The Denver Broncos’ season came to an ugly conclusion on Sunday as the Broncos lost the AFC Championship game to the New England Patriots, 10-7, in an unsightly weather game. The Broncos are still recovering, but All-Pro tackle Garrett Bolles thinks there’s are plenty of reasons for hope and optimism going forward.
His comments about the situation appeared in a piece written by Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, and while they were on the boilerplate side, there was some intrigue in at least one of his statements.
Bolles’ basic comment was about Denver as a possible free-agent destination.
“People want to come to Denver,” Bolles said, via Luca Evans of the Denver Post. “I mean, I’ll be shocked to see how many free agents want to come here. We got a young team. We got a quarterback. We got the best O-line in football — I don’t care what anyone says. We do.”
Bolles may indeed be right, but the Broncos also have some internal business to handle. They extended many of their key players during their bye week in November, but they still have some significant free agents of their own, including running back J.K. Dobbins, defensive end John Franklin-Myers, and linebackers Justin Strnad and Alex Singleton.
The most interesting name on that list is Dobbins, who almost made it back on the field after sustaining a midseason Lisfranc foot injury against the Houston Texans. The Broncos gambled big on Dobbins staying healthy, but it didn’t happen, although it is interesting that he was injured on what appeared to be an unpenalized hip-drop tackle during the Texans game.
That leads into Bolles’ other comment. He said that the team needs “a couple more playmakers,” according to Alper, and that’s an interesting take on Denver’s current offensive situation.
Dobbins was one of those playmakers, but many fans and some experts believe the targets for quarterbacks Bo Nix and Jarrett Stidham came up short. Tight end Evan Engram definitely underperformed, and while receiver Courtland Sutton had his moments, he’s basically a possession receiver who had a couple of key drops in the last couple of games.
Beyond that, the receivers are a young group with plenty of talent and potential, but they weren’t quite able to get it done in the postseason. Receivers Pat Bryant and Troy Franklin were effective but not spectacular, and it was return man and receiver Marvin Mims Jr. who ended up providing most of the playmaking moments.
That needs to change, and it will eb interesting to see how Denver addresses this need during the offseason. Will they gamble on Dobbins again, rely on the maturation of the young receivers, or try a larger, splashier move that would make this group of targets more formidable?