7 major takeaways for Denver Broncos as OTAs come to a conclusion

As OTAs come to a close, what are the biggest takeaways so far for the Denver Broncos? What should we be looking for as training camp approaches?

It’s been a rather productive offseason for the Denver Broncos in 2022, wouldn’t you say?

The Denver Broncos have:

• Hired a new head coach
• Traded for Russell Wilson
• Solidified new ownership

And those are just the big-ticket items on the list.

It’s been a crazy offseason for general manager George Paton and the front office who were given the award for best Draft in the league in 2021 and coupled that with an amazing offseason in 2022.

All of the moves on paper look great, but what about the on-field product? There’s been a lot of “good” coming from Denver Broncos OTAs and the vibes around the organization are understandably and overwhelmingly positive.

Here are the top seven takeaways as the Broncos wrap up OTAs and head into a break before training camp in July.

Denver Broncos OTA takeaway no. 7: Michael Ojemudia having a big offseason

One of the more underrated needs for the Denver Broncos heading into the 2022 offseason was depth in the secondary, in particular at the outside cornerback position.

Kyle Fuller did not work out as a free agent acquisition last year.

Bryce Callahan, although primarily a slot, was nice depth for the team at the cornerback position and proved more than capable of playing on the outside as well as in the slot.

Michael Ojemudia started as a rookie and wound up getting injured in the preseason. That led to him missing all but a couple of games of the 2021 campaign, even though his injury was characterized as just a 4-6 week recovery time.

In the final game of the 2021 season, Ojemudia started in place of an injured Pat Surtain II and did quite well, reminding us all of the tremendous potential he showed throughout his up-and-down rookie season.

He finished that game with 11 tackles and a pair of pass breakups.

Now, he’s been arguably the talk of OTAs for the Denver Broncos, proving he deserves a spot in the lineup one way or the other.

Ojemudia is drawing the attention of his teammates and coaches alike by consistently making plays every single day.

He’s not currently in the starting lineup — the starting cornerback jobs belong to Pat Surtain II and Ronald Darby — but Ojemudia is knocking on the door.

Denver Broncos OTA takeaway no. 6: Kendall Hinton becoming a Russell Wilson favorite

When a new quarterback comes in, you want to get chemistry with him as quickly as possible if you’re a receiver.

Kendall Hinton showed some tremendous signs of growth in the 2021 season for the Denver Broncos and when Russell Wilson was acquired in a trade, Hinton popped up right away in the hype videos from Wilson’s first throwing session in San Diego back in the Spring.

Russell Wilson has recently been hyping up Hinton at Denver Broncos OTAs as a guy that consistently gets open.

There seems to be a special bond forming between Wilson and Hinton.

It’s tough to say for certain because right now we’re just in OTAs, but Hinton is becoming a receiver Wilson trusts and is getting good timing with.

You also can’t help but wonder if Wilson sees a bit of himself in Hinton — a little bit of an underdog with the “why not me?” mentality.

Hinton can play in the slot and give you something after the catch. He may not be the most dynamic athlete but he has a knack for getting open. As a former quarterback, he knows what quarterbacks like from receivers.

Year three could be a huge breakout season for Hinton even though there is a logjam among the top four receivers on the team already.

Denver Broncos OTA takeaway no. 5: Baron Browning is a full-time EDGE

When we heard that Baron Browning was going to be making a switch to the edge position, I think many or most assumed that it would be a part-time situation.

As in, Browning would be playing off-ball linebacker primarily and floating to the edge in certain situations.

That is apparently not the case.

Browning has been working exclusively with the other pass rushers on the roster and as we get deeper into OTAs, it’s becoming clear that he’s there to stay.

Does that mean he will never move back to the off-ball linebacker position again? I don’t know if that’s necessarily the case, but I do know that Browning has effectively changed positions for the time being.

Browning attended Von Miller’s pass rush summit, he’s been going over to Bradley Chubb’s house to learn with some of the other pass rushers, and it seems like the Broncos have something up their sleeve with this whole situation.

With Browning’s transition to the edge, the Broncos have no shortage of players to send at the quarterback:

• Bradley Chubb
• Randy Gregory
• Nik Bonitto
• Baron Browning
• Malik Reed
• Jonathon Cooper

That’s more players than you typically see land on an NFL roster at this particular position group.

Do the Broncos have a trade on the horizon?

My guess is, we’re going to see them hoarding all of these players until the last moment and then some kind of trade will go down.

The Broncos don’t want or need to make any trades right away — not when injuries could still happen before the start of the regular season.

If something is going to go down, it won’t be until late in camp.

The inclusion of Browning off the edge has given the Broncos the option to make a deal here, at least.

