Preseason kicked off with a win Friday night for the Denver Broncos. While there was no Bo Nix to be seen, the product we did get to sink our teeth into looked, for all intents and purposes, like a well-oiled machine. The offense produced multiple good drives. The defense was smothering. The special teams unit looks like it needs some quality focus as training camp continues.
Offense
Davis Webb kicked the season off with a well-balanced attack from his offense. Gone was the high frequency of screen plays.
The run game leaned on at least in the first half. The passing game looked crisp and varied.
Given that the Broncos are just looking to kick the tires on the roster by and large without normal high levels of design, the offense looked well coached and ready, which is the best compliment I can give in a preseason game.
Quarterbacks
Jarrett Stidham, to me, solidified his place as the Broncos’ backup quarterback. He showed an excellent grasp of the offense and executed well. Early on, I liked his quick, accurate throw on a slant to Sutton with perfect timing to beat great coverage. He did have a poor throw on a 3rd and 6 that stalled out their second drive, where he threw behind the receiver on a quick route. He’s got to make sure the placement on those short under-5-yard routes is put in front where the player can keep running and have a chance to make a play to get that extra yardage. Stiddy ended up with a QBR of 110.7 on 9 out of 15 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.
Sam Ehlinger got the 2nd half of the game to work with and definitely looked like a young quarterback fighting for a backup spot. His ball placement wasn’t quite as on spot as what I saw from Stidham, but he had a respectable night. Ehlinger ended with a QBR of 81.5 on 10 out of 14 passes for 67 yards.
Line
The only issue on any serious note on the offensive line was the lack of centers available to the Broncos. Neither Luke Wattenberg nor Alex Forsyth were available in the game, so the Broncos trotted out Guard Calvin Throckmorton to handle snapping duties for the first half of the game. The line overall still looked like one of the NFL’s best with the added impact of having a very healthy run game with multiple ball carriers averaging over 3.5 yards per carry.
Running Backs
Jonah Coleman was the back most of us in Broncos Country were eager to see, and I wasn’t disappointed with what I saw. He ran with vision for both creases in the run blocks and cut back opportunities. He had a great run for 14 later in the game, spinning off a tackler to show off his ability to gain extra yards by making tacklers miss.
R.J. Harvey got several runs early with mixed success. He had 5 rushes for 16 yards (a rather ho-hum affair even for the preseason). He didn’t see any targets in the passing game, which is where he really shines for the Broncos. I feel like this was the team giving him reps in the run game to keep development efforts moving forward.
Per usual, Jaleel McLaughlin plays well in preseason. He had a nice first run of the day, spinning and churning for a big gain. He got the easy touchdown off a check-down pass inside the 10. On the downside, he coughed up a fumble with poor ball discipline, leaping for an unnecessary yard after he had already gotten the necessary yardage on a 3rd down play. This led to the only scoring drive of the game for the Falcons as the turnover happened at the Denver 17 yard line.
Cody Schrader got a lot of work in the 2nd half (he led the team with 7 carries on the night). He had one run for 14 yards and a whole lot of nothing else by and large. Averaging 2.4 yards per carry against scrubs isn’t what you want to see if you are trying to make it from the bottom end of the running back roster.
Adam Prentice had 3 carries in the game with one churning out a touchdown at the goal line. He’s a quality fullback, and it is fun to see him in short-yardage situations powering through tackles to get a yard or two.
Receivers
Courtland Sutton got some work with 3 catches for 60 yards, including a studly one-handed catch for 40 yards. Sutton looks ready to light it up this season. I’m honestly not sure he needs many more reps in the preseason other than getting some snaps with Nix on the field.
Pat Bryant curled a route perfectly early for a gain of 15. With his emergence and a run game, I think this offense is going to be very hard to stop in the regular season.
Cameron Ross ran an impressive end around for 28 yards. As an undrafted free agent, I think he’s a guy the Broncos are likely to add to the practice squad and develop as a Mims replacement given his ability to return kicks. He’s got jets and showed them in this game. I’d love to see more actual route running out of him in the next two games.
Another undrafted free agent, Dane Key, got a false start, which isn’t what you want to see from a wide receiver pre-snap. He started out with a long shot to make the team and tanked his stock in his first preseason game.
Joseph Manjack, on the other hand, had two very nice catches down the seam. He did a great job blocking out the defender on both catches. He ended the game with 3 catches on 3 targets for 40 yards. It was only one game, but his play screamed potential to me.
Defense
Vance Joseph’s defense picked up where they left off from last season with a smothering display. The Broncos defense held the Falcons to a piddly 2.6 yards per carry rushing. They couldn’t get anything going in the passing game either, holding the Falcons’ quarterbacks to a collective 16 completions on 36 attempts for a grand total of 134 yards and 2 interceptions.
Front 7
Red Murdoch got serious work in his debut with the Broncos. He led the team in tackles with 8 on the day. He looked like a savvy inside linebacker who understands where he needs to be and the right angles to take towards ball carriers.
Drew Sanders had the lone sack on the day for the Broncos and also chipped in a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit.
Jonah Elliss also got some quality work in this game with a couple of tackles and two pass defenses.
Secondary
Jahdae Barron had himself a game. He had a nice open-field tackle, wrapping up the ankle to hold the player up until help arrived on a swing pass. He did have a rough time holding the edge on a runner (something he shouldn’t be doing terribly often as a corner). He followed that play up by housing a tipped pass by Karene Reid. He did drop an overthrown pass that hit him in the hands later in the game.
Riley Moss only saw 13 snaps in the game, but made them count. He had an interception on a ball thrown behind the intended receiver and got a pass defense for the day.
JL Skinner had several good plays from the safety position. He had a nice tackle in the open field on a swing pass to the flat. Like Barron, he missed an interception thrown right to his chest. He also got a tackle for loss on the day and a pass defense.
Special Teams
Jeremy Crawshaw showed a big leg as a punter with a long of 62 yards in the game. Two of his punts were downed inside the 20. Sadly, he mishandled a snap on a field goal attempt, handing the ball to the Falcons at the Atlanta 41-yard line.
Wil Lutz had a solid game on the day, nailing all of his extra points and going 2 of 3 on field goals, with his lone miss being a 55-yarder.
Final Thoughts
Let’s first of all wish a speedy recovery to Levelle Bailey, who broke his leg after only 7 snaps in the game. Bailey is a young developing inside linebacker for the Broncos with a lot of promise. Hopefully we’ll get to see more of him next season. You hate to see injuries in the preseason. These men have been grinding all offseason in order to improve their craft and take the next step forward in their careers.
I thought the game was played well by the Broncos. They got to work a lot of the back half of the roster and were able to get most of the starters a good handful of live snaps. I’m looking forward to a more solid game with the starters next week.
The Packers are going to be a much more ready team than the fledgling Falcons, who are in the midst of a complete realignment in the front office and coaching staff. I’m looking forward to seeing this team take another step toward the regular season.
