3 nightmare scenarios for the Denver Broncos in the 2024 NFL Season

The defense is still a mess despite offseason additions

The Denver Broncos defense was historically bad to begin the 2023 NFL Season. Yes, it was all-time bad. They gave up 70 points to the Miami Dolphins, and it was just an all-around disaster. And while the unit still finished among the worst in the NFL, they drastically improved about halfway through 2023, and ended up being a huge factor in the Broncos ripping off five wins in a row.

Well, another nightmare scenario to consider is if the defense is still a mess despite the plethora of offseason additions they made to this unit. Along the defensive front, the team's weakest spot in the roster in 2023, the Broncos added DE John Franklin-Myers, two DTs in Malcolm Roach and Angelo Blackson, and an EDGE rusher in Jonah Elliss.

They signed ILB Cody Barton to effectively replace Josey Jewell, and brought in a ton of new players in the secondary including Levi Wallace, Brandon Jones, Kris Abrams-Draine, and PJ Locke III in free agency. The defense is much more stout on paper now than it was at any point in 2023. However "on paper" doesn't mean squad if the unit can't perform.

And well, I guess there is always a possibility that the defense is still no good, which just makes life hard for the Broncos overall. The unit doesn't have to be top-10 by any means. But with a veteran defensive mind coordinating the unit in Vance Joseph, there shouldn't be any reason why this unit can't at least be average in the 2024 NFL Season.

Average would be lovely considering how bad the unit was in 2023. This could allow the Broncos to go all-out next offseason in bringing in top defensive players if the offense could also pull their weight enough.

I don't believe any of us want to watch what we watched when the Broncos kicked off their 2023 season. It was brutal, and it's amazing that jobs weren't lost during that tough stretch.