Denver Broncos OTA takeaway no. 4: Travis Fulgham impressing

Travis Fulgham has a reputation for having one of the brightest flashes in the pan in recent NFL history.

For a stretch of time with the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2020 season, the former 7th-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions was everyone’s favorite fantasy football waiver pickup.

He was dominating at times, including catching four touchdown passes in his first five games of the 2020 season.

Fulgham still believes he is capable of taking over games when called upon.

He’s gotten some attention from the media with an impressive string of practices dating back to the start of OTAs.

Fulgham is going to have a real shot at making this roster if he proves himself capable on special teams.

Or, as we saw last year with Trinity Benson, Fulgham could parlay his opportunity in Denver into an opportunity with another team elsewhere in the NFL and benefit the Broncos by bringing some draft capital back the other way.

One way or another, it only serves to benefit the Denver Broncos if Fulgham continues his impressive offseason.

Denver Broncos OTA takeaway no. 3: Greg Dulcich hype train chugging

The Greg Dulcich hype train has barely slowed down since the young stud tight end out of UCLA was selected in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Dulcich is a big body with outstanding speed and the ability to get downfield after the catch.

He proved as much in his time at UCLA and has been really impressing the Denver Broncos’ coaches and players alike.

In order to acquire Russell Wilson, the Broncos had to give up a valuable young piece of the offense in tight end Noah Fant. I think for the majority of the offseason, people assumed that Albert Okwuegbunam would be the TE1 without question, but Dulcich’s arrival has changed that.

Now, it truly feels like Dulcich could win the TE1 job outright going into training camp.

He’s proving to the coaching staff and quarterback Russell Wilson that he can pick up the offense quickly and he’s already gotten plenty of work with the top offense.

During the final portion of OTAs, Dulcich was an observer. The Broncos have exercised caution with their players dealing with dings here and there, and there’s no reason to risk long-term injury for any of these guys by forcing them out there.

Dulcich will undoubtedly be part of the next round of throwing sessions in July at Russell Wilson’s San Diego chalet and as he gains trust from QB1, he could end up being the team’s TE1 sooner than later.

Denver Broncos OTA takeaway no. 2: Jonas Griffith solidifying starting job?

One of the biggest question marks on the Denver Broncos’ roster right now is at the linebacker position.

The team moved on from Alexander Johnson this offseason but brought back 2018 fourth-round pick Josey Jewell.

George Paton has called Jewell the “glue” of the defense so it’s no wonder that the team prioritized bringing him back on a two-year deal even after a pectoral injury prematurely ended a strong start to the 2021 season.

With so many injuries at the linebacker position last year, I think most people assumed the Denver Broncos would attack that position much differently than they actually did in 2022.

The Broncos brought back Jonas Griffith who emerged late last season as the injuries piled up.

Griffith was brought in to help a terrible special teams unit with his combination of outstanding size, speed, and all-around athletic ability, but when he got the chance to show what he can do as a full-time starting linebacker, he shined.

In 13 games with four starts, Griffith racked up:

• 46 total tackles
• four tackles for loss
• two QB hits
• one fumble recovery

There was plenty to like about the small sample size we saw from Griffith and the team obviously believes they have this position group covered despite a lack of overall experience or even substantial investment financially.

It looks like the team is expecting a breakout year from Griffith in 2022 and based on what we saw last year, it’s hard to say they’re going to be wrong.

Denver Broncos OTA takeaway no. 1: KJ Hamler is healing at a rapid pace

It feels like a handful of years have passed since KJ Hamler was flying past the entire Minnesota Vikings secondary in a preseason game.

A lot has transpired since that time when some excitement over Drew Lock and the offense was temporarily renewed.

KJ Hamler suffered a season-ending knee injury early last season and the Denver Broncos missed his speed in the lineup, to understate that particular loss.

Hamler is a dynamic weapon offensively and he’s poised to play a big role for the team in 2022.

The former second-round pick out of Penn State surprisingly popped up in the earliest videos of Russell Wilson hosting throwing sessions in San Diego, and from there, positive news about his recovery from a major knee injury just kept on coming.

The Broncos have been cautious with Hamler, of course, but it feels like he’s been cleared for much more activity than anyone could have anticipated up to this point.

Hamler is out there dazzling with his speed once again at practice, and if he isn’t 100 percent, he’s certainly fooled pretty much everyone.

Hamler’s progress in recovery this offseason has been nothing short of stunning and it seems like it may have been a pleasant surprise to all.

The way the Broncos had talked about Hamler and the wide receiver position before the videos of Hamler with Russell Wilson surfaced seemed vastly different than what we’ve seen and heard since that time.

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