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Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel posts his Broncos Mailbag weekly during the season. Submit questions to Parker here.
Parker, welcome to the Broncos Mailbag! Is it the chicken or the egg? Are the offense’s issues more on Nathaniel Hackett or Russell Wilson? With all the injuries does Denver even have a chance to compete for a playoff spot?
Brandon Brown, Rogers, Minn.
Hey Brandon, thanks for the welcome!
At this point I think it’s safe to say there’s enough blame to go around. It’s never just one thing. Some of it, and I know fans don’t want to hear this and there’s not a ton of patience in the NFL, is just the natural learning curve. I don’t think anybody was saying they’d come out firing on all cylinders. However, there’s a lot of room between firing on all cylinders and 15 points per game.
Nathaniel Hackett has said all along they’re trying to do what Wilson is comfortable with. Perhaps that is making it difficult for the head coach to get into a play-calling rhythm. Wilson doesn’t look particularly comfortable a good chunk of the time, and some of that might be just getting used to putting new concepts, schemes and progressions in against professional defenses for the first time.
Some way, somehow, they’ve got to get more on the same page and find more flow. But then the next layer is, when it does come together, guys have to catch the ball consistently. And when Wilson is going to take deep drops, the line has to protect. And the Broncos have to run the ball efficiently in order to make the play-pass and boot action that this system is built on work and keep defenses honest.
The bottom line is this: The clean-up list is long at this point. It’s likely not going to happen all at once. Denver can keep itself in the playoff picture, but the improvements have to start now and steadily continue.
How could this have happened? Mortgage our future for a has-been, maybe even a never was, phony Russell Wilson? Not to mention hiring a coach with literally no resume. I was raised to be a Broncos fan. What I have seen is a QB that is so fake. No passion. No drive. I want answers. I want action. I want wins.
Sam Huffman, Greenville, S.C.
Hey Sam, frustration from fans is entirely understandable. You’ll remember, perhaps, that the Broncos went 4-6 in Elway’s starts his first year, had a 5-11 season in 1990 and in the two years before 1996 went 15-15 total in his starts. They started 2-3 under Peyton Manning, too.
Every situation is different and the start of Wilson’s tenure here has been rocky, no doubt. Wilson has a Super Bowl title and his numbers, virtually across the board, stack up with some of the best in the game over his first decade in the NFL, so “never been” doesn’t hold water. Where is he at in the arc of his career? Certainly right now he’s not playing well. In terms of figuring out if he’s truly physically diminished, struggling to pick up a new system, interested in reinventing himself as a player to excel until he’s in his 40s, as he’s stated is his goal… all of that is going to take more than five games to sort out.
As for Hackett, he’s got a lot to prove. Unlike Wilson, he doesn’t have an overwhelmingly successful track record in his current position to lean on. The NFL is an adapt-or-die league. He and his mostly young coaching staff have to figure out how to adapt on the fly. He made one change by adding Jerry Rosburg and the game management has felt smoother, if not perfect, in the three weeks since. But smoothly managing games in which the offense averages 15 points is not a recipe for success. There’s a lot of work to be done, quickly.
After the atrocity that was called Thursday Night Football, when will George Paton and or/anyone from ownership step in and say “enough”? Will they tell Nathaniel Hackett to give play-calling duties to OC Justin Outten?
Victor, Alameda, Calif.
Victor, Hackett was asked if there are any substantial changes coming on offense and said he and the staff would be going through everything “with a fine-tooth comb” in the 11 days between that Thursday night loss and Monday Night at the Chargers next week. To his credit, Hackett realized he needed help and hired Rosburg to aid in one department.
The thing about play-calling is, Hackett’s now got a head coaching job to run his offensive system. Is he going to give it up and give it to somebody who’s never done it so that he can focus on stuff that isn’t so much his strong suit? Perhaps he will, and if everything is truly on the table, they’ll at least examine making that move.
Huge Broncos fan here. How can we be SO awful on the offensive side of the ball? Was Aaron Rodgers running the offense when Hackett got the credit?
Bryan Reynolds, Ozark. Mo.
Yeah Brian, it’s been pretty rough, hasn’t it? Two offensive touchdowns in three home games so far is brutal and it’s somehow felt worse watching it. Every time one thing goes right, something else goes wrong. Coaches and players can and will chalk a few weeks of that up to learning curve, new stuff, etc., but at some point, one of the hallmarks of bad teams is that they consistently make mistakes. It’s getting into that territory for the Broncos. Let’s see how they look when they get back from London and hit the bye week.
The next three games — at the Chargers, home against the Jets and against the Jaguars in London — will tell a lot.
