Jun 28, 2024, 2:35 p.m. ET
Denver’s defense struggled early last season, but there are signs, including key offseason additions, that it won’t happen again this year.
ENGLEWOOD, Colorado — As the Denver Broncos called off their summer break, linebacker Alex Singleton threw in a goal for a defense that lived on the edge of good and bad last season.
“We don’t want to be bad,” Singleton admitted earlier this month. “I think that’s the goal for most teams.”
The Broncos struggled defensively in the first five weeks of the 2023 season. Cooper Neill/Getty Images
While the ongoing quarterback competition and the arrival of rookie quarterback Bo Nix as the team’s first-round pick have overwhelmed the public discourse around the team, the Broncos, behind that camouflage, spent much of their limited cap space on their defense. It’s a defense that lived the good life for two months last season after a historically bad month to start the campaign.
Singleton, who led the team in tackles last season with 175, has often referred to that bad stretch as “those five weeks.” That run during Weeks 1 through 5 included a 70-point meltdown in Week 3 against the Miami Dolphins, and over those first five weeks, the Broncos allowed 36.2 points per game and 450.6 yards per game.
Then that same group turned the corner. Denver followed that up with an eight-game stretch in which they allowed 16.0 points and 331.6 yards per game. To put that in perspective, the Baltimore Ravens led the league in scoring defense last season with 16.5 points per game, and 331.6 was the league average in yards allowed per game over the course of the season.
Of course, many of the Broncos’ raw numbers never really recovered from those initial five weeks. They ultimately finished 29th in total defense, 30th in run defense and 22nd in pass defense. But his offseason work with the group has focused on adding more physicality up front and fixing things during training camp to avoid a slow start and find his rhythm much sooner.
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“We have to get off to a better start,” defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said during minicamp. “Obviously train better and play better from Week 1 onwards. That’s obviously our goal. Once we get going, everything will be good.”
The Broncos lost two pillars on the defensive group, one by choice when they released safety Justin Simmons and another on the free agent market when linebacker Josey Jewell signed with the Carolina Panthers in free agency. They were also limited in their ability to make trades after taking on an $85 million dead money charge against their salary cap after cutting quarterback Russell Wilson, including $53 million against the salary cap this season. According to Roster Management, the Broncos currently have a league-high $67.1 million in dead money and just $9 million in cap space.
Simmons was simply one of the team’s best players during his eight seasons. He’s coming off a sixth straight season with three-plus interceptions and 65-plus tackles. And Jewell’s reliability and productivity will also be tough to replace, as the search for an inside linebacker to play alongside Singleton is still underway. Jewell was second in tackles for the Broncos last year behind Singleton with 108, and he chipped in three sacks and two forced fumbles. Those two are major question marks the Broncos have waiting in the wings when they return to training camp.
The Broncos acquired defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers in a trade in April to help their run defense. AP Photo/Seth Wenig
But Denver decided to sign safety Brandon Jones, defensive tackle Malcolm Roach and defensive lineman Angelo Blackson in free agency. They then added defensive end John Franklin-Myers, one of the league’s most consistent interior defenders, in a draft-weekend trade with the New York Jets. Franklin, who was acquired for a 2026 sixth-round pick, has 52 career starts and 19.5 sacks on his resume. The veteran has played at least 15 games in each of his six seasons. Franklin-Myers also agreed to a contract restructure (two years, $15 million) that reduced his salary-cap charge.
“We wanted to be better against the run,” general manager George Paton said. “We went out and got Roach, then we got Blackson, obviously another great run blocker, then we made the trade for JFM. So not only are they good against the run, but they can push the pocket. All of these guys play very hard.”
Joseph noted, “I think having those two guys (in Roach and Franklin-Myers) inside to keep a point for us and change the line of scrimmage, that’s important… Tackling was our problem with run defense. So improving our Tackling, that will help us too. We lost some important runs, and it wasn’t because of lack of space, but because of missed tackles.”
The 10-touchdown rush in Week 3, in which the Dolphins had 726 total yards and 350 rushing yards, was the low point overall, but the Broncos had multiple mistakes in run defense even when times were better overall. for the defense. They allowed at least 170 rushing yards in six games last season and finished just below the middle of the league’s defensive pack in sacks, tied for 21st with 42.
Denver is hoping the new additions will allow Zach Allen to avoid some of the double-teams he received as the 2023 season progressed. The Broncos struggled to find a rotation up front that would consistently hold up.
“(The newcomers) have been incredible,” Singleton noted. “I’ve known John (Franklin-Myers) for a few years. We trained together a couple of years ago in Southern California. I’m excited. The way they play is fast and physical. They’re aggressive guys.”
Spring and summer optimism is routinely reaped at every NFL outpost, but Singleton said there was a difference in the offseason program this time around. He noted that Sean Payton’s staff, including Joseph, was in the first year of transitioning from Ejiro Evero’s defense to its own last season. And Singleton expressed that the transition felt disjointed as those first five games unfolded. The hope is that can be avoided this time around.
“It’s night and day,” Singleton said. “When it’s a new scheme, you’re still learning from the beginning… I think that’s pretty much what happened for the first five weeks: we were trying to do one thing, they were trying to help us and nothing clicked.” .
But will things be different in 2024? Joseph knows that the second year with the same plan simplifies things and believes it will help him from the start.
“It will be easier for players to understand the system,” he said. “We hope to play better from the start, and that’s the end result.”
2024-06-28 18:35:00
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