The Denver Broncos are on a mission to become great again. We know about the acquisition of Russell Wilson, and, yes, he’ll play one of the biggest parts in how the season turns out (and future seasons).
That being said, he’s already been one of the better quarterbacks in all of football for a while.
The Broncos need a major change in their ways. They’ve gone the past six seasons without even sniffing the playoffs. Of course, the expectations are much different now and how they should be.
Currently on the roster are 12 players who are 30 years old or older. I believe that teams should have a good mix of young and older players in order to have a better chance of winning. You have the younger guys who are potentially more athletic and then the older guys who have been around and know the ins and outs of the league, and how it works.
No. 1 Denver Broncos player poised to improve in 2022: Left Tackle Garett Bolles
Garett Bolles was selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. His career got off to a very rocky start. As a rookie, Bolles was called for 15 penalties. Those included 10 holding calls, four false starts, and an unnecessary roughness call.
The following two seasons were not much better for Bolles. While he did reduce his penalty count to 10 in each of those two seasons (yes, I know it’s technically “better”), there’s not much difference between 12 and 10. It’s still a lot of penalties to take.
With more playing time with Russell Wilson, easily the best quarterback Bolles has had, Bolles should continue to have an easier time blocking for him. The one thing I would be concerned about with the offensive line is Wilson scrambling. That could turn into some holding penalties for the line. As I said, however, it should not be a major issue as the weeks go by.
No. 2 Denver Broncos player poised to improve in 2022: Outside Linebacker Bradley Chubb
Unfortunately, Bradley Chubb’s career has been up and down since he was the fifth-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Chubb started off his career by recording 12 sacks in 2018. During that year, the Broncos still had Von Miller, which was a huge help in his development. The following year, Chubb tore his ACL and missed 12 games. In 2020, Chubb rebounded with a 7.5-sack season in 14 games. While that wasn’t as good as his rookie season, it still shows that he was effective.
In September of last season, Chubb underwent arthroscopic ankle surgery. He returned late in the year and recorded 20 tackles in the final five games. It’s hard to say what Chubb’s story will end up being by the conclusion of his career. We’ll need to see more domination. I think that with the arrival of Randy Gregory on one side, as well as the arrival of defensive tackle D.J. Jones, 2022 could turn out to be a rebound year for Chubb.
It would have been great to see Chubb have a successful season without Von Miller and now Randy Gregory just to prove he is capable of doing so.
No. 3 Denver Broncos player poised to improve in 2022: Running Back Javonte Williams
There is a chance that Melvin Gordon takes plenty of carries away from second-year running back Javonte Williams, but I still feel like Williams will be the guy in Denver going forward. Having Gordon around is actually a good thing for Williams.
The Broncos could still give Williams the bulk of the carries but get Gordon into the game when Williams needs a breather. Williams averaged just under 12 carries and 53.1 yards a game in 2021. Gordon had the same number of carries and 15 more yards (908) than Williams in one less game last year. The numbers are incredibly similar and I see no reason why Williams should not see more carries.
Both running backs had several fumbles last year, Gordon with three and Williams with two. That needs to be cleaned up significantly.
Williams absolutely has the potential to become a very good running back. He will have to clean up some things and find gaps a little bit better than he did as a rookie.
No. 4 Denver Broncos player poised to improve in 2022: Wide Receiver Jerry Jeudy
Jerry Jeudy’s rise in stardom is about to happen due to one single change on the roster: He actually has a qualified starting quarterback who will be throwing him the football for the foreseeable future.
As a rookie in 2020, Jeudy caught 52 passes for 856 yards and three touchdowns. He had a little bit of a problem in terms of drops as a rookie, being “credited” with 10. While the drops drastically decreased for him in Year 2, Jeudy saw 57 fewer targets in 2021, while playing in just ten games. The league added another game to the schedule, so in total, Jeudy missed seven.
Oh yeah, Jeudy had a grand total of zero touchdowns in 2021.
Now with Russell Wilson at quarterback, I feel like Jeudy is going to be fed a whole lot more than he has in the past and he’s going to succeed. It might take a few weeks to get going with the young receiver, but at some point, Jeudy is going to go off and dominate.
Unfortunately (for the team), the loss of Tim Patrick for the entire 2021 season will be a reason for his increased responsibilities of Jeudy. He’s one player who will have to step up and help the team win some games. It’s a great opportunity for Jeudy, though the circumstances are not ideal.
No. 5 Denver Broncos player poised to improve in 2022: Defensive End Dre’Mont Jones
The concept of this one could be viewed as simple here. While the team sent Shelby Harris to the Seattle Seahawks in the trade of the year, they added D.J. Jones into the mix at defensive tackle.
The expectations last year for Dre’Mont Jones will carry over to the 2022 season. In fact, I am hoping for even greater expectations for the fourth-year pro out of Ohio State.
Jones has 15.5 sacks in three years with the team, playing all but six games during that time. He had 5.5 sacks last season, one full less sack than the previous season.
The addition of D.J. Jones could prove to be the missing key in Dre’Mont Jones’ improvement. The hope is that teams will have to start double-teaming D.J. Jones, leaving less help on the outside. Offensive tackles could struggle against the improved Dre’Mont.
Talking to Troy Renck of Denver 7, Dre’Mont Jones had this to say regarding his upcoming 2022 campaign:
"“Everything feels different to me. From us being more in tune with the defense and knowing what’s going on and my alignments,” Jones told Denver7 after Wednesday’s padded practice. “I feel like I am lining up in different areas instead of just being one dimensional. Kind of how it was last year when I was a three [technique]… I feel like I can go on both sides of a three technique and play some wide five [at end], and I like it.” — Denver Broncos’ Dre’Mont Jones"
Russell Wilson contract breakdown: 5 most important details to know
Taking a look at every angle of the Russell Wilson contract extension with the Denver Broncos. How does it break down over the next seven years?
That’s phenomenal news. It can be difficult to learn a new system but expectations still will be high for Jones.