It’s the holiday season, so it pains me to be a Scrooge. But Broncos fans, you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.
Sunday’s win over the New York Jets was vastly important for the future of the Denver Broncos. Yet there were some fans and media bemoaning the victory because it a) dropped their draft position and/or b) provided some added job security for Vance Joseph. Many of these were the same individuals begging for wins against the Bengals, Raiders and Dolphins in the weeks prior.
At 4-9, the Broncos are officially out of the playoffs. But with three winnable games still left to play, the last thing the Broncos should be doing is tanking the season just to try and slide into a top-five pick or see their head coach canned. Winning more than five games this season will be much more valuable for next year and beyond.
The victory on Sunday was an important one for Joseph. With the win, he is guaranteed to not finish the season with the distinction of coaching Denver to its worst record in the Pat Bowlen era. The worst he can do at this point is tie Josh McDaniels/Eric Studesville at 4-12. One more win and he’ll be absolved of even a tie with the 2010 staff.
The last person any Denver Broncos head coach wants to have his name associated with is McDaniels. Joseph can escape that fate on Thursday against the 3-10 Colts. There’s no understating how important win number five would be. Six (or even seven) would be exponentially better.
John Elway is on his third head coach in four years. Moving on to a fourth in five has the potential to set the franchise back even farther. Remember how bad the Broncos defense was during that stretch from 2008 until 2012 when they trotted out five different defensive coordinators in five years? Imagine that across all three phases.
While it felt at times that Joseph and his staff were as disconnected from reality as the French aristocracy was in the 18th century — “We had a great week of practice” became Denver’s equivalent to “Let them eat cake” — fans in Broncos Country clearly are not ready to embrace a full-fledged revolt.
A total of 75,518 tickets were purchased for Sunday’s game against the Jets, with more than 70,000 of them going to use (and very little Gang Green visible in the seats). Joseph proved on Sunday that his team hasn’t quit on him, and that his staff can produce a winning game plan when his players execute.
Fans certainly should not be happy with the results Joseph produced in year one. The coach during the team’s eight-game losing streak often seemed overwhelmed on the field and out of touch off it. But showing Joseph the door this early would only exacerbate the problems at Dove Valley.
Broncos Country should be rooting for more wins, not a high draft pick, because it’s the best way to woo game-changing free agents. Winning down the stretch is also the best way to keep the top-shelf talent currently on the roster happy and motivated for 2018.
It will be much easier to get Emmanuel Sanders to play his heart out in 2018 with someone like Kirk Cousins or Alex Smith throwing him the ball than it will be to convince him that the third- or fourth-best rookie in the 2018 draft class is going to get him back into the 1,000-yard receiving club. Getting into a race for the bottom with the Browns, Colts and Giants won’t inspire the fanbase or the locker room. Winning a few more games and going after a legitimate starter in free agency would.
If you’re Cousins or Smith, signing with a 7-9 team that hit an unfortunate mid-season bump because of a rookie head coach and a rookie punt returner is a heck of a lot different than signing with a 4-12 team in free fall and a locker room that’s questioning itself.
Ending with three or more wins in the final four games of the season gives hope to guys like Brandon Marshall, Bradley Roby and Darian Stewart — key defensive players entering what could be their final seasons in Denver. Bringing back Domata Peko on the second year of his contract looks far more appealing with the notion that he’ll spend more time on the field playing attacking football next season than the idea that he can stop the bleeding when the Denver offense turns the ball over deep in its own territory.
The 2018 NFL Draft is stacked with quarterbacks. Yet there’s a good chance that even with a top-five pick the Broncos wouldn’t end up with one of the two (or even three) best signal-callers. They could, however, grab a long-term answer on the offensive line as they did with Garett Bolles in 2017.
Next year’s draft projections have five offensive linemen ranked in the top 25 according to CBS Sports; four of those are tackles. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report says there are three o-line prospects (two tackles) in the top 25. Even if they win out, it’s likely Denver will still be looking at a pick in the top 15. Finding an answer at right tackle is a definitely a possibility in the first round, whether the Broncos pick fifth or 15th.
With the option to move on from C.J. Anderson, Aqib Talib, Donald Stephenson, Virgil Green, Allen Barbre, Jared Crick and other veterans, Denver will have money to work with in 2018. They have a potential out with Demaryius Thomas in 2019 or could ask him to restructure; either option could free up quarterback money two years down the road and longer.
Finding a veteran in free agency (or via trade in the case of Andrew Luck) who can turn things around quickly is a far better option for the Broncos at this point than using a first-round pick on a quarterback — especially given the depth that’s available at the position in this year’s draft.
Solving Denver’s quarterback problem via free agency or a trade will provide much quicker returns than undergoing another wholesale coaching overhaul. Ending 2017 with more than five wins is the best way to make that happen.
