How Have Denver Broncos Addressed Biggest Weaknesses from 2014?
The Denver Broncos fell short of a Super Bowl championship in 2014. They have yet to win it all with Peyton Manning as their quarterback. After three seasons with him, the Broncos are running out of time to win a championship in this era.
Despite their big spending spree in free agency last year, the Broncos still didn’t have the talent they needed to bring home the title. With a lot less money this year in free agency, they had to be creative and find talented bargains for the roster.
They had weaknesses that had to be strengthened this offseason. The Broncos have used free agency, trades and the draft to add talent in order to fill those holes.
Here’s how the Broncos have addressed their five biggest weaknesses from 2014.
5. Pass Rush
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How could a team with Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware have a pass-rushing problem? The answer is simple: Those two can’t do it all by themselves.
Last year Miller and Ware combined for 23.5 sacks, but the rest of the team only snared the quarterback 17.5 times. That total of 41 sacks tied for ninth-best in the league in 2014. Miller had 13 sacks last year, with Ware adding 10.5 sacks of his own. The next-highest total for a Broncos player was defensive end Malik Jackson with a mere three sacks.
In addition to total sacks, the Broncos need to maintain consistency when rushing the passer. Ware had 10.5 sacks, but only two of those sacks came in the last eight games of the season.
The Broncos needed to make a move to bolster their pass rush, and that’s why they moved up in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft to selected Shane Ray.
The rookie from Missouri is an alpha male who plays with a chip on his shoulder. He does a good job of anticipating the snap, and he has amazing first-step quickness. Ray has the ability to bend and burst around the edge to get after the quarterback.
In addition to his quickness, speed and closing burst, he also has good functional strength. He can use a bull rush to get through a blocker on his way to the passer.
He’s a relentless player who should boost the Broncos defense. It will also help that this team is likely to be much more aggressive when it comes to blitzing this season. New defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is known for his creative ways of building pressure. Ray is going to contribute as a part-time pass-rushing outside linebacker behind Miller and Ware.
4. Free Safety
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The Broncos secondary is jam-packed with talent, but they needed to fill a hole at free safety when Rahim Moore moved on in free agency. Denver spent a lot of money last year in free agency on guys like strong safety T.J. Ward (four years, $22.5 million) and cornerback Aqib Talib (six years, $57 million). This offseason, Denver lacked the salary-cap space of the previous year, so they had to find reasonably priced players to build better depth.
The free safety the team targeted in free agency this offseason was Darian Stewart. Originally an undrafted free agent for the St. Louis Rams in 2010, Stewart was a good starter for the Baltimore Ravens last year. The Broncos decided he would be the guy to potentially replace Moore.
Stewart is a smart player with the ability to diagnose plays quickly as things unfold in front of him. He can make plays on the ball and break up passes, as he does a good job of reading a quarterback’s eyes. Stewart isn’t known as a run-stuffer, but he’s a sound tackler who is not afraid of doing the dirty work near the line of scrimmage.
His main competition for the starting free safety job is likely to come from converted cornerback Omar Bolden. Stewart struggled with injuries during his four-year career with the Rams, but he was healthy enough last year to start 14 games for the Ravens. If healthy, he should beat out Bolden for the starting job.
Another player in line to play some snaps at free safety is second-year cornerback Bradley Roby. The Broncos' first-round pick in 2014, he was an outstanding player as the nickel corner during his rookie season. He can be a star at corner, but the Broncos may want to get their best players on the field in certain packages, and that’s why Roby could see some time at safety.
3. Center
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Denver hasn’t had a set-it-and-forget-it center since the days of Tom Nalen, and last year was no different. The Broncos shuffled the offensive line multiple times in 2014, and they worked with two different centers who are now no longer on the team.
Manny Ramirez began the season as the starting center. He’s a power player who is mostly known for his play at guard, but the Broncos had worked him at center during the 2013 season and felt he was worth keeping in that position to begin 2014. It turns out that Ramirez wasn’t their best option, and the team benched him. Denver later traded him to the Detroit Lions during the 2015 NFL draft.
