As the Denver Broncos move into the full-contact portion of training camp, fans can begin to catch glimpses of what the team has improved from its 5-11 2017 season. Of course, some of that begins with the coaching staff and their ability to recognize areas they fell short in last season.
Broncos head coach Vance Joseph joined Nate Lundy, Shawn Drotar and T.J. Carpenter live from the UC Health Training Center on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 and discussed the necessary improvements that the coaching staff made this offseason.
“It started in the offseason. I think we made some nice moves with our draft and free agency, so we’ve added the pieces that we need,” Joseph said. “The coaches have to provide a platform of clarity to add accountability with the players, and we’ve done that. You can feel it, it’s turning and our guys are focused and hungry to win.”
Of the many notable offseason acquisitions, rookie running back Royce Freeman figures to be one of the more utilized rookies for the Broncos this year. Though Joseph did praise all five of the running backs in camp, he touched on what Freeman could bring to the team.
“He can carry the load, he’s a guy that can carry the ball 20 times a game with efficiency and not turn the ball over,” Joseph said. “He’s 235 pounds, runs a 4.5 and he’s a durable guy and he’s a tough guy. He’s very mature beyond his years.”
In order for the running game to come to fruition, the offensive line certainly most improve over last season. Just as Derek Wolfe noticed from going against them in practice, Joseph said the unit is noticeably different from a year ago.
“I think adding (Jared) Veldheer, who’s got 100 starts at tackle in this league, that’s exciting,” Joseph said. “Getting Ronald Leary back to left guard, that’s a spot that we paid him from. So getting him back to his home base and adding Veldheer, it’s going to help us be a more solid offensive line.”
On the other side of the ball, Joseph pegged improvement in the red zone as an area of emphasis for the defense.
“I think in the red zone, there was a lot of error,” he said. “We can do better as as coaches and obviously players can do better, but we’re going to correct that. I’m confident that, with that correction, we can get back into the top five (in scoring defense).”
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