Three Reasons for Broncos Fans to Be Optimistic About Next Season

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

For a team that normally kept its head down relative to many other headline-stealing NFL franchises, the Denver Broncos stole this NFL offseason with the Josh McDaniels-Jay Cutler shenanigans that lasted for way longer than anyone other than lazy media types wanted them to.

Now that all that big stuff is out of the way, the sports media world can go back to reporting on how, yet again, T.O. is going to show up late for camp. Snore. Ooh, I know, let's have another highly irrelevant Michael Vick prison update!

Grumblings aside, I am going to indulge myself (and my newly discovered Broncos comrades here at B/R) with a couple of major reasons why we can be optimistic about the upcoming season.

Four months still feels like way too long to have to wait for football season, so I will take this briefest of moments to plug your local semi-pro team, who is more likely than not in the middle of their season.

Now then, without further ado...

1. The defense can only get better

As someone that watched the Broncos when John Elway had no defense behind him, on through the Super Bowl teams whose defenses made the difference, I have seen this unit fluctuate.

Last year's was just about the worst that I can remember. It was almost as bad as the time no one tagged Marvin Harrison down, and he got back up and ran for a touchdown with three Broncos players right next to him. 

By the numbers, the Broncos allowed 28 points per game (that's 448 on the season, put the calculator away), placing them just barely ahead of the hapless Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams squads.

Their 374.6 yards-allowed-per-game ranked them 29th among the 32 NFL franchises. Tragically, this was in just 990 plays from scrimmage, meaning that the Broncos allowed 6.1 yards per play on defense, a tie for 30th in the NFL with the Rams. 

The secondary only snagged six interceptions all season (31st in the league, ahead of only the Lions) and allowed 228.5 yards passing per game, ranking them 26th. The most egregious offender was the consistently ineffective defensive line, where Denver finished 26th in the league in sacks and 27th in total run defense. 

While all the numbers are bad, its fair to extrapolate that the pass defense numbers might've been better if opposing quarterbacks hadn't had 10 seconds on every pass play to find an open target.

The good news begins with the healthy return of Champ Bailey and D.J. Williams, who were lost to injuries for a combined 14 games last season. Superstars count on defense—just ask the Chargers about missing Shawne Merriman.

Brian Dawkins, like John Lynch a few years ago, brings some hard-hitting credibility back to the safety position after the revolving door of second-rate talent that got the starts last year.

It wouldn't matter if Dawkins was 50, you don't want to be the slot guy going across the middle when Dawkins is on the prowl. Free agent acquisitions Andra Davis (LB) and Renaldo Hill (S) should be considered at least minimal upgrades over their 2008 predecessors. 

The largest question, and most important answer, though, will be how McDaniels addresses the situation at defensive line. No player stood out more to me than Elvis Dumervil, who tied for first on the team with five sacks despite being more of a situational DE than an every down player.

With the team's switch to the 3-4, which calls for larger D-linemen, the smallish 5'11" Dumervil will likely become an OLB, and he actually has the speed to compete at this new role. 

Ebenezer Ekuban, the team's other sack leader, is gone, so Denver will undoubtedly take a good look at the defensive line talent in the early rounds of the 2009 Draft. One or two impact picks on defense and healthier seasons for the remaining starters should move Denver's defensive numbers back towards the middle of the NFL pack.

2. Peyton Hillis and Ryan Clady

I'm not ashamed to admit that I have a totally hetero man-crush on Peyton Hillis. He is everything that I think an NFL running back should be.

After being under-utilized at Arkansas during his entire career, playing third fiddle to Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, he showed in glimpses last season that he can do it all. Hillis averaged five yards per carry last season as a rookie and led all Bronco rushers with five TDs.

With outstanding speed for his size (6'1", 250 lbs), he is a near unstoppable short-yardage back that also displayed good hands and playmaking ability after the initial catch.

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