Broncos GM George Paton could have impossible decision coming

Denver Broncos general manager George Paton could have an impossible decision coming up in a couple of weeks with head coach Vic Fangio.

Just 14 games into his first season as an NFL general manager, George Paton looks at his Denver Broncos with a 7-7 record, a shot at the postseason, and you can’t help but wonder what he’s thinking with one eye on the future of this franchise.

One eye on the future of the franchise as in, who is going to be the head coach of the team for 2022 and beyond?

As of right now, Vic Fangio remains under contract and with a 7-7 record with three games to play, things seem to be leaning in his favor as far as sticking around in the same capacity next season.

Broncos fans may not want to hear that, but there are a variety of reasons for it, which we’ll get into.

For the time being, these final three games — all against AFC West divisional opponents — are going to be crucial in determining whether or not Fangio sticks around as head coach of the Denver Broncos.

If Fangio does stick around as the Denver Broncos head coach, it seems likely he will have to relinquish the opportunity to hand-select his entire coaching staff. John Elway gave him the opportunity to do that in 2020 when Fangio fired Rich Scangarello after one year on the job to hire the veteran Pat Shurmur.

Fangio’s stamp is all over this Broncos coaching staff right now and understandably so. He’s the head coach of the team, so he’s been allowed to build and assemble the staff his way. He’s done so by bringing in a mostly veteran coaching staff with a few young assistants sprinkled in and throughout.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but offensively, the Broncos are not equaling Fangio’s adaptability defensively as his scheme has been highly effective for three seasons now regardless of the personnel he’s been working with on the roster.

Finding a new offensive coordinator in 2022 is going to be paramount for the Denver Broncos. Pat Shurmur has now had two seasons with the Broncos and not only did the team fail to develop Drew Lock, who had a really strong finish to the 2019 season, but they have also been one of the NFL’s worst offenses this season when it comes to opening drives, third-down efficiency, red zone efficiency, and getting the ball to wide receivers in the passing game.

That last point is more subjective than statistically factual, but those who have watched all 14 games this season can agree — the way the Broncos have involved their wide receivers offensively has been a total embarrassment.

Broncos GM George Paton will need to think fast on Vic Fangio

The case for keeping Vic Fangio is pretty easy, in all honesty.

The defense in Denver has been very good since Fangio arrived. As-advertised. Fangio runs a defensive scheme that a variety of NFL teams have been attempting to emulate, but not all of them can do it as consistently well as Fangio, whose success against some of the best quarterbacks in the game over the past couple of seasons is very telling:

Looking back to the 2020 season as well, Fangio’s defense did a number on both Mahomes and Herbert as well, and those games were with far worse personnel than he has at his disposal in 2021.

Keeping Vic Fangio is as simple as saying, get this guy a real quarterback and let him run his defense.

George Paton has stated that Fangio was a big part of the reason he took the job in Denver in the first place.

That’s not just Paton pumping fluff, either. He had no obligation upon being hired by the Broncos as GM — at least not that we know of — to keep Fangio as the head coach. Instead, he went in and put together a roster that would seemingly give Fangio the best opportunity at keeping his job beyond this season.

That cannot be overstated.

The investments Paton made in the 2021 offseason indicated that he wanted to give Fangio every opportunity to keep his job in what was being pitched as a “playoffs or bust” season for the Broncos’ third-year head coach.

Signing Ronald Darby and Kyle Fuller. Giving a long-term extension to Justin Simmons and Shelby Harris. Drafting Pat Surtain II instead of a quarterback. Trading for veteran Teddy Bridgewater at the QB position. Not forcing any coaching changes for 2021.

All of these moves — and more — show that Paton was being genuine when he said that Fangio was part of the reason he took the Denver job. Fangio may not be everyone’s favorite flavor, but the man knows how to scheme and call a defense.

Getting a quarterback in the building has certainly proven easier said than done, but having a stud at quarterback is going to minimize pretty much every weakness Vic Fangio has as a head coach.

Those weaknesses?

Well, Fangio hasn’t shown the best game management skills, specifically when we’re talking about clock and timeout management and challenging plays.

He has also stuck with special teams coordinator Tom McMahon after a comedy of errors in that phase of the game over the past few years.

His decision to hire Pat Shurmur as offensive coordinator has been horrendous for a quarterback the Broncos drafted in Fangio’s first year on the job, Drew Lock. Shurmur’s play-calling has been horrendous for the majority of his two seasons in Denver and the Broncos have played from behind in so many games because of the ineptitude of the offense early in games.

Besides game management issues, it’s hard to argue against Fangio having done a good job in Denver. After Sunday’s game against the Bengals, the Broncos have the 7th-fewest penalties in the NFL. They have the second-best defense in the NFL in terms of points allowed. They have allowed the fewest first downs in the NFL this season. They have allowed the fewest rushing touchdowns of any team this year.

They rank in the top 10 (9th) in turnovers this season offensively (they are turning it over less than two-thirds of the rest of the league).

They have the third-best red zone defense, a staple for Fangio since he’s been in Denver.

They are tied for 13th in sacks per game defensively.

Those numbers all represent quite a transformation from what the team was when Fangio was hired. Not to mention, the Broncos are 7-7 this season and playing meaningful December football for the first time since Gary Kubiak was still the head coach of the team in 2016.

George Paton’s impossible decision upcoming is going to be trying to determine whether or not he’s okay with losing Fangio and his ability to call a tremendous defense along with the fact that this team has become more disciplined under his watch and player development as a whole has been much better than it was under Vance Joseph.

Does he go after a total reset or does he convince Fangio to let him help reset the offensive coaching staff, get him a quarterback, and give him another year with improved quarterback play?

5 players and coaches to blame for Broncos loss to Bengals

The Denver Broncos lost a heartbreaker to the Cincinnati Bengals. Which players and coaches are to blame for what could be a season killer?

The likelihood is, Vic Fangio would probably look like an elite NFL head coach with a guy like Aaron Rodgers under center.