The Denver Broncos have what it takes to win it all in the 2026 NFL Season. From the top down, this franchise really isn't missing much of anything, which is awesome. Even some of the best teams in the history of the NFL had flaws, and that will be the case with the Broncos.
But the team has done a stellar job at keeping the core pieces around while also retaining key coaches. Both Vance Joseph and Davis Webb have had varying levels of interest from other teams in recent years, but both are set to return for 2026.
The biggest loss was obviously Jim Leonhard, who departed for the Buffalo Bills to be their new defensive coordinator, and on that note, one of the Broncos main challenges in the AFC West had a major loss earlier this offseason that isn't getting talked about nearly enough.
Denver Broncos rivals lost their elite defensive coordinator this offseason
The Los Angeles Chargers had something special in Jesse Minter, their stud defensive coordinator. However, Minter was poached by the Baltimore Ravens to be their new head coach, and on a side note, it does feel like the Ravens made that hire as a course correction for losing Mike Macdonald, who was their former defensive coordinator.
And all Macdonald did in 2025 was win the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. In 2024, Minter's first year as the Chargers defensive coordinator, the unit ranked first in the NFL in points allowed, allowing just 17.7 per game. In 2025, the unit ranked 9th, allowing 20 points per game.
Minter's Chargers' units were top-10 in so many different categories, too. In 2025, the unit was just fifth in yards allowed, 8th in rushing yards allowed, fifth in passing yards allowed, and third in touchdowns allowed, via Pro Football Reference.
And it's not like the Chargers were sporting elite offenses in 2024 or 2025, either. Los Angeles ranked 20th in points per game in 2025, averaging just 21.6 points per contest. In 2024, they ranked 11th with 23.6 points per game.
Not only is their elite defensive coordinator not in the picture anymore, but the replacement, Chris O'Leary has just one season of experience in the NFL, which came in 2024. He was their safeties coach.
In 2025, O'Leary was at the collegiate level as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Western Michigan. As recently as 2020, O'Leary was a 'defensive analyst and defensive graduate assistant' with Notre Dame.
The 34-year-old is quite raw in the NFL and could have quite the challenge, and given his overall lack of experience, it's reasonable to think that the Chargers defense could take a nosedive in 2026. Sure, the defense could be quite good, as many of the same players who were there in 2024 and 2025 are still with the team, but this does feel like quite the drop-off on the surface.
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