On Tuesday, Pro Football Focus released their full 2016 Season Preview For All 32 Teams, and the Denver Broncos appear to be in a very similar position as last season, with an other-worldly defense and mediocre-to-bad offense.
Clearly, the thing that stands out is that Denver has cornered the market on No. 1 defensive rankings. According to PFF, even with the losses of Malik Jackson and Danny Trevathan, no team in the NFL has a better front seven or secondary than the Broncos.
Unfortunately, they remain anchored down by one of the worst quarterback situations in the NFL, with only the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers grading out worse — not trading for Kaepernick is looking pretty smart, huh?
It’s important to remember, though, that preseason rankings won’t mean much once the season gets kicked off on September 8.
It’s not unreasonable to imagine that the Broncos quarterback, whomever that ends up being, outperforms PFF’s No. 30 ranking and finishes somewhere around the middle of the pack. The same goes for the offensive line, who clocked in at No. 28.
Conversely, while the talent and depth will likely keep the unit near the top of the league, Denver’s defense could easily be unseated from the top of their perch, even if just by a few spots.
Nonetheless, PFF’s rankings are a solid barometer of where past performance would view this team heading into the 2016 season.