And interesting you bring up Rodgers. I had a chance to watch that game Sunday morning and the Packers looked great in the first half half before doing absolutely nothing against the Giants after halftime. They finished with 22 points, a loss and have seven or fewer second-half points in four of their five games so far.
I’m not sure how most people split up the credit between Rodgers, Hackett and head coach Matt Lafleur there — or Mike McCarthy before — but they’ve got challenges, too. Good teams figure those challenges out. Bad ones don’t.
My thoughts center on the readiness of this team and the lack of play of the starters during preseason. What if we had played our starters for one half in each of the three pre-season games? They would have 1.5 games of game action under their belt. They would have realized that they had a problem with the coach getting the calls in on time. The QB and receivers would have worked out their timing issues. And on and on and on. I realize that most teams sit their starters to avoid injuries, but I think if our starters had more time, we would’ve been 4-0 entering Week 5. The first two games are a crap shoot because most teams are just not ready. But a team that actually plays their starters significantly might have an edge in the early part of the season.
Joe, Erie
Hey, Joe! Certainly the Broncos’ start to the season leaves the preseason methods of this coaching staff open to question and doubt. Maybe it would have helped, though I’m not sure they’d have been able to simulate the pressure — especially playing first halves — that Hackett and the game management operation cracked under against Seattle and Houston. Maybe they would have flushed out some issues on that front. And perhaps the starting group would have gained some semblance of rhythm and timing. What would folks have said if Javonte Williams had suffered that knee injury against Buffalo in the preseason rather than in the regular season?
I do have to admit I was a bit surprised they didn’t dress rehearse just a bit given all of the newness and moving pieces, but the concerns about injury ultimately carried the day. Now they’re dealing with a raft of injuries anyway and they haven’t got going as quickly as they’d have liked.
During the Broncos summer camp and exhibition games, one of the big standouts was Jalen Virgil. His body control, hands and speed made him look like a very special wide receiver. But he has completely disappeared. With the Broncos’ WRs not getting open why is he still inactive?
Steve, Denver
Great question, Steve. It’ll be one I ask this week. The simplest answer is that he’s not a major special teams contributor — essentially on the active roster he’d be Montrell Washington’s backup and not much more than that — so other players like Washington and Tyrie Cleveland are ahead of him in the pecking order.
The Broncos desperately need somebody who can consistently threaten to take the top off of a defense. Perhaps KJ Hamler is that guy as he gets more and more playing time and further removed from last year’s injury. If not, you do wonder if at some point Virgil gets a look. So far, they’ve just had other priorities that need attending to on the gameday roster.
With everything George Paton had to give to get Russell Wilson, there is pressure to hit on the few picks they got left. The first pick of this year is Nik Bonitto who didn’t play until Thursday despite being healthy. Is the team still confident in his development?
Yoann, Beine-Nauroy, France
Yoann! Thanks for the transatlantic message.
The coaches and executives are still confident in Bonitto’s development and he played his most extensive action Thursday, as you said. In fact, I wrote about it for the Post on Monday.
Bonitto’s got pass-rush tools that can’t be taught. He’s a work in progress against the run. But he’s getting more chances now with Randy Gregory out for at least the next three games.
At one point in camp, Hackett was on his way to the podium to talk with us but stopped en route to have what looked like a pretty stern chat with Bonitto. Just last week, Hackett talked about how much progress the rookie’s made in terms of practice habits and learning how to be a pro. The line from high draft pick to contributor isn’t always a straight one, but Bonitto seems to have made some progress in that regard.
So, a ton of people are hurt. I’m trying to keep a positive outlook. Who could benefit with the extra playing time? Also, is there any chance we could see Chris Harris Jr. come back? He’d be fun to play across from PS2, especially with the injury to Ronald Darby.
Mark, Arvada
A good one to end on from Mark. Bonitto, for the reasons outlined above, makes the list and so does Baron Browning, who played really well in his 43 snaps Thursday. Risky one here, but I do think Melvin Gordon might be of clearer mind going forward as essentially the featured guy. But plain and simple, he must protect the football.
As for Chris Harris Jr., I’d be surprised. To continue on the rookie talk, the Broncos are high on fourth-round cornerback Damarii Mathis and the bet here is he gets a long look at taking over Darby’s spot.
The Broncos also have Darrius Phillips, who’s been slowed by a hamstring issue, and Essang Bassey in addition to starting nickel K’Waun Williams. Michael Ojemudia will likely be coming off of the short-term IR list sometime in the next couple of weeks after a practice ramp-up.
Essentially, they have options to sort through. The bet here is they keep Williams in the slot — nickels are basically starters at this point, and Williams has played nearly 70% of the defense’s snaps through five games — and move Mathis into the starting lineup.
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