The Denver Broncos capped off an undefeated preseason with another comfortable win.
I for one am glad we’re on to real games.
That being said, I think all of us in Broncos Country appreciated getting to see our starters get more action with the back end of the roster getting most of the work.
Overall, I’m concerned about this team a bit. The offensive line starters left much to be desired. The defensive had more bend to it even when they were playing backups.
But I think it is important for us all to
be reminded that this is the preseason and it largely means nothing.
There was no serious game planning happening. Both starting units were playing very vanilla play calls.
The only serious consideration from these preseason games has been seeing individual capability from a player to player standpoint.
Offense
Let’s keep it real: the play calling for this game had me pining to have Davis Webb back on the headset (no offense to Sean Payton). Last week we saw a lot more dynamic play calling from Webb. That was all according to plan, though. Payton was running vanilla stuff with two goals in mind: quality reps for the starters before the seasons’ start and evaluation opportunities for the depth guys on the roster.
One play call that stood out to me was a run on 3rd and 6 which was a handoff that looked like a bad call at first glance. The offense was going for it on 4th down no matter what at that area of the field which made the short yardage it gained more valuable.
Payton worked in plenty of his short passes around the line of scrimmage with mostly poor success. A lot of the troubles with them had to do with the ball not getting there quickly enough for the players to have space to work with.
Quarterbacks
Bo Nix honestly looked like he needed the reps in this game. He was guilty of a slow pass on a WR screen to Franklin. He was also off on his accuracy a bit early. As the game wore on, he got quite deadly, though and was really starting to look like a quarterback who was fully comfortable letting the game come to him from play to play. His last drive was immaculate and I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do this season.
Sam Ehrlinger played one hell of a game for a 3rd string quarterback. I don’t expect perfection from a quarterback, especially when he’s having to play with so many different sets of receivers that he likely doesn’t have superb rapport with. His touchdown throw showed some ability to create under pressure, which is a great thing to have in the NFL. There’s a higher than 0 chance that the Broncos could trade Jarrett Stidham in the near future. If that happens, I think Ehrlinger could handle the backup duties.
Line
Luke Wattenburg had a lot of weak plays in this game. For all the hype the offensive line gets, the center issue is still an issue and his play in this game has me wondering why Forsyth hasn’t jumped him yet in the roster.
Calvin Throckmorton had one hell of a whiff letting his guy run free to Ehlinger for a big hit. He looked like a boy getting brushed aside by a man on the rep and looked completely ineffectual. It honestly had me wondering if he was expecting help from the center on the play for some reason.
Running Backs
Tyler Badie a couple of nice receptions out of the backfield and a very nice gain in traffic. He was looking like not just a play maker, but a guy that can pass block as well. His stock is up in my eyes and may even be the #3 back on the roster in the near future.
Blake Watson had a nice blitz pickup. Followed this up with a decent game on an outlet pass to the outside making the first tackler miss.
R.J. Harvey really struggled in this game. Some of that blame goes to the offensive line for some really poor blocking. But he really didn’t quite look with it to my eyes. I think he’s going to be a weapon for this team, but I’m not so sure how soon he’ll be getting a ton of carries.
Audric Estime wasn’t about to make it easy for the Broncos front office in this game. He had a couple of nice looking runs against pretty poor defense by the Saints. His touchdown run was exactly the kind of running this team wants from a big powerful back like him. The problem I have with Estime is one of consistency. He popped off this game, but the other two games were real stinkers. If he’s going to make it in the NFL, he’s got to put more quality on the field consistently.
Receivers
Courtland Sutton looked like a man on a mission in this game. You could argue that he had a drop earthly on 3rd down, but I write that off as a great play by the defender. Sutton was effective at multiple levels of the field. He did work after the catch for extra yards. His touchdown as an excellent job of boxing his guy out and protecting the catch in the air. He looked like a tight end and used the size mismatch perfectly to his advantage.
The Joker this week was mostly a joke as Evan Engram had a bad drop in the open field on his only target. He’s had drop issues in the past so this may be one of the things we put up with because the good outweighs the bad in the long run.
Pat Bryant had a rough go of it in this game catching only 2 of 5 targets for 19 yards. He’s got to work on both focus and technique as he had two drops in the game that were good throws.
Undrafted Kyrese Rowan had himself a hell of a game with 4 catches on 4 targets including a TD. I saw enough to think the Broncos should keep him around to develop. He looks like a young player with definite potential.
Defense
The defense early had its bad drive, then mostly locked things down. As the game wore on we got to see that our depth isn’t great on the defensive side of the ball. Vance Joseph should be pleased with where the defense is. They played well for the most part only giving up 19 points.
Front 7
Jonathan Cooper had a show off moment with his sack, powering the edge, then shedding the block to crash down on the QB. He had a TFL and a quarterback hit to go along with them as well.
Secondary
Patrick Surtain II actually got to get reps in this game as the Saints weren’t shy about throwing on him. He was all over a poorly thrown ball to the outside. Later, he’s in man-to-man, and plays Cooks perfectly to bat the ball away.
P.J. Lock nice stop on 4th and 1. I may not be crazy about his pass coverage, but that was one hell of a manly tackle.
Damarri Mathis did a nice job attacking a WR screen. It was a bad throw but he would have been there. Great job defending the pass on an in cut, knocking the ball loose on a well thrown pass by Shough.
Abrahms-Draine had a perfect defense of a deep pass to the sideline. He watched the receiver’s posture to put his arm up through the receiver’s arms at the right moment when the ball was getting there.
Special Teams
Tyler Badie got an excellent return from the end zone out to the 50. It is good to know we have a decent backup returner in wings as insurance for Mimms.
Jeremy Crawshaw really isn’t inspiring confidence from me. Yes, I can see he has a big leg, but we aren’t seeing consistent hang time from his punts which ends up costing the team yards.
Final Thoughts
I’m so ready for week 1. We’ll finally get to see some real action for a whole game from the Broncos.
The future is bright for this team and I’m ready to see the machine start churning.
As far as cut downs go, I’m not sure Estime did enough to keep a roster spot. I think Ehrlinger made Stidham expendable if one of the QB needy teams comes knocking. I also think we’re going to be looking to grab a safety off waivers during all the madness this week.
Hit me up in the comments and let me know your thoughts on this preseason. Who are your favorites from the bottom of the roster that you think are going to turn into starters in a season or two?
