The Denver Broncos did not have a perfect season by any means. Let's dive into their three biggest mistakes. The team went 10-7 on the year, and when you consider how much dead cap they had and them starting a rookie QB, going 10-7 and making the postseason was just about as far as this team could go.
It became clear in their playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills that the Denver Broncos were maxed out, and that's perfectly fine, as many people thought they would win a handful of games this year. Now sure, they did make some mistakes along the way that could have helped them get that much better.
Here are their three biggest mistakes of the 2024 NFL Season.
3 biggest mistakes the Denver Broncos made during the 2024 NFL Season
Not doing more at WR and TE
It's clear that the Broncos needed to do more at the WR and TE positions. They had, arguably, the worst TE group in the NFL and no tight end on the roster that was a viable receiver. And in their WR room, the young guys did get more work as the season went on, but it's clear that the unit needed another veteran body.
I guess they assumed that Josh Reynolds was going to be that player, but his injury at the beginning of the season perhaps made the coaching staff think that they should just get the young guys into the lineup early.
Denver having added another WR in free agency (perhaps a Darnell Mooney) would have given Bo Nix another viable and much-needed weapon. The same goes for the TE position. Why didn't the Broncos sign Jonnu Smith, for example? Maybe they were planning on not doing much at all at the positions in 2024 to pave the way for 2025.
They should have done more, though.
Giving Javonte Williams the most carries in the RB room
Below are the carries that each of the Broncos' running backs got in 2024:
Javonte Williams - 139
Jaleel McLaughlin - 113
Audric Estime - 76
Tyler Badie - 11
Blake Watson - 2.5
Javonte Williams averaged 3.7 yards per carry. McLaughlin averaged 4.4. Estime averaged 4.1, and Tyler Badie averaged 7.8. Now yes, Tyler Badie was injured for much of the year, but giving Javonte Williams 26 more carries than any other RB was malpractice.
Williams does excel in pass protection and can catch passes out of the backfield, but in terms of being an legitimate running back, he was the third-best on the roster behind Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime. Both McLaughlin and Estime should have each gotten more carries than Javonte Williams. If Sean Payton gave the young guys at WR more run on offense as the season went on, why didn't that carry over to the RB room?
Not being more aggressive with the ILB position
It felt like yet again, the Denver Broncos were just trying to get by at the ILB spot. They signed Cody Barton in free agency to replace Josey Jewell. It was Barton and Alex Singleton to begin the year, but Singleton tearing his ACL did pave the way for Justin Strnad.
For multiple years now, the Broncos have had 'JAGS' at the position (just a guy). It's time for them to make a bigger investment into the unit, and you have to wonder if the defense would have held up a little better toward the end of the season with more of an enforcer at the position.
The expectation is that Denver makes a bigger push to upgrade the unit this coming offseason, but they should have done it last offseason.