Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos
If Denver Broncos Solve QB Problem, Will It Close AFC Gap?
05 Apr 2024
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What if the Denver Broncos solve their quarterback problem?
What if the Denver Broncos get the quarterback position right? What will that do to the team? We'll break it all down here on today's brand new episode, Locked on Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Broncos country?
Welcome in to a brand new episode of Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you once again to everybody in Broncos country, all the everydayers out there for tuning in, making us your first listen of the day every single day. Just a reminder, you can get this podcast for free on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast.
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I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports, joined alongside, as always, by Sarah Bettinger, site expert over there at predominantlyorange.com. The AFC has made a wide variety of moves so far in NFL free agency before the NFL draft. There's been some big moves, and we just got to ask ourselves the question here because it is important.
What if the Denver Broncos get the quarterback position right? And maybe, just maybe, could the Houston Texans be an example of how Denver could approach things going forward? Which, if you would have said that two or three years ago, Sarah, I think everyone would have been like, what are you talking about? If the Broncos can take the Houston Texans approach?
Well, now it seems like something that they are kind of embracing.
It's really interesting to me, Cody, to think that. I mean, obviously, hitting on the quarterback is very rare in today's NFL. You have to get the right guy at the quarterback position. The Texans got the right guy. But remember before that, they were kind of the sad sacks of the NFL. I mean, they had the Deshaun Watson thing hanging over their whole head.
And you had barely any picks in the 2021 NFL draft. And really, Cody, to me, like... As of the 2022 season, the Texans didn't really look like a team that was like, hey, remember they won that. I think it was the last game of the regular season and everybody's like, oh my gosh, Lovey Smith just cost the Texans a chance to get whatever quarterback they want.
And of course then, you know, CJ Stroud happens and things like that. But they were not a team that looked primed to welcome a rookie quarterback that was going to have the type of breakout season that we saw yesterday. from CJ Stroud. I mean, there was even rumors that D'Amico Ryans didn't want to take their job as of the beginning of the offseason and ended up obviously taking it.
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Chapter 2: How can the Broncos learn from the Houston Texans' team-building approach?
They got a bunch of role players and depth options where they are contributing. It reminds me where the Broncos have gone a little bit this offseason in some of their regards.
Yeah, the Broncos have signed a lot of free agents, not necessarily a ton from outside the organization, but they brought a lot of role players back. And I think that's critical when you're talking about adding a rookie quarterback to the mix. You've got to have a strong roster one through 53. It can't just be, well, you know, the Broncos don't have an elite player at wide receiver.
They don't have an elite player at X position or Y position anymore. I mean, you have to have good role players. You have to have good, just like you said with Nico Collins, he's the prime example.
I mean, he was kind of considered as far as third rounders go, he was considered on a trajectory to become a little bit of a bust there for Houston because they didn't have the quarterback position figured out. And he spent two years kind of just trying to, you know, where, where does he fit in? You know, there were, His situation is so unique, so fascinating to me.
But what was Houston comparing themselves to last year, Cody? That's, I think, the question that I think Broncos country needs to ask. If comparing the Broncos right now to the Houston Texans is so unrealistic, what What was what would Houston have been comparing themselves to a year ago, you know, saying, hey, in our situation, you know, what's the best case scenario?
And even if we do go above expectations this year, you know, what's what is the best case scenario? You want to see good stuff from the rookie quarterback. You want to see good stuff for player development under a new head coach. And you figured with D'Amico Ryan's coming in that it was going to be the longer-term rebuild, but we've seen them accelerate that.
And so that's what the Broncos, I think, have to be ready for here, Cody, is the fact that if you get the right quarterback in place and you believe that guy is the right quarterback, man, you better be ready for this team to take – maybe steps forward that you necessarily didn't expect. You got to be ready for the unexpected in a lot of ways. If you're the Denver Broncos.
And I think that's kind of what the Houston Texans showed us is that you do the right things by putting the pieces around the quarterback. They had, they've invested a lot through the years in the offensive line, the Laramie Tunsil trade, multiple other first and second round picks on that old line. They've invested there. They had, you know,
Nothing higher than a third round selection at the wide receiver position, right? I mean, maybe a second rounder with John Meche, but he wasn't really contributing anything. So it's like you just, I guess there's a lack of expectation amongst the Broncos fan base because of the fact that they may be getting the fourth or fifth quarterback that's coming off the board in this draft.
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Chapter 3: What role does coaching play in developing a successful quarterback?
We feel like we need to upgrade the running game in order to supplement what this quarterback is struggling with. Everything is easier, in my opinion, when you have the quarterback in place, not just from a roster-building standpoint, but from knowing that you can compete if you fill certain spots when you've got the right guy in the quarterback chair.
Well, and the challenge that Kansas City has also faced, if we're drawing comparisons or parallels here, is that, look, they gave Patrick Mahomes a mega extension, which, look, he deserves that. But they have experienced like the pitfalls of, okay, hey, you have a lot of money dedicated to your offense. You have a lot of money dedicated to some defensive guys.
Now Chris Jones with the big deal that he's got. they've had to let some players go. They've had to let some players walk. Now, I don't think that they're players that they felt like, hey, we can't live without this guy. They traded away LeJarius Sneed, who had a really terrific season at cornerback this year. But they've got, obviously, Trenton.
They got Duffy or McDuffie from Washington, who's really immersed to be a very talented player, has made some plays for them. On the back end, they have some guys that are also contributing. But they are allowing. You have to move on from some guys. And remember when...
The Chiefs made that one startling decision after they lost the Super Bowl to move on from their veteran starting offensive tackles. And we're like, what are they doing? Well, there was a plan in place. There was a vision. And while you at the moment, you look at that and you're like, why did they do that? Okay, what's the plan? Well, they went out and they beefed it up.
They've got other guys in place. And obviously their interior offensive line is strong, but We have seen at times Kansas City become a little bit more human because of the fact that they have had to let some guys go. Last year, I mean, outside of Travis Kelsey, he was their main option for them in the receiving game.
But aside from that, they were looking for other guys to step up at the wide receiver position. And man, was it so inconsistent for them. The fact that they were able to make it to the playoffs, make it to the Super Bowl and win the way that they did. That right there is impressive to the team building aspect that I think that Brett Veach and the Chiefs have done.
And look, I know that there's going to be some fans who are listening to us talk about the Chiefs. Why are you talking about the Chiefs? Why are you building them up? The reality is you have to look at where teams have done a really good job. And our whole idea of this episode here is what happens if you get the quarterback position right. How can you build a team around it?
I think the Chiefs are probably the greatest example right now in the NFL as to if you get that right, Here's what it can do. And look, the Broncos are still a ways off. There's still a lot of things they need to get right, specifically quarterback. But if they do it, it gets them one step closer.
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