Injuries: Last year, the Denver Broncos were tied with the Tennessee Titans for having the most players placed on injured reserve at some point during the season. That number is a staggering 23. That also includes the third-most amount of cap space placed on injured reserve at over $67 million.
While I would have hoped to have had a better record than 5-12 even with an injured team, you can’t tell me that it wasn’t a major part of the team’s failures last year.
Among the players on injured reserve:
- WR Tim Patrick
- RB Javonte Williams
- LT Garett Bolles
- CB Ronald Darby
- OLB Randy Gregory
- RB Mike Boone
- S Caden Sterns
- C Lloyd Cushenberry
- ILB Jonas Griffith
I'm not sure how much better this team would have been had these players not been placed on injured reserve at some point during the season (with a few of them missing the entire year), but maybe we could have squeaked out a couple of more wins.
The Broncos hired a new strength and conditioning coach Dan Dalrymple this offseason to replace Loren Landow. We'll see if this move makes a huge difference going forward. My bet is that it will be a good move. Or, at least that's my hope.