The Broncos problems on offense aren’t getting any better

I was out at UC Heath Training Center for another day of training camp on Monday. Since I’m not out there every day (unfortunately) due to limited media access, I always look forward to anytime I get to spend at the facility watching practice. Going to and covering training camp has been a yearly tradition for me since 2004, the first year I was a credentialed member of the media.

My excitement for the day quickly turned to dread for the regular-season opener once I saw the offense struggle for the second day in a row. On Saturday, the team held a scrimmage at Empower Field at Mile High and the offense did not look good. After a day off on Sunday, I assumed (my bad) that we would see a better performance in shorts and shells on Monday. Instead, the problems on offense are not getting any better.

Broncos head coach Vic Fangio admitted the team had to learn from their mistakes in the scrimmage on Saturday.

“There was obviously some stuff from the other day’s practice at the stadium that will be good learning experiences for (Drew Lock) as it was for our whole team. I like where he’s at. I think it was good the other night to go down there and do that work, get in the stadium, get in the big-league park, although there’s not fans, but the crowd noise kind of made it feel real. I like where he’s at. We’ll see how it goes,” Fangio said.

What are those problems, and how can the team fix them with less than two weeks to go before the start of the regular season? Let’s take a look.

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Pressure Packed

The Broncos offensive tackles are doing a poor job on the outside when it comes to protecting quarterback Drew Lock. Whether it’s Von Miller, Bradley Chubb or Malik Reed on the outside, the pressure is getting to Lock far too often. Simply put, the offensive tackles are not playing at a high enough level – especially considering the Broncos have a young quarterback who is still trying to learn his new offense.

The team can’t perform efficiently on offense if the tackles don’t play better. Garett Bolles has been the starter at left tackle since the Broncos selected him in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Sure, he’s consistent and hasn’t missed a game as the team’s starter, but he is far from a solid starter. In fact, Bolles is still making some of the same mistakes he did coming out of Utah as a player with limited experience.

After three full seasons of starting, it’s past time to stop giving him excuses about his play. The team didn’t pick up his fifth-year option for a reason, and Bolles needs to play better if he wants a contract extension with the Broncos after this season.

On Monday, starting left guard Dalton Risner had some positive and honest things to say about Bolles.

“I think what Garett is done is really honed in on what (offensive line coach) Mike Munchak is saying. Garett might have had a way doing things his first few years, but I think Garett grew a lot last year, whether some people saw it or not. I think that Mike Munchak is helping him to continue grow this year. He has things to work on, just like I do and just like all of us offensive linemen do. But what he’s done a great job of is competing every single day, listening to a Hall-of-Fame coach in Mike Munchak and really doing what he wants in term of technique. I think that’s going a log way for Garett,” Risner said.

Elijah Wilkinson was supposed to be the first player to compete with Bolles for the starting left tackle position – in each of the last two years. However, those competitions have never come to fruition because of starting right tackle Ja’Wuan James.

In 2019, James suffered a knee injury that caused him to miss most of the season – and Wilkinson took over as the starter at right tackle. This year, James opted out of the season due to COVID-19 and once again the team was left with no choice but to put Wilkinson at right tackle instead of letting him compete at the left side.

Wilkinson is not 100 percent healthy as he’s still recovering from offseason foot surgery and it shows in his play. I feel bad for him because not only did he lose his shot to compete on the left side, but he’s also might be replaced on the right side by veteran Demar Dotson if his play does not improve.

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Footloose

Lock has been working on his footwork as a passer for quite some time. It’s an important feature of his game that needs to improve, not only because of the mechanical improvements better footwork brings to the field (improved accuracy and pass placement), but also because of the timing within each play. When Lock’s feet are off, the play suffers for multiple reasons.

Driving the hip towards the target is what you want to do as a quarterback. If Lock is too wide in his stance or points his toe towards the target, then there will be a power leak in his throw. He can make “all arm” throws, throwing off his back foot when needed, but the more he can properly step into throws the better.

Passes during the last two practices have been off the mark. Lock is high when he misses his target and those can turn into turnovers easily as receivers try to reach for them. I’ve also seen Lock behind in his throws, so that means his feet are slow. He needs to move his hip toward the target quickly and process at a faster rate.

