INDIANAPOLIS – Quarterback matters but it may not be the first position that needs improvement if the Denver Broncos are to better their 5-11 record.
Judging by the way Vance Joseph handled his second annual NFL Combine press conference here Tuesday at the Indiana Convention Center, the Broncos should benefit from a head coaching upgrade in 2018.
“I would hope so,’’ Joseph said in a sitdown interview with 9News following his Combine press conference. “It’s a job with no blueprint. There’s no manual to doing this job so the more you do the non-football things, you get better at doing them.’’
It was at last year’s Combine when it really hit Joseph he was a head coach. He had his introductory press conference to the Denver area in January, but the Combine is when he no longer walked around with his fellow army of assistant coaches, as he did for so many years before. The Combine is when it hit he had far more obligations as a head coach than simply watching guys throw up 225 pounds in the bench press and run the 40.
“It’s your first time doing the national media,’’ he said. “It kind of hits you. But this year, it feels good to be here. I just want to get past last year and get better.’’
Some highlights from both Joseph’s press conference and interview with 9News:
*He didn’t hold back in emphasizing the need to address his quarterback play.
“That’s got to get fixed,’’ he said. “And we can fix that also by playing better around him. We’re going to address that, the quarterback, obviously in free agency.’’
Signing a quarterback in free agency does not preclude the Broncos from also taking a quarterback with their No. 5 overall draft pick. But it diminishes the chances.
Ideally, the Broncos would sign a top-caliber quarterback like Kirk Cousins in free agency and use the No. 5 draft pick to address another position of need. That way the Broncos would get two starter upgrades.
As for Cousins, Joseph was guarded and mindful of the league’s tampering rules.
“Watching the guy over the years, I mean he’s a good football player,’’ Joseph said. “He’s thrown for 4,000 yards the last three years and that’s tough to do in this league. Obviously, he’s a good one, but I’ll leave it at that.’’
*His endorsement of Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders was strong enough to believe both receivers would return to the Broncos in 2018 even though they are to make a combined $20.75 million.
“Those two guys are still really good football players,’’ Joseph told 9News. “DT had (949) yards last year with three quarterbacks. ‘E’ missed a lot of the season with his ankle injury.
“But watching those guys on a daily basis, watching them work and watching them in games go uncovered the way they tend to do, I don’t see those guys not being Broncos.
“But again, everyone has to go back and do a self-evaluation. How can we get better as a Bronco? At the end of the day, what’s best for the Broncos is going to happen.’’
*Asked specifically about cornerback Aqib Talib and running back C.J. Anderson, who may be placed on the trading block in the coming days, Joseph reiterated the team wants to keep its best players.
“But again, there is a business side of the NFL,’’ Joseph said. “So you also have to consider that. Sometimes for your football team to get better and grow, you have to part ways with people you don’t want to part ways with. That’s just part of the business. But again, we’ll do what’s best for the Broncos to get better as a team’’
*After quarterback, the Broncos priority this offseason will be to improve its offensive line. Joseph did say the team is discussing moving Ron Leary back to left guard. Leary was a left guard for the Dallas Cowboys when the Broncos signed him to a robust four-year, $36 million contract last year.
But then Max Garcia, who had been the Broncos’ starting left guard, struggled more than expected on the right side. So Leary moved over. This year, Garcia may have to give right guard another try.
Leary would solidify the left guard position and Matt Paradis is set at center. Garett Bolles will play one tackle position. Joseph said he and his staff are discussing the possibility of moving Bolles from left tackle to right tackle.
That would leave question marks at right guard – where Garcia and Connor McGovern are candidates – and the other tackle position – where it became clear last year that Menelik Watson wasn’t ready for a full-time role, at least not as a pass protector.
“We have to protect better so we can have better quarterback play,’’ Joseph said.
*DeMarcus Walker had a disappointing season as a second-rookie last year but it wasn’t all his fault.
He was drafted as a 3-4 defensive end, but after Shane Ray suffered a wrist injury, Walker was moved to outside linebacker.
The physical body for one requires considerably more poundage than the other. Walker wound up losing considerable weight and physically was caught in between last season. He didn’t dress for six games and it wasn’t until the season finale against Kansas City’s then-backup quarterback Patrick Mahomes II that he got his first sack.
“He is going to be a defensive end for us in our thirty-four defense,’’ Joseph said.
Walker seemed pleased by the news, retweeting my Tweet with the message: “Just let me get my 1 on 1. #Broncos.’’
