Denver Broncos: Biggest Questions Left to Answer Before Start of Season

Gary Kubiak, Wade Phillips and Rick Dennison will all be reunited with the Denver Broncos in 2015, leading a coaching staff that will attempt to make a return trip to the Super Bowl.

New schemes will be installed on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, and the coaches figure they have the proper tools in place in terms of player talent to run these systems.

With that in mind, what questions remain unanswered for the upcoming season?

With training camp less than two weeks away, positional battles will soon start and players will fight and scratch to keep their place on the roster.

By agreeing to a five-year, $70 million contract with star wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, the Broncos eliminated a big cloud that would have hung over training camp the rest of the summer.

Now, the team can focus on what they have on the field. Here, we will ask the most important questions the team still needs to answer. Fans can only hope those answers are found prior to the start of the regular season.

Is There Enough Depth Behind C.J. Anderson?

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C.J. Anderson will be the starting running back for the Broncos in 2015. Aside from that, there isn't much we can count on at the running back position.

Montee Ball, Ronnie Hillman and Kapri Bibbs will all be competing for playing time. But Juwan Thompson may be better than all of them.

The key will be finding the player, or players, that handle the zone-blocking system the best. Because of his versatility and ability to line up as a fullback, Thompson likely isn't going anywhere.

But would the team keep Ball, Hillman and Bibbs all on the active roster? That isn't so likely.

Hillman and Bibbs should expect to find themselves embroiled in a competition with one another throughout training camp. The undrafted second-year player out of Colorado State, Bibbs, would have a good shot at winning the job, forcing the team to do away with Hillman.

However, this camp may not be more important for any player at running back in Denver than Ball. He has to bounce back from a terrible 2014 season and reclaim some of the playing time that Anderson was given when Ball was injured.

If Ball doesn't want to be another high draft pick with outstanding numbers in college to be washed out of the league in a short period of time, he must show he is still a player worth relying on.

Can Marshall and Trevathan Bounce Back from Injuries?

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The Broncos have a pair of inside linebackers who could provide significant weapons in Phillips' 3-4 defensive scheme.

But the team will have to hope that both players are at 100 percent when the season opens.

After a stellar 2013 season that included 129 tackles, two sacks and three interceptions, Danny Trevathan was able to play in just three games last season due to multiple injuries.

If you look at the bright side, Trevathan should be a hungry player, refreshed from the layoff and ready to hit the field. On the down side, he may be more susceptible to injuries going forward, or he may have lost a step.

Brandon Marshall will face a similar situation. Marshall took over for Trevathan, and only five players in the entire league had more than Marshall's 113 tackles in 2014.

In Week 11 against St. Louis last season, Marshall paced the team with 15 tackles.

But after the season, Marshall underwent surgery on his foot. Now, the Broncos will have to hope that he can make a full recovery prior to the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens.

There may not be a bigger question facing the defense this season than the health of these two linebackers. If they miss time, the Broncos will have to make sure players like Todd Davis, Lamin Barrow and Corey Nelson are ready to step up.

Any of those players would have to be considered a huge downgrade, however.

Can the Team Find a Consistent Return Man?

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The Broncos need a player who can return punts and kicks, something that was clearly missing most of the 2014 season.

Isaiah Burse, an undrafted rookie out of Fresno State last year, won a spot on the roster based solely on the fact that the team felt he was the best punt returner. Yet, he only averaged 7.3 yards on 29 returns and never gained more than 22 yards on a return. He also called for a fair catch 24 times and seemed almost afraid to try and make a play.

The team also tried Wes Welker in that spot, but he was even worse.

Andre Caldwell opened the season as the team's kick returner, but he looked lost doing it. The team finally found something toward the end of the year by putting defensive back Omar Bolden back to return kicks, and he broke some big gains.

Bolden averaged 33.0 yards on 13 returns, so look for him to be the favorite to handle those duties when training camp opens.

At punt returner, both Jordan Norwood and Solomon Patton provide intriguing options.

As for Burse, if he can't contribute at wide receiver or show a vast improvement as a return man, he could be on the outside looking in when roster cuts take place.

Does the Team Have the Right Player at Free Safety?

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Rahim Moore joined the Houston Texans as a free agent this offseason. That likely didn't upset many fans of the Broncos, but is Darian Stewart an adequate replacement?

Looking at last season's rankings via Pro Football Focus, Stewart is rated as the No. 30 overall safety while Moore comes in at No. 46. But taking a closer look at the numbers, Stewart ranked No. 54 in pass coverage while Moore was No. 33.

While no Denver fan is ever going to argue that Moore was a terrific coverage man, Stewart may not be much better. And in this defense, he needs to be.

There isn't much depth behind Stewart at the position, which only complicates matters. If Stewart doesn't play well, the Broncos will be faced with moving a player such as Kayvon Webster over to the position, or playing rookie Josh Furman in the spot.

None of those options seem ideal, but that's just right now. Stewart could come out and light it up at training camp and prove he's the right guy for the position. He's obviously convinced the coaching staff that he is, as they wasted no time in signing him off the free-agent market.

Can Karl Schmitz Take over Multiple Duties?

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Karl Schmitz has never played an NFL down and hasn't played football at all in several years. Most people have only seen him kick on a YouTube video.

So how is Schmitz going to come into training camp and take over the punting and kickoff duties for the Broncos?

Very simply, really.

Britton Colquitt has been the team's punter since the 2010 season, but as you can see by these statistics, just about every punter in the league was more efficient than Colquitt last year.

Every player should be allowed one below-average season, but not when you consider that Colquitt is due to make $3 million in 2015. That fact alone gives Schmitz an excellent chance to win the job.

As for becoming the team's kickoff specialist, that will be an even easier job to win. The Broncos likely don't want to waste a roster spot on a kickoff specialist like they did last season when they chose to keep Brandon McManus after signing Connor Barth.

If Schmitz were to win that job as well, the Broncos could release Colquitt and McManus and just have a kicker and a punter on the roster.

Schmitz was brought in for this very reason, and unless he's just absolutely terrible when it's time to perform, he will win both jobs.

Will the Offensive Line Hold Up?

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The biggest question facing the 2015 Broncos is easily the offensive line and how the unit will perform. That question became even more unclear when Ryan Clady was lost for the season with an injury back in May.

With Clady out, the Broncos will almost certainly be forced to insert rookie second-round pick Ty Sambrailo into the starting lineup. The coaching staff likely wanted to bring Sambrailo along slowly during his rookie season, but he will have to be ready to go much sooner.

The first question that the team must answer will be which five guys make up the best offensive line? Louis Vasquez seems to be the only player who can be considered a definite starter at this point.

Sambrailo will likely open the season at left tackle, but the team did sign veteran tackle Ryan Harris just in case he isn't. At right tackle, the team will likely choose between veteran Chris Clark and second-year player Michael Schofield.

Gino Gradkowski should open the season at center. At the guard spots, Vasquez will start along with either Shelley Smith, Ben Garland or rookie Max Garcia. Schofield could be moved over to guard as well.

Offensive line coach Clancy Barone will have to work closely with Dennison and Kubiak to determine the five best players to use—most importantly, the best combination of players to use the zone-blocking scheme with.

With a solid offensive line, the Broncos are a Super Bowl contender. If the line falters, they could be a team that barely makes the playoffs.