ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Sundays may be a little more difficult to fill. The weekly discussions may be less passionate.
Otherwise, just because the Broncos are in their offseason doesn’t mean there’s less interest in the Broncos.
Fans remain curious enough to fill up another edition of our 9NEWS Broncos Mailbag:
I enjoy your “Klis and Tell“ segment. Haven’t heard you talk about Philip Lindsay lately. Did he re-sign with the Broncos? Hope so. Thanks.
--Jeff Luallin
Jeff – Lindsay is under contract for two more years, then can become a restricted free agent in year 4. Haven’t talked about him much lately because the local-kid-does-great has been sidelined this offseason to recover from right wrist surgery.
New head coach Vic Fangio is not keen on injured players doing interviews. Lindsay won’t participate in team drills during the mandatory minicamp this week either but he should be fully healed by training camp -- although the team will likely be cautious with him at least until the second or third preseason game.
Mike, what’s your opinion of head coach Vic Fangio and the difference between him and Vance? Thank you for all your hard work and the greatest coverage of the Broncos!!!!
--Todd Allerdings
Todd – Fangio hasn’t won a game, yet. And coach Joseph was 11-21 in two seasons. The record is the best way to judge a coach.
Absent that with Fangio, I thought general manager John Elway did well by going counter to the league trend and hiring not the young, inexperienced offensive whiz as Arizona, Green Bay and Cincinnati did, but the older, experienced, business-only defensive guru.
I think Vance Joseph will be successful the next time he gets the head job, but early on with the Broncos he had some growing pains, especially with how he dealt with the media. He was much better in year two than year one in every way, I thought. That midseason, three-game winning streak nearly saved his job and had Chris Harris Jr. and Emmanuel Sanders not gone down with season-ending injuries with a month to go, Joseph probably would have made it.
Fangio, though, has a manner about him where you’d think he’s been a head coach for 20 years. He’s comfortable in his skin, confident in his ways. And because he instructs more than he yells or compliments, there is a mystery element to him that keeps his players on edge.
I think the Broncos players need to be on edge after going 5-11 and 6-10 the past two years.
I’ve said this several times before: Fangio is the primary reason why Broncos fans should be optimistic about the upcoming season. I don’t know if that’s 7-9 or 10-6, but the Broncos should be better.
How do you think the offense will look different after such a strong draft and free agent class?
--Brandon Walker
Brandon – If Joe Flacco stays healthy the Broncos will get better quarterback play. The offensive line will be improved with the addition of coach Mike Munchak and right tackle Ja’Wuan James, and so far second-round rookie Dalton Risner looks good.
The tight end position is now deep with first-round rookie Noah Fant added to Jeff Heuerman, Troy Fumagalli and Jake Butt.
I have some concern at receiver because of the Achilles injury to Sanders and running back because of Lindsay’s wrist. If those two come back healthy and in top form, then both positions will be solid. If not, then the Broncos must get considerable improvement from second-year players Courtland Sutton, DaeSean Hamilton and Royce Freeman.
Rich Scangarello is a rookie offensive coordinator. He’s untested so we’ll see. I do think as a first-year guy he will be a little more creative and bold in his playing than maybe Bill Musgrave was last year. Musgrave was extremely creative in the Broncos’ season-opening win against Seattle, but then had to become more conservative when Case Keenum threw three interceptions in that game and it became clear Demaryius Thomas had lost some effectiveness.
I will say this for Scangarello: During the voluntary minicamp and OTAs, the receivers, tight ends and running backs regularly got open and Flacco regularly hit them.
Some of that could have been because Von Miller and Bradley Chubb were not allowed to touch the quarterback and the defensive backs were transitioning to the Fangio-Ed Donatell zone coverages.
The Broncos were 19th in total offense and 24th in scoring last year and they were 17th in yards, 27th in scoring in 2017. They will better those marks this year. They better.
Do you think Justin Hollins could become a Ted Hendricks type player for the Broncos?
--Steve Swendler
Swendler – Hey, now! I do see where you’re going here, Steve. The Mad Stork was a rare, 6-foot-7 linebacker from 1969-83 with the Baltimore Colts and Raiders.
Hollins is a rare 6-foot-5 outside/linebacker. Height and position are where the similarities end, though.
Hendricks was a Hall of Famer, inducted in 1990. Hollins is a rookie. There’s a long way between one and the other. Let me see Hollins play in pads, first. But he can run and he is tall.
Are the Broncos ever going to use the seals again to predict their games? I liked that a lot. Please let me know if they will go back to that. If not that's foolish.
--George Coppola
George – It wasn’t a seal, it was a sea lion. First, Giget, then Nick.
And it wasn’t the Broncos who commissioned the prescient pinnipeds (look it up, I did) but 9NEWS sports anchor Drew Soicher, who was is now spending his days in Arizona presumably visiting the sea lions at the Phoenix Zoo.
Per Soicher, Giget correctly picked better than 60 percent of Broncos games during her seven years of choosing between footballs of the Broncos’ orange and blue and their weekly opponent’s.
I’m not sure how Nick’s Picks fared, but what I do remember is he fared better than I have done in recent years when it came to forecasting Broncos games.
I offer a Klis List of keys to the game, George, but you’ll have to rely on your own gut for predictions.
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