The Broncos are rebuilding, but they’re going about it all wrong
Oct 8, 2020, 6:30 AM
Once the Broncos were crowned world champions after their Super Bowl 50 victory, they should have gone straight into rebuild mode.
After Super Bowl 50, Denver drafted Paxton Lynch, hoping he would be the replacement for Peyton Manning. But the Broncos failed to go all in on Lynch. Head coach Gary Kubiak didn’t believe in Lynch, which is why he ran with Trevor Siemian.
The seventh-round quarterback played well, but everyone knew he wasn’t going to be the next great quarterback in Broncos history. The issue was that he was good enough to get the offense through the season with an elite defense. Good thought, but not realistic.
After 2016, Kubiak stepped down and John Elway and company decided to hire Vance Jospeh instead of Kyle Shanahan or even Sean McVay. Two of those coaches rebuilt their teams and have made Super Bowl appearances, while one has been fired.
While the Broncos had Joseph coaching the team they decided to give him a horrible draft class and barely allow him to have any control over the team. Elway tried to force Lynch down his throat, but didn’t give him a coaching staff to build an offense around his quarterback.
While the Broncos still thought they were in a “reboot” instead of a rebuild, they moved on from T.J. Ward, causing Joseph to lose the locker room. It didn’t go well for the top defensive players after the Ward transaction.
Elway refused to address the offensive line by barely patching it up with hurt offensive lineman and backup players from other teams. The Broncos also decided to sign Case Keenum and Joe Flacco, while firing Vance Joseph and hiring another first time head coach in Vic Fangio.
Denver has had three head coaches, five offensive coordinators and three defensive coordinators since winning the Super Bowl. Talk about instability.
The Broncos have failed to build a roster the right way by finding the correct quarterback and building around that with an offensive line and a great defense. Denver has failed to develop players and sign and trade for game-changing players.
A perfect example is when Denver drafted Drew Lock. They needed to make sure he’s the guy instead of playing Flacco. They needed to build an offense around him.
The Broncos had a weakness at left tackle and didn’t address the need. Elway could have traded for Trent Williams, but he didn’t. Shanahan and the 49ers did. Andrew Whitworth was available at one point and McVay signed him to protect his franchise quarterback.
Teams like the 49ers embraced the rebuild and understood that if they wanted to have success for a very long time that it would a couple of hard years before they became an elite team. Same as the Rams.
Elway and the Broncos were stubborn, thinking that they could just put band-aids all over this roster and they could get back to the promised land. That’s not how it works.
By not embracing the rebuild during the last five years, the Broncos have dug themselves into a deeper hole that they’re hoping they can get out of.
