De’Vante Bausby explains why Denver Broncos might be in trouble.
Change is hard in any job, but imagine what it must be like for the Denver Broncos offense right now.
Looking at it right now, I would guess that there will be as many as six new starters on the Broncos offense in Week 1 compared to where they were in October last season.
I am talking about a team that is changing to a new quarterback, two of their top three wide receivers, their center, right guard, and potentially a different starting running back as well. That isn’t even talking about their switch at OC either.
Don’t take that as me saying that this team is worse because the Denver Broncos are undoubtedly better on offense now than they were a year ago. The problem is that these guys are going to get about two weeks of padded practices together, then they host the Tennessee Titans to start the season.
This isn’t a game where the Broncos can catch someone who is also on uneven footing or someone like the Jacksonville Jaguars who lost a lot of talent this past offseason. They are facing a team that returns 11 or 11 players who got started multiple games on offense last season, and the one potential change they have in their starting line up from the team that whomped the Baltimore Ravens is a battle at right tackle.
If you think I am wrong for thinking that the Broncos are probably missing out on the opportunity to work with each other in live-action before the season starts, don’t listen to me, listen to one of the players on the Broncos roster.
Corner concerns
De’Vante Bausby was on “Broncos Country Tonight” (audio is embedded in this article from Mile High Report) and he said this about the difference in how quickly a defense can come together vs an offense:
"‘Defensively, I think we’re going to be solid,’ Bausby said. “Because we’ve got a lot of guys returning and we’re in the same system. Defensively I feel like it’s easier to get the ball rolling. Now offensively, we got new pieces and young guys, I think it’s more on that side of the ball that we need at least like one practice run before things get serious… …Just seeing different faces one time before the real thing gets started would be beneficial in my opinion.”"
This is a good take too, this isn’t someone just posturing for one side or the other in the NFL/NFLPA debate.
It is easy to see it on paper and think about how easy it is for talented rookies to shine but look at the best offensive rookie in the NFL last year, A.J. Brown.
Brown finished the season with one of the best rookie seasons of all time, with 1,051 yards on just 52 receptions. However, he didn’t pass the 500-yard mark until Week 12 of the 2019 season.
Let me say that again, a rookie receiver who was historically efficient didn’t even get half of his yards until Week 12 meaning that he averaged 44.6 yards per game before that time and 101 yards per game after that.
The moral to that story is that it takes time for a receiver to dominate in the NFL even if that receiver has the tools and skills to succeed as a rookie.
Scary matchup
What makes the Titans even scarier for the Broncos is that Denver probably won’t be able to win the same way they did last season.
In 2019, Courtland Sutton and Royce Freeman led the offense in receptions, and on paper, you would think that Sutton could repeat and that the Broncos have better running backs this season.
However, when you dig deeper it turns out that, between their combined 9 receptions, Sutton and Freeman beat:
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-Logan Ryan twice (no longer on the Titans)
-Wesley Woodyard once (no longer on the Titans)
-Rashaan Evans twice (who was injured on the first drive of the game and had to come back in because of a lack of depth)
That means that more than half of those receptions aren’t sustainable based on what they will see this year from the Titans.
But nevermind that because every season is different and anything could happen, but look at the defense that the Broncos will likely have to face. The Titans upgraded their speed on defense with the addition of Kristian Fulton and he isn’t even the biggest concern for the Broncos passing game.
That would be the twisting fronts that Mike Vrabel likes to run, now equipped with Jeffery Simmons, Vic Bealsey, and potentially Jadeveon Clowney. Garett Bolles had some really tough days last season and that isn’t going to get easier immediately with more confusing on the interior of the line vs a defensive front that requires constant communication.
Short fuses and long memories
The last thing that emphasizes just how difficult the opener against the Titans should be is that the Denver Broncos game was the low point of the season for Tennessee.
Marcus Mariota was benched as Tennessee was shut out on the road to fall to 2-4. With a 1-3 record in the AFC and a 0-2 record in the AFC South, it looked like the Titans were going to be more focused on Joe Burrow than the postseason.
I’m sure the Broncos have this circled as a game where they can try to prove themselves, but the Titans have this circled as a revenge game. As much as Jurrell Casey may want to show the Titans that they made a mistake, Tennessee wants to use this game as a measuring stick to see just how much better they are compared to the team that lost 16-0 in their last match up.
With months to use this to motivate Titans players, Mike Vrabel will have the chance to go in and make up for one of his lowest moments as a coach or player and he gets to do that in the same game that he is taking over defensive play-calling duties from his former coach and Titans former DC Dean Pees.
Whether Denver knows it or not, the Titans are coming with bad intentions and while Mile High generally has an outstanding home-field advantage in September, that probably isn’t as helpful when your own players haven’t played a game in the thin air either.