Who will be the 2019 Cleveland Browns of 2020? Part 3 The Denver Broncos
What constitutes being the 2019 Cleveland Browns of 2020?
Last year the Browns were underwhelming, to say the least. Baker Mayfield’s Sophmore slump, Odell was disappointing, the Myles Garrett incident and Freddie Kitchens being fired after 1 season. In the 2019 Preseason, the Browns were dubbed to win the AFC North, potentially the AFC and possibly the Superbowl. Will the Broncos be that team this year? In this series, I’m going to look at 5 teams who have the potential to be the all style no substance team this year? Will it be the Broncos?
Drew has the weapons but has he got the talent?
Drew Lock was picked 42nd in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. Drew played excellently in his 5 starts last season. The Broncos went 4–1 when he was the QB. Drew’s Stats were pretty impressive last year. In just 5 starts his stats were:
- 64.1% completion percentage
- 1020 yards in 100 completions
- 7 TDs to only 3 picks
- A passer rating of almost 90 (89.7)
- Lock led 2 game-winning drives.
The Broncos have gotten a lot deeper on offence this year all for the benefit of Drew. Denver signed 3 receivers in free agency. Then in the draft, Drew Lock must have been jumping for joy when Elway drafted him a future superstar in Alabama receiver Jerry Jeudy. The sophomore has 2019 breakout receiver, Courtland Sutton who caught 6 touchdown passes last year and 1112 yards. Don’t be surprised if Sutton’s play drops off a bit after his breakout season in 2019.
If Drew Lock fails to make the playoffs this year that’s on him.
Is Von Miller still Von Miller?
We all remember that forced fumble on Cam Newton in the Superbowl. Speaking of Cam Newton check out where I think he’s going to be signed in 2020. Anyway back to the Broncos. Von Miller used to be a guaranteed 10 sacks a year but last year he struggled and only got 8 sacks. Which is not bad but it’s not what you would expect from an elite pass rusher like Von. The rest of the defence is really quite talented but they’re going to have to count on Von to make a play and I don’t know if he can anymore.
Like I said the rest of the defence has more holes than most but more stars than most too. From Bradley Chubb off the edge and a top 3 safety pair in the league of Kareem Jackson (signed from the Bears) and Justin Simmons. However, there is little pressure being created by the Defensive Ends who are average at best however Jurrel Casey will have another good season after coming over from the Tennessee Titans. (Find out more about them at midday GMT tomorrow in the next edition of this series).
The Broncos inside linebacker core is also pretty weak. Todd Davis is the only good one but below that Vic Fangio has very little to work with. Much like the Defensive ends, the cornerbacks are lacking outside of ex-Jaguar AJ Bouye. The Broncos have Bryce Calahan who is mediocre and there’s not much else. Contrary to the corners the safeties are both elite players in there own right but together they will be unstoppable. Between them, they had 6 interceptions last year. They are both game changers and will be extremely influential in the Broncos Defence.
The toughest division in the toughest conference?
The Broncos have 3 other playoff contenders in their division. The AFC is loaded with talent. Teams that I think could make the playoffs in the AFC
- Buffalo Bills
- New England Patriots (If Stidham is good)
- New York Jets (Maybe)
- Baltimore Ravens
- Cleveland Browns
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Tennessee Titans
- Houston Texans
- Indianapolis Colts
- Kansas City Cheifs
- Denver Broncos
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Oakland Raiders
In conclusion, every team that isn’t the Jaguars, Dolphins or Bengals. So not only are they fighting to win their division they are fighting for a wildcard spot. I think it is easy to say that they won’t win the division so they will need to claim one of 3 wildcard spots. The Broncos are competing with 8 teams for 3 spots. This is not an easy task for a sophomore quarterback with a young offence. I think this is a make or break year for Drew Lock. If things go south we could see Justin Fields in a Broncos uniform in 2021.
Why the Broncos could flop
Drew Lock is inexperienced and unproven, if things go south the Broncos are without a Joe Flacco type who could potentially rescue the season if Drew were to be injured or to underperform they are pretty much stuck with him. If Drew Lock doesn’t perform well we may have a Josh Rosen situation where we see a young QB with potential benched after one full year as a starter.
If the Broncos don’t make the playoffs it will not be because of the Defence it will be because of one of three reasons
- Strength in the AFC
- Drew Lock being bad
- Injury Problems
Be sure to check out previous articles in this series and look out for future articles in this series and while your there check out some of my fellow writer’s articles. https://medium.com/chewing-the-pig-skin
