As the playoffs progress and you are watching other teams make a deep run are you asking yourself, what does my team need to do to get to this point? If you are not, you should be. One team that is asking that question right now is the defending (no longer) Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos. There has been so much talk about what this team needs to do since they were eliminated. They have one major need and a couple of smaller ones. Let us examine the three early off-season focus areas for the Broncos.
O-line
The Denver Broncos offensive line was offensive, to say the least. They had one of the worst seasons that I have ever seen from a position group. And it was truly unexpected. The Broncos had just spent the 2016 off-season upgrading what they had thought was an issue. They went out and spent $67 million on the two tackles. The Broncos spent all that money and the two tackles did not perform. Donald Stephenson was even benched at one point in the year because of his poor performance. If the Broncos expect to return that Super Bowl caliber team they were in 2015 they are going to have to focus on shoring up the offensive line.
Run Defense
The run defense of the Denver Broncos was unexpectedly poor. They were gashed between the tackles in several games this season. They really missed the playmakers in the middle. Guys like Danny Trevathan and Malik Jackson were solid run stoppers and were missed in the grand scheme of things. Denver finished the season as the 28th ranked rushing defense in the league. That is a far cry from the number one ranking they had at the end of 2015. They are going to have to find some beef to stop this from happening again.
[Sean]
Tight End
The Denver Broncos need to add another tight end into the mix. 2016 was not the greatest season at that position for the Broncos. Virgil Green, who is a strong blocker, was not as strong of an outlet for QB Trevor Siemian. The Broncos and GM John Elway even made a midseason trade to acquire A.J. Derby from the New England Patriots in an attempt to upgrade the position. This was not as successful as Denver had hoped it would be. This should be a position of need for the Broncos either during the upcoming free agency period or the 2017 NFL Draft.
The Denver Broncos are set up very well. New Head Coach Vance Joseph should not have to do much maneuvering to make the puzzle complete again. With $38 million in cap space, they have enough to spend to strengthen up the bigger hole and then they can go with youth in the draft. It is not as lost as some Broncos fans may seem. It may only be a year drought.