The Denver Broncos are rebuilding. There, I said it. Since the first step is admitting it I am glad I have that behind me! It appears that Bronco fans feel the same way about the word 'rebuilding' as Leonidas, and the Spartans felt about the word 'submission' in the movie 300. Sadly, unlike the Spartans we really don't have a choice. Rebuilding has been the elephant in the room since Payton Manning walked out the door. It is time that Broncos Country, from John Elway and Joe Ellis, to the littlest Bronco fan embrace this fact.
If you hadn't already noticed the Broncos are essentially in rebuild mode then the trade of Emmanuel Sanders should have brought that to your attention. Sanders is an amazing football player, and fan favorite. Sadly, though he is still talented he is over 30 and on the downside of his career. The Broncos need the money that they would spend keeping him here building the rest of the roster, and they also need the draft picks that his deal brought.
Are the Broncos finished making moves? John Elway said they were, but there has also been rumors of Chris Harris Jr being on the trade block. Personally I think every player on the roster outside of Von Miller, Courtland Sutton, Phil Lindsey, Royce Freeman, Dalton Risner, and Noah Fant should be available. This is the last year of Chris Harris's contract, and I do not think he will resign here no matter what he tells you. Trading him to get something in return is better than watching him leave for nothing. Same thing with Derek Wolfe. Basically, if the player is not a core member of the long term plans of this team they should be on the market.
I can hear people saying "but I do not want to just tank for the rest of the season." It is not tanking at this point. The Broncos are 2-5, are coming off a terrible loss to a division rival, and traded away their longest tenured wide receiver for draft picks. I do not think it is tanking at this point. The Broncos need to come out, try and win every game, and then evaluate what they have in their younger players so they know which direction to go. In order to rebuild you have to know the materials you are starting with so you know what materials you still need to get in order to finish the project.
In my opinion the top question facing the Denver Broncos is, is Drew Lock going to be the type of starting quarterback we want him to be? This is why I think it is important that we give him as much playing time as he can possibly get. We need to know if he is the guy or not by the end of this season so we know which direction to go in the draft. If Drew Lock is our guy and we get a top 10 pick then we get grab an actual left tackle to pair with Dalton Risner on the left side. If Drew Lock isn't the guy we know that we have to be competitive at the top of this draft for one of the many talented QB's coming out.
Once the quarterback question is answered we can move forward with the rebuild. The Broncos should go out of their way to build both the offensive and defensive lines. If you want to build a championship team you do it up front. It doesn't matter who your QB is if your line cannot block for him, and it doesn't matter if you have Von Miller on the outside rushing the passer if the interior of your line can't stop the run or get a pass rush. The good news for Bronco fans is that with as much turnover as there is in the NFL each year you are never more than a year or two away from being back in the championship race. Denver fans always show up, so hopefully we will get to watch the emergence of the next core of Bronco players!
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