Fangio believes that Lock can use Saturday’s scrimmage (and the struggles therein) as a teachable moment.

“I do think so, and I think today will be a very good learning experience for him and for the entire offense. You know, there were some interceptions out there. There’s a story behind every interception, whether it be a poor read on his part, poor throw on his part, poor route on someone else’s part or a route not being run exactly the way he’s anticipating it. We’ll get to the bottom of those and get to the story behind each and every one. I do think it’s something he can correct, but I thought today was a very valuable day for him,” Fangio said.

Lock is a hard worker and will continue to improve in this area. I hope the pressure from lack of proper protection does not negatively impact that learning curve.

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Drop the Ball

While passes have been off the mark, there are times when passes are on time and on target which are merely dropped. The Broncos have a great wide receiving corps at the top of the depth chart with potential superstars Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy. These two players are very difficult to cover and they can both be big-time playmakers for Lock and the Broncos in 2020.

We’ve seen Sutton drop some passes, mostly early in practice, during training camp. He always comes back and starts catching things towards the end of practice, so that is a good sign that he can shake off bad plays and make a play for his quarterback in crunch time. However, those early drops could get him out of rhythm in a regular-season game. I’d like to see Sutton cut down on those early drops as he did on Monday where he didn’t let the ball hit the ground.

Jeudy has caught most everything thrown his way but there have been a couple of drops here and there. On Monday, Jeudy dropped a pass that was perhaps just a bit out of his reach (high) and it was surprising given how many of those circus catches he can make consistently. Jeudy has superstar potential from day one in this offense, but if this team is going to be run-heavy on offense then any target for the rookie – even those a little bit off the mark – need to be gathered in.

Don’t even get me started by the consistent lack of concentration we’ve seen from DaeSean Hamilton. He’s looking more and more like a player who will contribute as a No. 3 or No. 4 receiver, but only because of the injury to rookie wideout K.J. Hamler. We’ve all seen Hamilton make too many key drops and his lapses in concentration seem to come at the worst possible part of the field – when the team is near pay dirt. On Saturday’s scrimmage, Hamilton once again made bad drops a thing.

Lock was very raw with his feelings about his performance on Saturday.

“I feel like you do find a quarterback that’s not upset and hurt to the core after a practice where you kind of get your butt kicked, then you’ve got the wrong guy leading your team. Of course, right now, I’m upset. I would have rather played a lot better, but it’s a learning moment for me. That’s where you have to go after the fact, after you get out the ‘Wow, that was bad,’ upset, beating yourself up. You can do that for probably a half hour after the game. Obviously, the emotions are running high. I’m going to do that probably for the next 10 more minutes. Then I’m going to let it go. I’m going to figure out what I did wrong, watch my feet. I’m going to watch the plays. I’m going to watch what the defense did, see if they brought something different today. I’m going to just really try and correct myself over the next days until we get out there Monday,” Lock said.

With improvement to his accuracy, Lock must be helped by his receivers as much as possible.

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Summary

Time is running out for the Broncos to make the necessary improvements to their offense. The tackles have to play better if the team wants to score points and move the ball successfully. Lock has to do a better job with his footwork to improve his accuracy and timing. The receivers must make sure that when Lock gets them the ball, they secure the pass as quickly as possible.

Fangio understands the struggles this time of year, but he was honest in his assessment of the team with only a few days of training camp remaining.

“I like our team. I like where we’re at. Obviously, I wish some of the guys that have been missing time with the nagging injuries were practicing, but I like where we’re at. It’s a little uncomfortable comparing it to all the other years in the NFL with the lack of time and no preseason games, but all 32 of us are in the same boat. It’ll be interesting to see how it turns out. We have to do well. We have five days of practice this coming week before we get into Tennessee week. These are probably the most valuable practices we’ll have through camp. We have to take advantage of them to iron out some things, get sharp and get ready for our opener,” Fangio said.

The start of the regular season is almost here, and Denver’s offense is not yet clicking on all cylinders. That needs to change ASAP if the team wants to get off on the right track and make a push for the playoffs in 2020.

Follow @CecilLammey