The Broncos have won their last two games and after finally finding a way to beat the Kansas City Chiefs, optimism has returned in Broncos Country. Following their bye, the Broncos will take on a slumping Buffalo Bills team that will be hungry for a win.
If the Broncos can get that win, spirits will be sky high that the team can pull this season out of complete shambles and turn it into something. In order for that to happen, the Broncos are going to need to get much more out of some of their players in terms on production on the field.
If we are being honest, this Broncos roster lacks overall talent in several key spots, but that can be made up for with good coaching and good game-planning. However, the Broncos need some of their better players to step it up a notch and play a lot better than they did before the bye week.
Tight end
No matter which tight end you name, the Broncos need more out of them. One thing that is clearly missing in the Broncos' offense is a receiving threat from the tight end position.
Greg Dulcich has been on injured reserve twice this season, and is currently there, still dealing with a hamstring injury that he had last season.
Adam Trautman is the tight end the team uses as its top receiving option but he isn't really scaring many defenses this season. Chris Manhertz and Nate Adkins are also on the roster, but they are both better as blockers.
On the season, the Broncos have 19 total receptions made by tight ends. This is a position that will absolutely need to be addressed in the offseason, but the team needs to find a way to get the tight end more involved in the passing game.
Mike McGlinchey
The Broncos handed right tackle Mike McGlinchey a massive deal this offseason and it seemed that the team was finally going to have a long-term fix at a spot that has been a weakness for many years.
McGlinchey was a first-round pick who came over from a strong San Francisco 49ers team and he looked to be a terrific fit for the Broncos. It was clear what the Broncos were doing by signing him, which was to bolster the rushing attack and that is why he received a five-year, $87.5 million deal this offseason.
But what we have seen before the bye has been the idea of that being a lot of wasted money, as McGlinchey has been very average, and that's being nice. He is solid in the running game, but he needs to limit the penalties and be able to hold up in pass protection.
The Broncos need a better McGlinchey in the second half of this season.
Kareem Jackson
Kareem Jackson has had a rough season for the Broncos, mainly because he can't stop delivering illegal hits. He's done it enough this season that he was actually hit with a four-game suspension, which was later reduced to two games on appeal.
The Broncos will get Jackson back after the Bills game and he makes this list because I just don't buy the idea of P.J. Locke being the starting safety when he returns, at all. You could make the argument that Jackson should be benched for his bad hits this season, but he's a better safety than Locke, who is more of a special teams guy.
The Broncos have one of the best safeties in the league in Justin Simmons. But they need his counterpart to be more than a liability, which is what Jackson has been this season. He has been flagged for three unnecessary roughness hits against defenseless receivers this season which have resulted in penalties, fines and a suspension.
He needs to use his veteran experience to help this much-improved defense be even better.
Jerry Jeudy
To talk about all the reasons why Jerry Jeudy makes this list would be to beat a dead horse but at any rate, you knew he would be here. He has caught just 27 passes for 336 yards and one touchdown this season and quite frankly, those numbers need to balloon in a big way.
The Broncos reportedly turned down a third and fifth-round pick for Jeudy just ahead of the league's trade deadline. That is a more than fair offer for Jeudy considering how he's played for the Broncos during his career, so to justify the team turning that deal down, he needs to step it up a notch.
Jeudy did catch a touchdown pass in his last game, so hopefully that is something that he can build upon. But he has three receptions or less in four of the team's eight games this season, so he needs to get more involved.
The Broncos' passing game as a whole needs to be more potent as Courtland Sutton and Marvin Mims could certainly step up as well. But Jeudy is supposed to be the guy on this offense and he needs to start looking like it.