The next center in the lineup was veteran Will Montgomery. The Broncos picked him up with a one-year deal last offseason in a move that went mostly unnoticed. He proved to be a quality starter for the Broncos, and some felt the team would keep him around as it moved to the zone-blocking system in 2015. Instead, Montgomery ended up following former head coach John Fox to the Chicago Bears.
That’s why the Broncos traded with the Baltimore Ravens for center Gino Gradkowski.
He started every game for the Ravens in 2013, but Gradkowski barely saw the field in 2014. The Ravens plugged in Jeremy Zuttah as their starting center as Gradkowski rode the bench. Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak (Ravens offensive coordinator last year) must have been impressed with what he saw from Gradkowski behind the scenes.
At this time, he has to be considered the front-runner at the position. He’ll face competition from second-year pro Matt Paradis and rookie Max Garcia.
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2. Nose Tackle
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This is a make-or-break season for 2013 first-round pick Sylvester Williams. The Broncos are moving to a 3-4 defense this year, and he will be lining up at nose tackle. In this scheme, the nose tackle is the fulcrum of the defense—and bad play at that position can plague the rest of the team.
Williams did a decent job as a rookie in 2013. He came in about halfway through the season after Kevin Vickerson was injured. Williams seemed fresh and got some interior push—and even a couple of sacks—over the last half of the season. He didn’t enjoy that same level of production during his second season, however.
In 2014, Williams failed to register a sack and did not make an impact on the field. He did not get off the snap quickly and was pushed back in one-on-one situations. Simply put, he needs to play much better, or this defense could be in trouble.
To help at the position, the Broncos may turn to Marvin Austin—a player they picked up last year. He can be a disruptive player and could end up as the starter this year.
The Broncos also added defensive tackle Darius Kilgo (Maryland) in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL draft. Kilgo is a huge prospect, measuring in at 6’3”, 320 pounds. He can regularly stuff the run because of his size and difficultly to move. Kilgo may not get much push on the quarterback, but he’s going to command double-teams and free up players behind him.
1. Right Tackle
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Last year, the Broncos had a big problem at right tackle. It was arguably their biggest weak spot entering this offseason, but that all changed when left tackle Ryan Clady was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered at OTAs. For this article, we’re only looking at weaknesses that were there in 2014.
Right tackle was a problem spot in 2014, so much so the team moved right guard Louis Vasquez to the position. When left guard Zane Beadles moved on in free agency, the Broncos shifted Orlando Franklin inside from right tackle to fill the spot. They began the 2014 season with Chris Clark at right tackle, but he didn’t last long at the position.
This year, the Broncos may go back to Clark as their starter. The zone-blocking system should be a better fit for Clark, and he could perform better because of the new system. He is working with the first team at OTAs, but he’s going to have to hold off the competition.
The Broncos did select Ty Sambrailo in the second round of the 2015 NFL draft with the idea that he could perhaps be the starting right tackle this season. After the Clady injury, Sambrailo is now penciled in to be the starter on the left side.
Only a day after it was announced that Clady would miss the entire 2015 season, the Broncos added veteran Ryan Harris. He began his career with the Broncos as a third-round pick in the 2007 NFL draft and also played under Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak during his time with the Houston Texans in 2012 and 2013. He knows the zone-blocking system like the back of his hand and could end up as the starter if Clark struggles once again to impress.
The team might also give 2014 third-round pick Michael Schofield a look at right tackle. That was his position for most of his college career at Michigan. Schofield made the 53-man roster last year but wasn’t active for a single game as a rookie. He is competing as a swing tackle right now, but he might be in line for the starting role if Clark and Harris don’t quite cut it.
All quotes and injury/practice observations obtained firsthand. Record/statistical information provided via the Broncos' media department unless otherwise noted.
Contract and salary-cap information provided by Spotrac. Transaction history provided by Pro Sports Transactions.
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