault, as they have been flip-flopping on who’s having the major and season-ending injury.
At the beginning of 2019. they were on the field together for just four games until Chubb’s season was cut short due to a torn ACL.
Following Chubb’s injury in 2019, Miller faced a season-ending injury in 2020. In what was supposed to be a comeback year for Miller, it was ended before the season ever began.
Coming out of the gate during the 2019 season, the Denver Broncos struggled to get pressure on the quarterback. That was not the case in their one, actual full season together.
In Chubb’s rookie season, the pair combined for 26.5 sacks. I expect them to combine right around the same ballpark in 2021, the ceiling being 30 sacks for the duo and the floor being 20 sacks.
Starting wise, the Denver Broncos are in great shape. Depth-wise, after Malik Reed, the Broncos could use another body. Head Coach Vic Fangio even alluded to this saying, “We got Malik (Reed) but it’s wide open after that… We need to find another two players.”
Taking a look at potential edge rushers available, Melvin Ingram sticks out to me. Ever since Ingram was drafted, he was been a player I seen as an impact player.
Unfortunately for Ingram, his health hasn’t been the best.
If the Broncos do bring depth in, Ingram could provide a strong playmaker with some experience to a rather thin unit. He and third-year Bronco, Malik Reed, could provide a solid “B” unit to Von Miller and Bradley Chubb.
In 2018 & 2019 he produced seven sacks each year. However, 2021 was ghostly for Ingram. This could be a move in hope of him being able to notch 5+ sacks, on a cheap, team-friendly deal.
4. Sign KJ Wright
Sometimes the rich get richer. This would be a case of this.
Adding a versatile, still able Kj Wright to this defense would be immense. This signing is not as necessary as say, trading for Aaron Rodgers, but it would improve this team.
Alexander Johnson and Josey Jewell are a fine duo, but Alexander Johnson and KJ Wright would be a great duo. They would de deserving of the nickname, “Orange Rockies” because they’d cover so much of Colorado.
There’s a baseball team that sometimes plays at Coors Field, they, unfortunately, hold the name of the “Rockies.”
In 2020, Wright contributed 86 total tackles, along with an interception and massive, ten-pass deflections. He is still a very fluid athlete who can move sideline to sideline and be a good chess piece in this Fangio-led defense.
Josey Jewell isn’t a bad linebacker in this system, but he could be improved on. Without hesitation, I’d keep him a part of this roster. He could share snaps with Wright, pushing KJ onto the field in pass dominant sets.
This would help keep this unit fresh, and provide veteran experience in case of injury. Second-year player Justin Strnad and rookie Baron Browning may need some time to acclimate to the speed of the National Football League.
Having them in situations where they could continue to learn and see minor reps could help them long term. All of this falls on Fangio’s overall confidence in Justin Strnad, I believe.
Denver Broncos: 53-man roster prediction at 2021 OTAs
The Denver Broncos will have some difficult decisions to make regarding the roster leading up to the 2021 season. Who makes the final 53?
Rookie Baron Browning is expected to need time, this provides it. Strnad, like Browning, has also never seen the field. Wright will provide an option to press these guys in slowly while giving the Broncos a very strong unit it Josey Jewell, Alexander Johnson, and KJ Wright as their main rotation.